The Sunday BlindSpot | Issue #12

Searching for ROI in AI

After a big week at the ALPMA Summit in Sydney, this week’s Sunday BlindSpot is arriving a day late. Sunday itself was spent travelling home and, more importantly, spending the afternoon with my daughters for Father’s Day – a reminder that sometimes the most valuable ROI isn’t found in technology at all, but in the moments where we get to pause and connect with family.

This past week I had the privilege of joining a panel at the Summit to explore one of the trickiest questions in legal technology right now: what is the return on investment (ROI) from AI tools?

It’s a deceptively simple question. We’re used to measuring ROI in hours saved, costs reduced, or revenue gained. But AI doesn’t always play by those rules. The benefits often arrive in surprising, unpredictable ways – sometimes weeks after you’ve adopted a tool, and often in places you weren’t even looking.

ROI isn’t always visible in advance

Take a recent example from my own world. I needed some custom code for my website. In the past, this would have involved scoping requirements, briefing a developer, waiting days for a fix, and paying hundreds of dollars. Instead, I asked ChatGPT a couple of well-framed questions. Within 15 minutes, I had working code copied and pasted directly into my site.

The ROI here wasn’t a line on a spreadsheet – it was the combination of saved time, avoided costs, and the satisfaction of solving a problem quickly. That wasn’t in my plan when I signed up for ChatGPT, but it’s the kind of “unexpected ROI” I now experience regularly.

The challenge of too much choice

Of course, there’s no shortage of AI tools on the market. New products appear almost daily, each promising to revolutionise your workflow. The reality is, we can’t try them all – and nor should we. For small businesses like mine, a $30 monthly subscription to ChatGPT feels like a smart, low-risk investment. I’m not too concerned about security risks, and I know better than to rely 100% on the outputs.

For larger organisations, the stakes are higher. There’s the risk of shadow IT – when employees start using unapproved AI tools outside the official systems, creating security and compliance gaps. Then there’s the need to verify, test, and justify every output, especially if the AI is being used in client-facing work. The risks and governance requirements quickly multiply.

Rethinking value, not hours

One of the best threads of our panel discussion was around billing models. Many clients assume that because lawyers and consultants are using AI, the cost to them should go down – after all, aren’t we saving time? But efficiency doesn’t automatically mean “cheap.”

True efficiency is about creating space to use our skills more effectively. AI tools can take some of the routine heavy lifting off our desks, but the real value comes when we reinvest that time into higher-order thinking, better advice, and stronger client outcomes.

That’s why many in the profession are shifting from selling hours to selling expertise. When you’re charging for value, not minutes, the cost of AI tools can be factored into the fee – just as you’d cover the cost of legal research platforms, precedent libraries, or secure collaboration tools. Clients benefit from better, faster outcomes, while firms remain sustainable.

Where we go from here

If there’s one thing I took away from the ALPMA panel, it’s that ROI from AI in legal practice isn’t a neat equation. It’s a moving target, shaped by unexpected wins, hidden risks, and ongoing shifts in how we define value.

For small businesses, the equation may be as simple as “$30 a month to make my life easier.” For larger firms, it’s a more complex mix of governance, culture, and client expectations. But for all of us, the real ROI lies in how we choose to apply these tools – not in how many hours they save, but in the opportunities they create to deliver meaningful, expert value.

A final Father’s Day reflection

And perhaps that’s the bigger lesson from this week. ROI isn’t always about efficiency, or even money. Sometimes the best returns come from how we choose to spend the time that technology frees up. For me, that meant being able to spend an unhurried Father’s Day afternoon with my daughters. In the end, isn’t that the kind of return we’re really chasing?