In today’s legal landscape, data is more than just information — it is trust, confidentiality, and the foundation for client relationships. For Rohit Shukla, Chief Digital Officer and Executive Director at Khaitan & Co, this trust sits at the heart of how one of India’s largest full-service law firms leverages data and artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver value.
“For a law firm, data is trust,” says Shukla. “Clients entrust us with highly confidential and sensitive information, whether on litigation, corporate, or private equity matters. It is our responsibility to ensure that this data remains secure and is used to provide a 360-degree view that enhances the advice we give.”
Building a 360-degree view
Khaitan & Co operates across more than 25 practice areas, from banking and finance to real estate, energy, litigation, M&A and private equity. Shukla explains that the nature of client engagements requires going beyond the immediate brief.
“When a client comes to us for an M&A matter, the data they share often has implications for taxation, real estate, or regulatory compliance,” he says. “Being a full-service law firm means we must deliver holistic advice — and that is only possible with a 360-degree view of the client’s data.”
This view is enabled by interconnected systems — a document management system (DMS), CRM, billing and matter management systems — all feeding into a centralised data lake. Metadata, client interactions, and matter-specific insights flow across functions while maintaining strict access controls. This allows Khaitan & Co’s lawyers to provide well-rounded advice, beyond just what the client initially asks for.
AI as a strategic differentiator
AI has become an indispensable tool in contract analysis, litigation management, and research. Shukla shares how Khaitan & Co has built an in-house AI tool – “Khaitan & Co AI” also known as “KAI”, to accelerate work traditionally done manually.
For instance, in M&A scenarios, reviewing contracts of 300–500 pages could take a week of focused lawyer effort. “Now, with AI, we can upload the contract and quickly receive a risk analysis across 150 parameters — identifying clauses that are buyer-friendly or seller-friendly, and preparing faster for negotiations,” Shukla points out.
On the litigation side, AI is being used to extract timelines and key events from voluminous court orders, freeing junior lawyers from repetitive tasks. “A lot of groundwork and research which earlier took days to prepare is now automated. This allows our lawyers to focus on higher-value strategic work,” he adds.
Breaking down data silos
Data silos remain a challenge in most enterprises, and law firms are no exception. Khaitan & Co addressed this by creating an in-house data lake environment that integrates multiple systems.
“We started by putting our hands around the data — bringing information from SharePoint, partner matters, and other systems into one layer,” Shukla explains. “Once the data is in one place, you can play with it, analyse it, and derive insights while ensuring tight access controls.”
Every new matter created on the firm’s ERP automatically generates a folder in the DMS, accessible only to the assigned team. Emails, client communications, documents, and metadata are stored there, ensuring a single source of truth without duplicate files. These systems also connect with the CRM and practice management tools, all feeding into the data lake for deeper analysis.
Governance, compliance, and ethical walls
With AI adoption comes the responsibility of governance. Khaitan & Co has rolled out a comprehensive AI Governance Policy, supported by an AI Governance Committee that includes CXOs, data protection lawyers, and compliance experts.
“We built KAI in-house because we didn’t want sensitive client data going to third-party providers,” Shukla stresses. The system uses Microsoft Azure to connect with external large language models while ensuring redacted, non-stored data. The firm is also developing a proprietary small language model, hosted entirely within Khaitan & Co’s environment for maximum privacy.
Access is tightly controlled. If a team member leaves a matter, their access to related documents is automatically revoked. Additionally, all AI-generated outputs carry visible watermarks like “AI generated – kindly review” to guard against hallucinations and maintain accountability. Regular AI training sessions for lawyers and partners ensure awareness of compliance, data privacy, and PII redaction practices.
From insights to business value
For Shukla, translating data into business value happens across two dimensions — the practice of law and the business of law.
On the business side, Khaitan & Co uses predictive systems where associates forecast their upcoming availability. This is compared with actual timesheet data to optimise workload distribution. “It helps us identify key requirements and adjust utilisation accordingly — ensuring clients get the best value for their money,” he says.
CRM insights also drive client engagement. By tracking which partners interact most with particular clients, the firm identifies business development opportunities. Since law firms cannot market directly, these insights help them strengthen relationships based on the queries clients raise and the partners best positioned to address them.
Speed and scale with AI
When asked about the future, Shukla points to two trends that excite him the most.
First, speed of delivery: “What earlier took us two months to deliver should now be possible in three days. Faster delivery will drive higher AI adoption because clients and internal users expect immediate results,” he says.
Second, India’s large language models: “Rather than relying only on global providers, I look forward to Indian LLMs becoming mature, so we can contribute our data and benefit from solutions that are more attuned to our context.”
A fun note: If data could talk
When asked a lighter question about what data might say back to him, Shukla laughs and replies, “The data would probably say, ‘You are keeping me very busy — you’re using me all the time!’”
If he could wish for one “data superpower,” it would be the removal of size limitations. “We can do almost anything with data today, but sometimes we get stuck with the size of documents or datasets. If those limitations go away, we can do wonders,” he notes.
In an era where data is both an asset and a liability, Rohit Shukla is clear: AI and data governance must go hand in hand. “At the end of the day, clients seek speed, trust, and value. AI and data, when governed responsibly, allow us to deliver all three at scale,” he concludes.
