After the Hype? Legal tech leaders reflect on the real lessons of ILTACON 2026

What were senior leaders focusing on at ILTACON this year and what were the burning topics of conversation at the stands and behind the scenes? In the past week we’ve chatted on camera to 16 CIOs, vendors, and ILTA heads about the key takeaways from a conference that saw 5,700 people join over four days.

The insights are varied but there are consistent themes: this year saw a huge uptick in the maturity of conversations among end users, who are talking about implementing AI in a controlled way, with deep dives into guardrails, token costs, and the continuing data work required behind the scenes to achieve the right outcomes in both those areas.

Overall the industry is moving from AI experimentation towards operationalisation. Listen here to the insights into the key areas of progress and challenges that remain.

These interviews are available to listen to together on YouTube HERE & Spotify HERE or else, to listen to each interview separately, see the Spotify and YouTube links next to our guests’ names below.

Picture of Joy Heath Rush

Joy Heath Rush

CEO of ILTA

Picture of Andrew Powell

Andrew Powell

CIO of Macfarlanes and executive vice president, ILTA

Picture of Tony McKenna

Tony McKenna

CIO of Lawfront and former president of ILTA

Picture of Dan Surowiec

Dan Surowiec

global CIO of BCLP

Picture of Alexa Issacs

Alexa Issacs

head of project delivery at RPC, co-chair of the ILTACON Europe planning team and co-chair of the volunteer council

Picture of Avaneesh Marwaha

Avaneesh Marwaha

CEO of Litera

Picture of Matthew Stringer

Matthew Stringer

founder and CEO of Stridon

Picture of Isidore Okoro

Isidore Okoro

CIO of Steptoe & Johnson

Picture of Josh Baxter

Josh Baxter

CEO of NetDocuments

Picture of Maurice Tunney

Maurice Tunney

director of technology and innovation at Keystone Law

Picture of Olivier Van Eesbeecq

Olivier Van Eesbeecq

CIO for Brussels at Stibbe

Picture of Ted Theodoropoulous

Ted Theodoropoulous

CEO and co-founder of Infodash

Picture of Paul Walker

Paul Walker

global solutions director at iManage

Picture of David Malkinson

David Malkinson

founder of legal tech consultancy Signl

Picture of Dan O’Day

Dan O’Day

CEO of ECFX

Picture of Samantha Jefferies

Samantha Jefferies

VP of sales at Jylo