The New Legal AI Career Ladder: Role, Responsibility, Authority and Resources

Live from ILTACON | Sponsored by Steno Legal AI isn't just creating new technology. It's creating new roles, new responsibilities and entirely new career paths. Live from ILTACON, David Cowen sits down with Leigh Zeiser, Director of AI and Automation at Troutman, to trace her journey from becoming one of the first Legal Process Engineers in the U.S. in 2018 to leading AI and automation today. Their conversation goes beyond titles. What happens when responsibility grows faster than authority and resources? How do you earn the trust to lead? And what separates the people waiting for the next opportunity from those creating it? Lee also shares what Troutman is learning as Generative AI adoption grows, why deterministic layers matter in legal, and how the firm's agentic AI platform, Athena, is evolving. In this episode: How new Legal AI roles are emerging in real time Why a title without authority and resources isn't enough What happens when AI adoption increases demand instead of reducing it Why career growth requires speaking up, not waiting to be asked How curiosity, accountability, trust and resourcefulness create opportunity Why "everybody owns AI" at Troutman Why deterministic AI may be critical to legal adoption How agentic AI is changing the way lawyers access tools and knowledge Why AI cost, token usage and responsible adoption are becoming leadership issues Chapters 00:10 | From Legal Process Engineer to Director of AI and Automation 01:33 | Eight Years of Emerging Legal AI Roles 02:20 | The Arrival of the Applied AI Manager 03:09 | Role, Responsibility, Authority and Resources 03:28 | Why AI Adoption Is Actually Increasing Demand 04:35 | How to Advocate for Authority and Resources 05:15 | Lead From Any Role 07:00 | Why Speaking Up Creates Career Opportunity 08:12 | Resourcefulness and Learning to Trust Your Talent 09:10 | Everything Is White Space: Don't Wait for the Assignment 10:29 | Why Everybody Owns AI 10:38 | Why Legal AI Needs Deterministic Layers 11:43 | What's Next for Legal AI in 2027? 12:08 | How Troutman's Athena Became Agentic 13:00 | AI Economics, Token Costs and Responsible Adoption 14:24 | Looking Ahead to SOLID Atlanta The Career Signal "You can't wait for anybody to assign it to you." Legal AI is creating white space across the industry. The roles, responsibilities and career paths are still being defined. The people who see an opportunity, step into it, earn trust and advocate for the authority and resources to execute may be the ones who define what these roles become. Follow SOLID for more conversations with the leaders shaping what comes next in legal: https://solid.legal/ 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Share this episode and take your career from now to next! Never eat alone!