The company’s APAC GM believes the country’s lawyers are asking the right questions about AI
Earlier this week, Clio APAC GM Denise Farmer shared the rationale behind the global legal AI tech company’s decision to launch its intelligent work platform, Clio Work, in New Zealand. In the second half of this interview, Farmer gives her perspective on how the New Zealand legal profession is tackling the AI transition, and reveals the “right questions” local lawyers are asking about AI.
In your view, how is NZ’s legal profession handling the shift to AI?
New Zealand's legal profession is moving beyond the ad-hoc trial phase, and what we're seeing now is a shift toward more structured AI adoption. Practitioners want more clear guidelines, firmer guardrails, and most importantly, higher expectations of security and accuracy.
There's a healthy scepticism around generic AI tools that operate in isolation, and rightly so. New Zealand lawyers are asking the right questions, including what grounds legal reasoning? How do we adopt AI ethically? They want tools grounded in verified authority and matter-specific context, not flashy technology for its own sake.
Where do you see AI trends heading in 2026?
2026 marks AI’s shift from experimentation to expectation. As adoption matures, organisations will place greater emphasis on guardrails, security, and data portability. AI will be expected to meaningfully advance work, not simply manage it, favouring tools that are authoritative, well-integrated, and appropriate for legal contexts. Over time, the productivity divide between AI-enabled teams and legacy systems will be harder to ignore.
In your opinion, why is it important for NZ lawyers and firms to adopt Clio Work?
The hidden cost of inefficient tech is no longer something firms can afford to ignore and New Zealand lawyers are spending too much time switching between disconnected systems. They’re jumping from their practice management software to separate research tools, then manually piecing together insights that should flow seamlessly. Clio Work uniquely combines practice management with legal research. It's a true system of action that turns information into strategy instantly. For firms serious about productivity and client service, this reclaims time for human connections and advocacy that define the profession's best work.
Where else is Clio intending to roll out this platform?
While I can share that we've launched in New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong, our vision is to bring the intelligent legal work platform to legal professionals globally. The APAC region is a strategic priority for us, and we're continuously evaluating markets where practitioners are demanding higher standards of efficiency and intelligent, context-aware technology. We're keen to work with the industry movers to define the future of legal work through AI, and that means meeting practitioners where they are and where they're heading.
