Why the most successful AI programmes start after deployment
Company overview
Wedlake Bell is a full-service, independent law firm with a strong track record of embracing technology to support both client service and operational excellence. Having successfully introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot through the earlier phases of Stridon's Copilot Success Roadmap, the firm reached a point many organisations aspire to but few fully prepare for: widespread adoption.
The challenge was no longer whether people would use Copilot. The challenge was how to ensure the value already created continued to grow.
The opportunity
Most AI programmes focus heavily on deployment. Licenses are provisioned, training is delivered and adoption is measured. The project is often considered complete.
In reality, that's where a different challenge begins.
As AI becomes part of everyday work, organisations face new questions. How do you maintain momentum once the excitement of launch fades? How do you help occasional users become confident users? How do you ensure successful use cases spread beyond the teams that discovered them? And how do you balance innovation with governance as AI capabilities continue to evolve?
For Wedlake Bell, the focus shifted from adoption to optimisation. The firm wanted to build on the success already achieved, sustain confidence across the business and create a structured path towards new AI opportunities as they emerged.
The approach
To support this next stage, Wedlake Bell adopted the final phase of Stridon's Copilot Success Roadmap: Continuous Success.
The principle is simple. Successful AI adoption is not a one-off transformation project. It is an organisational capability that needs to be nurtured, measured and developed over time.
Through Stridon's Continuum and Advance programmes, Wedlake Bell established a framework that combined adoption support with strategic oversight.
This included:
- Quarterly Copilot refresh training
- A monthly Champions community
- Lifecycle learning and onboarding support
- Adoption reporting and insight reviews
- Opportunity identification and prioritisation
- Governance support
- Exploration of automation, agents and more advanced AI applications
Together, these activities provided the structure needed to sustain momentum while ensuring future opportunities were approached in a considered and responsible way.
Building on proven success
One of the clearest lessons from the programme was that adoption does not stand still.
Some users wanted help identifying new applications for Copilot within their role. Others were ready to explore increasingly sophisticated ways of working. New joiners required onboarding. Leaders wanted a clearer understanding of where value was being created and where additional support might be needed. The Champions community became an important mechanism for addressing these challenges.
Rather than relying solely on central communications or formal training, Champions created opportunities for practical examples, lessons learned and emerging use cases to move between teams. This helped ensure that adoption remained connected to the realities of legal practice and business services work.
What initially appeared to be an adoption activity became something broader: a way of helping the firm continuously learn how AI could support the way it works.
Making AI part of everyday work
The breadth of use cases emerging across Wedlake Bell reinforced the importance of maintaining that momentum.
Copilot was being used to support legal research, analyse contracts, summarise expert reports, draft client communications, navigate compliance requirements, improve business development activity and streamline administrative processes.
Importantly, these applications were not concentrated within a single team or practice area. They were appearing across legal and business services functions, demonstrating that the opportunity extended well beyond individual productivity gains.
The strongest evidence, however, came from how people described the technology.
Users described Copilot as becoming "part of the furniture", while one lawyer commented that they would be "pretty disgruntled if it was gone."
These remarks signal something important. Copilot was no longer being viewed as a new tool to experiment with. It had become a familiar and trusted part of everyday work.
Beyond productivity
The impact was tangible throughout the entire Copilot Success Roadmap programme.
A Business Development Manager reduced the time required to produce a polished newsletter from half a day to around 30 minutes. The HR team reported more than 50 hours saved across recruitment and policy-related activities.
Yet the significance of these examples lies beyond the time itself.
Across the firm, people were reaching stronger starting points more quickly. Less time was being spent searching for information, organising content or producing first drafts. More time could be focused on judgement, client relationships, problem solving and higher-value work.
Perhaps the most concise summary came from a member of the firm who described the experience as:
"Copilot is doing the grunt work, so I can do the brain work."
Looking ahead
As confidence grew, so did the firm's ambitions.
The conversation increasingly moved beyond individual productivity towards opportunities to improve processes, create reusable knowledge assets and explore more advanced AI capabilities.
One example under consideration was the development of an AML knowledge agent built around the firm's own policies and guidance. Rather than simply helping an individual complete a task, this type of capability has the potential to make organisational knowledge more accessible, consistent and scalable.
This is where many firms now find themselves. Adoption has been achieved, but leaders are looking for a structured route towards the next stage of value creation.
The outcome
Wedlake Bell recognised that successful AI adoption is not defined by deployment.
It is defined by what happens afterwards.
By combining ongoing enablement, governance, measurement and strategic advisory support, the firm created a framework for sustaining adoption while continuing to explore new opportunities.
The result is more than strong usage. It is the development of a long-term organisational capability that can evolve alongside both the firm's priorities and the rapidly changing AI landscape.
Why Stridon?
Most organisations need help getting started with AI.
Far fewer know how to sustain value once the initial rollout is complete.
Stridon's Copilot Success Roadmap was designed to address the full adoption lifecycle, from readiness and Proof of Value through to firmwide deployment and continuous optimisation.
For Wedlake Bell, that meant creating the structures, behaviours and governance needed to ensure AI remained useful, trusted and strategically relevant long after go-live.
The rollout created momentum. Continuous Success is ensuring that momentum becomes a lasting advantage.
Ready to move beyond deployment?
Stridon's Copilot Success Roadmap helps law firms move from initial adoption to lasting organisational capability, ensuring AI continues to deliver value as technology, people and priorities evolve.
Get in touch to discuss the next stage of your AI journey.