Lindahl's CIO on the AI journey: "Change management is key, not the technology itself"

Like many other law firms and knowledge companies, Lindahl is on a fast-paced development journey, with AI as both a driver and enabler. With the new CIO Axel Hedberg at the helm, there is now close collaboration with both large AI players like Legora and smaller companies like Klang. However, the common denominator is that the focus is on completely different parts than the technical ones.

"In everything that is currently happening in the AI field, there is, naturally, a lot of talk about the advanced and powerful technology behind artificial intelligence. But for us as a law firm and business legal advisors, the technology itself is not the focus. What is important is how willing we are to change, and how we use the technology to create value for us and our clients. AI obviously creates great opportunities to streamline and free up time – then it's important to have a clear strategy for what we do with the time we gain," says Axel Hedberg.

Axel Hedberg is himself a lawyer by training and has worked as a lawyer for over 10 years at, among others, Vinge and SEB, before coming to Lindahl in 2021 – first as an associate lawyer and eventually transitioning to working with development issues within Knowledge Management and innovation. His legal background is a great advantage in the role of CIO.

"Change management is largely about understanding what either promotes or hinders development. This also applies to us at Lindahl. AI development for us is as much about the possibilities of technology as it is about truly changing behaviour in people, in this case in the role of lawyers. Therefore, we spend the most time and resources on the change journey and new working methods. Technology is a new tool among several others, even though AI happens to be a very powerful tool," explains Axel Hedberg.

At Lindahl, all employees, both lawyers and colleagues within business support, have access to the advanced legal AI tool Legora. They also work with smaller AI players, such as Klang, which primarily focuses on transcribing conversations.

"It's incredibly fun to work with the new partners we've gained over the past year. These companies challenge, inspire, and drive us, and we also feel that we as lawyers, and in this case customers, get to have a say and contribute to the development of the various AI services," says Axel Hedberg.

Lindahl's collaboration with Legora began in 2024 after an extensive and thorough research process to find the right path forward for the firm.

"At Legora, we are passionate about shaping the future working methods for lawyers, and this permeates our collaboration with Lindahl. It's incredibly inspiring to work together – the firm is at the forefront in the Nordics and is moving quickly forward," says Jakob Elander, Director Engagement & CX at Legora.

The collaboration with Helsingborg-based Klang began in connection with a main hearing where Lindahl tested the service to transcribe and analyse the recorded material from the previous instance. And it turned out to be a very good match against Lindahl's needs.

"Lindahl is far ahead in its AI journey. Often we come in as one of the first AI solutions in a company, but with Lindahl we become a niche component that plays well together with the other generative AI tools that the firm has started using," says Niklas Silfverström, co-founder and CEO of Klang.ai.

So what will be the next tool or partner for Lindahl?

"Time will tell, right now the focus is fully on continuing the change work and developing our working methods to get the maximum value and effect from the tools we have chosen to bring in. At the same time, we also spend a lot of time supporting our clients on their AI journeys, from both an ethical and legal perspective. But I am convinced that we will see more exciting AI solutions in the future. We are in an exciting time for our entire industry and we continue to closely follow the market and continuously evaluate different solutions," concludes Axel Hedberg.