AI Transformation Without Change Management is Useless ft. Mike Russell
May 21, 2026
If you can’t convince your team that AI is the better choice for work today, you might as well pause all efforts now. Because the only thing more important than AI transformation for legal teams today is being able to communicate the change and manage it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Mike Russell, Head of Global Legal Operations at Expedia Group, to explore how legal operations has evolved from a back-office function into a strategic business accelerator. Mike shares insights on building AI-enabled legal departments, managing global transformation at scale, and reshaping how in-house counsel partners with external firms in an AI-driven landscape.
The only thing more important than embracing AI transformation for legal teams today is being able to communicate the change and manage it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Mike Russell, Head of Global Legal Operations at Expedia Group, to explore just how legal operations is spearheading this movement.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to position change management as the most critical skill in legal operations
- The framework for evaluating AI tools in legal departments
- Why measuring "lawyer hours saved" alone is an incomplete metric
- How to structure listening tours across global legal operations
- The strategic vision for self-serving legal agents that reduce human touchpoints
- How to navigate the law firm relationship evolution in an AI-enabled market
- The governance framework that separates productivity gains from legal liability
- Why legal operations should hire for curiosity and adaptability over experience
- How peer-driven adoption accelerates AI implementation across legal teams
- The opportunity to position legal operations as the first hire after general counsel in growing companies
Tune in for the play-by-play on building and managing AI-enabled departments.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction
00:00 Introduction
02:09 From Law Firm IT to Global Legal Operations: A Three-Decade Journey
04:33 Breaking Down the Legal Ops Evolution
07:54 Why Change Management Defines Legal Ops Success
08:30 Mike’s Legal Ops Success Playbook
13:48 Building AI-Enabled Legal Operations Teams
15:30 Is Saving Lawyer Hours a Valid Metric?
19:21 The New Skills: Hiring for Legal Ops Today
21:53 Building Agents That Compress Decision Timelines
25:03 Architecting Self-Serving Legal Agents 101
27:20 How to Sell Innovation in a Conservative Industry
29:13 The Truth About Managing Multiple AI Agents
30:17 Making AI Compliance Intrinsic, Not Retroactive
31:36 The Importance of Internal AI Champions and Peer Advocacy
33:23 How Real-Time Visibility and Peer Success Drive Deeper AI Adoption
34:38 Unconventional Skills That Transform Leadership
37:00 Balancing Innovation Velocity With Organizational Readiness
38:10 The Art of Listening: Using the Five Whys to Diagnose Workflow Friction
40:45 Essential Resources: Richard Susskind, David Cowan, and the Business of Law
41:48 Why Jurisdiction Differences Demand Flexibility
43:18 AI Won't Eliminate Jobs, It Will Transform Them
44:31 Mike’s Hot Take: Legal Ops is the Secret to Scaling
45:34 Key Takeaways & Final Thoughts
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