EP 18: The Future of Legal Operations: AI, Change Management & Leadership | Stephanie Palmieri

In this episode of Beacon Voices, Akshay Verma (COO at SpotDraft) speaks with Stephanie Palmieri, Director of Legal Transformation at Palo Alto Networks, about what it really takes to modernize legal teams.Stephanie shares her unconventional journey from television and sales to legal operations, and explains why successful transformation starts with people and processes, not technology. The conversation explores change management, stakeholder buy-in, measuring the impact of legal tech, and how AI is reshaping legal operations without replacing the human element.  Whether you're building a legal ops function or leading digital transformation, this episode is packed with practical lessons on driving adoption, influencing leadership, and preparing legal teams for the future.   Topics Introduction: 00:00 From Television Producer to Legal Operations Leader: 03:36 Taking a Career Step Back to Move Forward in Legal Operations: 07:32 Leading the First Legal Technology Initiative: 09:39 Why Change Management Determines Technology Success: 12:11 Building a Data-Driven Legal Transformation Strategy: 16:26 Influencing Executives and Demonstrating Legal Ops Value: 26:08 AI in Legal Operations: Biggest Misconceptions and Opportunities: 30:52 The AI Skills Every Legal Ops Professional Needs Today: 33:56 The Future of Legal Operations in an AI-Driven World: 38:10 Connect with us: Stephanie Palmieri - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniehirasawa/ Akshay Verma - https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-verma-esq/ SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues. Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.