6 Legal AI Themes for 2026, with Workday CLO Rich Sauer

How is the role of the Chief Legal Officer transforming in the age of AI? In this first episode of 2026, hosts Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe welcome Rich Sauer, Chief Legal Officer & Head of Corporate Affairs at Workday, to explore six major themes defining the legal AI landscape. Tune in to discover how legal departments are moving beyond risk mitigation to drive growth, the impact of agentic AI on legal operations, and why human soft skills like empathy and trust remain the ultimate irreplaceable assets in a rapidly evolving time. Theme music: "Load" Copyright © 1996 by Hal Marcus.

How can legal leaders transition from the "Department of No" to the "Department of Growth"? In this milestone episode of Meeting of the Minds – The Legal AI Podcast, Hal Marcus and Memme Onwudiwe sit down with Workday’s Chief Legal Officer, Rich Sauer, to reflect on a year of explosive AI growth and project the trends for 2026. From his 20-year tenure at Microsoft to leading legal at Workday, Rich provides a masterclass on balancing innovation with responsibility.

What You'll Learn:

The Three Pillars of Modern Legal: How Workday organizes its legal team around driving growth, protecting the brand, and earning stakeholder trust.
Agentic AI & The "Front Door": Why AI agents are becoming the new interface for legal departments to manage high-volume routine inquiries.
The End of the Contract Silo: How moving contract data into systems like Salesforce transforms "file cabinet" documents into active business drivers.
Navigating the Regulatory Patchwork: Why the EU AI Act, NIST Framework, and ISO 42001 are valuable guideposts for global AI adoption.
AI and the Human-in-the-Loop: Why soft skills like trust, empathy, and persuasive communication are more valuable now than ever before.
The Legal Business Model Tipping Point: Rich's take on the future of the billable hour and how AI is transforming the dynamic between in-house teams and outside counsel.

About the Guest

Rich Sauer is the Chief Legal Officer & Head of Corporate Affairs at Workday. With a career spanning twenty years at Microsoft and previous experience at Sullivan & Cromwell, Rich is a leading voice on the intersection of technology, global policy, and corporate governance. At Workday, he oversees the responsible AI team and is a primary advocate for risk-based frameworks that unlock business innovation while protecting stakeholder trust.

Episode Resources

Rich Sauer on LinkedIn: Rich Sauer
Workday Official Website: Workday.com
Workday AI & Innovation: Workday AI
Evisort (Part of Workday): Evisort Website
Regulatory Frameworks Mentioned:
EU AI Act: Official Information
NIST AI Risk Management Framework: NIST.gov
ISO/IEC 42001 (AI Management System): ISO Standards
Hal Marcus on LinkedIn: Hal Marcus
Memme Onwudiwe on LinkedIn: Memme Onwudiwe