Hilary Goodier has long believed that generative AI would transform legal work. But even she, an AI Visionary, didn’t expect it to move this fast.
“I’ve said before that generative AI would be as transformative for the practice of law as the advent of email,” she says. “But when I look back now, I see that was an understatement. It will be more transformative than we could have imagined.”
For Hilary, the pace isn’t daunting. It’s thrilling. After all, she’s used to things moving fast. She leads Ashurst’s award-winning new law team—Ashurst Advance—and its three global delivery centers in Brisbane, Glasgow, and Krakow. Her remit is broad, from shaping Ashurst’s digital innovation strategy to developing technology-enabled solutions to working with clients to bring new ideas to life.
“A client told me recently that our differentiator is where tech meets law,” Hilary says. “That made me incredibly proud. The work our team is doing is all about using legal technology to stand out in an increasingly competitive market.”
Putting People at the Center of AI Adoption
In a profession that (let’s be honest) has often been slow to adopt new technology, generative AI has been a big leap for legal. Even though AI’s core strengths—language and reasoning—hit at the very heart of legal practice, AI adoption isn’t just about the tech. It’s about the mindset. And sometimes, getting people on board and comfortable with new technology can be a hurdle.
“It’s really hard for people to get their head around just how fast the technology is advancing,” Hilary explains. “And there’s still a lack of understanding about the transformational impact it will have on legal work, which has largely been immune to automation until now.”
Still, Hilary doesn’t believe in top-down AI rollouts. Instead, her team hands over the tools and watches what happens.
“You need to listen and understand the opportunities and challenges,” she says. “You can’t assume how people will use generative AI. Our approach has been to put the tools into their hands and let them show us. It’s been incredibly insightful and successful.”
The Future Is Agentic
Hilary is quick to stress that the drive for innovation doesn’t give you a free pass to skip accountability. She emphasizes the importance of keeping humans in the loop and in control.
“In a legal context, human-in-the-loop still means supervision and verification—ensuring quality outputs at speed and scale,” she explains. “But more broadly, it’s about responsibility, ethics, and governance. How we use the technology is becoming an increasingly important discussion for businesses and governments around the world.”
And while today’s buzz may be about large language models, Hilary has her eyes set on the horizon and the rise of agentic AI.
“I think the immediate opportunity is in agentic AI and how we’ll use agents to amplify the impact of generative AI in organizations. Agentic AI and reasoning will accelerate AI’s ability to move up the value chain and revolutionize the way organizations operate,” she says.
Advice for Legal Tech Leaders: Start Now
Hilary’s guidance to others in the legal tech space is clear: don’t wait.
“Everyone has a responsibility to understand and start integrating AI into their day-to-day work,” she tells us. “And be transparent—share your learnings. No one individual or business is capable of driving the change that’s needed. It’s a team game.”
It’s the approach that she and her team at Ashurst take—and a big reason why she calls her AI Visionary recognition a team win.
“This is firmly a recognition of Ashurst’s vision and investment in our future, our clients, and our people, and for that I’m really proud. It’s been a real team effort to embed innovation into the firm’s DNA.”
The Human in the Loop
For all her global travel and busy work schedule, Hilary finds balance at her farmhouse in rural Victoria: book in hand, dog at her side.
“Not surprisingly, I do read a lot about AI, but when I really want to escape, you'll find me curled up in front of the fire with a good biography or a historical novel.”
It’s a reminder that even as AI bleeds into every part of our lives, humans are still—and will always be—the main character.
To learn more about Hilary and our other AI Visionaries, visit the AI Visionaries website.
Graphics for this article were created by Kael Rose.
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