Burges Salmon Builds a Culture of AI Confidence with ANS and Microsoft Copilot
Background
Burges Salmon is an independent UK law firm known for their specialist advice in complex legal matters as well as their innovative approach to legal service delivery. Wanting to improve services for both clients and internal teams, the firm partnered with ANS to implement a Copilot enablement program designed to bring together technology, people, and processes to foster a new, more adaptive culture. Burges Salmon have since set a strong example of how to approach Copilot deployment and adoption effectively.
Challenge
Gen AI presents a significant opportunity for legal professionals as it can process and summarise large volumes of complex, unstructured data at scale. Traditionally, this is a manual and time-consuming task, which many would trust AI to tackle. However, legal professionals must be confident in the accuracy and reliability of the information they use, as their advice must be defensible. As such, one of the key challenges of an AI rollout is that it can sometimes produce inconsistent outputs or present estimates as facts – creating more hesitation among users. Burges Salmon recognised the need to create a managed, supportive environment where lawyers could explore new ways of working with confidence and curiosity.
Solution
The firm’s initial rollout followed a traditional model, including access to the tool, generic training for a small core team, and a group of around 80 AI champions tasked with experimenting and identifying use cases. However, engagement levels were lower than expected. Many users struggled to see the relevance of Copilot to their day-to-day roles, and occasional inaccuracies in output led to uncertainty.
In response, Burges Salmon shifted to a more human-centred approach. Working closely with ANS, they began conducting one-to-one user interviews, applying user research methodologies and design thinking principles to better understand individual needs and workflows. This allowed them to identify high-impact use cases and build stronger connections between the technology and its users.
Outcome
Today, Burges Salmon has cultivated a culture of active engagement and innovation. Employees across the firm now submit “Copilot wishes,” which are use case ideas that are explored by the AI team. These are tested, refined, and added to a growing prompt library.
The firm has also developed a scenario map based on user insights, which is now used in training to demonstrate how Copilot can support a variety of tasks depending on an employee’s role. This tailored approach has significantly improved adoption, helping staff feel more confident and empowered to use AI in their work, while enhancing the firm’s overall service delivery for clients.
