Ep 284: Relativity CEO Phil Saunders on the Future of Legal Data, Gen AI, and the Shifting Landscape of Law

Mar 25, 2025

Phil Saunders, the CEO of Relativity, has dedicated three decades to the tech sector and is currently steering the future of legal data. He discusses the pivotal changes facing the legal industry, notably the rise of generative AI and the transition to cloud solutions. Saunders reveals that starting in 2028, all new matters will be hosted on Relativity’s cloud platform. He also emphasizes customer engagement and the importance of collaboration in navigating these transformative forces shaping legal technology.

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

Transforming Legal Tech: Insights from Relativity

03:59 • 17min

Navigating Legal AI Transformation

21:28 • 4min

Transformative Forces in Legal Technology: AI and Cloud Solutions

25:57 • 4min

Transforming Legal Tech with AI

30:26 • 13min

Unlocking Legal Data Intelligence

43:22 • 4min

Emphasizing Customer Engagement at Legal Week

47:38 • 4min

“The landscape we all stand on is shifting, and massive amounts of change are upon us,” Phil Saunders, the chief executive officer of e-discovery and legal technology giant Relativity, recently wrote in a post on the company’s blog. Driving that change are three transformative forces, he wrote: new legal data challenges, advancing generative AI, and legal’s journey to the cloud.

On this episode of LawNext, Saunders – who joined Relativity as CEO in 2022 after three decades in the technology sector – joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss why he believes that both Relativity and the legal industry at large are at a pivotal moment, and to outline his company’s vision for navigating these three forces reshaping the legal technology landscape.

Within Saunders’ blog post was a notable announcement: Starting in 2028, Relativity will require that all new matters be hosted on its cloud platform, RelativityOne – a significant milestone for a company that built its success on its on-premises Relativity Server product.

The conversation starts there, with what might be considered the last mile in the company’s transition to the cloud. Saunders also discusses what attracted him to join Relativity, how the company is approaching the opportunities and challenges presented by generative AI, its work with the Legal Data Intelligence initiative, and his longer-term strategic vision for Relativity.

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