What happens when you've built AI infrastructure inside one of the world's top law firms and then step back to see the whole market?

In this episode, Andrew Baker, Chief AI and Data Strategy Officer at Entegrata, explains why the gap between frontier firms and everyone else is wider than most people realize. Andrew shares what looked different the moment he crossed from Simpson Thacher to the platform side, and how the variety in how firms approach AI surprised him more than he expected. His thesis: applications are transient, but data is the pinch point that everything runs through. That belief shapes how Entegrata is building both products and services to support firms at every stage of their journey.

He gets honest about what's being oversold to firms right now, why partners are coding their own AI apps on weekends, and why "nothing is off the table anymore" is something even he finds unsettling to say. Andrew also unpacks what AI-ready data actually means, why perfect is the enemy of good in data strategy, and why the first move for any firm feeling behind is simpler than they think.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:37) The market is more varied than expected

(04:53) Building product and services at Entegrata

(06:23) The gap between frontier and lagging firms

(08:32) Where AM Law firms are stuck today

(10:59) What's oversold vs undersold in legal AI

(14:02) Nothing is off the table anymore

(15:25) Data as the real pinch point for 2027

(18:22) What AI-ready data actually means

(29:52) The smallest first move for firms that are behind

Connect with our guest:

• Andrew Baker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmichaelbaker/

Connect with Tom:

• Tom Baldwin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombaldwin/
• Learn more about Entegrata: https://www.entegrata.com