How agentic AI services are revolutionizing contract management and compliance
Ari Kaplan. (Photo by Tori Soper)
Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Shashank Pande and Rachita Maker, the co-founders of Ekamm8, a new forward-thinking legal innovation and consulting company.
They discussed how technology is transforming traditional legal practices, ways that Ekamm8’s agentic artificial intelligence services are revolutionizing contract management and compliance, how leaders in legal should encourage technology adoption, and where innovation in the legal industry is headed.
Ari Kaplan: Tell us about your background and the genesis of Ekamm8.
Rachita Maker: I have spent about 25 years in the legal services outsourcing and consulting industry. I’ve worked with organizations like Pangea3, as one of the founding team members, Thomson Reuters and EY. I’ve also worked with Integreon, where I managed over a thousand legal and nonlegal professionals; Tata Communications as their global head of legal operations; and DWF, a U.K.-headquartered law firm, where I was the global head of legal operations, technology and consulting. While Shashank and I were at DWF, we discussed how clients’ needs were changing with the emergence of new technology, which is when we first considered the idea of Ekamm8. The philosophy of Ekamm8 is something that encapsulates both tradition and modernity. It comes from the ancient Indian language Sanskrit. Ekamm means one, and one denotes unity, leadership and new beginnings. Eight denotes infinity. So we believe in this world of technology and artificial intelligence, our clients have infinite possibilities while looking at a problem. Ekamm8 is that one guiding light that helps them unlock infinite solutions, find a solution that is fit for purpose for them, implement it and promote adoption. When we call ourselves a legal innovation and consulting firm, there are four primary services that we focus on, which include legal operations consulting, setup and optimization; legal technology implementation, primarily partnering with other CLM companies as partners; agentic AI-led managed services; and AI upskilling and training. As we grow the company, I am sure it will see its own evolution.
Ari Kaplan: Tell us about your background and how Ekamm8 differs from other legal consultancies.
Shashank Pande and Rachita Maker are the co-founders of Ekamm8, a new forward-thinking legal innovation and consulting company.
Shashank Pande: I have over two decades of leadership experience in legal, technology, business development and strategic sales. I am passionate about innovation, enhancing legal operations through technology, and identifying AI-driven solutions to improve efficiency and deliver client results. I have had the privilege of working with legal services providers and a law firm, where I have led global teams to develop strategic solutions for Fortune 500 clients. Ekamm8 differs from other providers in legal in four principal ways. In the era of constant change, the first part is Ekamm8’s philosophy, which signifies the intersection of fresh perspectives and boundless possibilities in legal and underlying sectors using technology. The second part is the integration of advanced technology. Ekamm8 stands out for its commitment to using cutting-edge technology that will help optimize operations, offering clients access to the latest tools and innovations, including AI-powered solutions and agentic AI automation. The third is a customized approach because each client is unique, and we need to tailor our services to meet their specific requirements. This personalized approach ensures the client receives the targeted support and strategic guidance it needs. The fourth is execution, as Ekamm8 focuses on helping clients achieve tangible results. We measure success based on the positive impact on clients’ business.
Ari Kaplan: How do you see technology transforming legal practices, and how will Ekamm8 help legal teams navigate that shift?
Rachita Maker: Technology has been transforming for many years, but previously, it was used on the back end. That is where alternative legal services providers were using it. Technology has moved to the front end and is mainstream. There has been a huge shift in the last three to four years, especially in the past two, with generative AI’s emergence. The change of interest to agentic AI has been even faster. I don’t know what’s next, but it will probably come in the next six months. It’s a fascinating time, and I am excited about what’s coming.
Ari Kaplan: How are your agentic AI services transforming contract management and compliance for legal professionals?
Shashank Pande: Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can make decisions and take actions autonomously while adapting to changing situations. It could be one AI agent or multiple agents working to complete complex tasks. Clients are coming to Ekamm8 with their unique requirements and challenges that their teams are facing. Our team of experts then customizes agentic AI services for them while always ensuring that the controls are with the humans, which is very important in legal. Agentic AI solutions deliver a consistent output within the trained framework that the client has shared with us or that we develop with the client. It also mitigates errors because of the limited human engagement. And it enables teams to scale and empower quicker turnaround. We are able to scale agentic AI services instantly. You no longer need to spend weeks hiring, training and recruiting talent for specific projects. You can deliver results around the clock, giving clients the flexibility to operate efficiently across various time zones.
Ari Kaplan: How has the law firm’s view of technology changed over the past few years, and what opportunities does that present?
Rachita Maker: Technology has come to the front end, and I think COVID did us some good regarding technology acceptance. Generative AI has been one of the most widely accepted applications because it is easy to use, does not require extensive training, and plugs into your existing workflow. That is how we are approaching innovation with clients. We do not want to trigger change management fatigue, which can lead to adoption failure. Technology has become much easier to use, and we are all using it in our daily lives. We want to promote a similar level of comfort with technology, so agentic AI agents should be seamlessly integrated into Outlook, Word, Teams and other standard tools, reducing the need to navigate out of an existing workflow. The influx of Generation Z professionals into the workforce accelerates these changes because they are comfortable with tools that improve and enhance their work. Clients expect their outside law firms to use a modern suite of technologies. Standard RFPs include questions about that portfolio when selecting law firms.
Ari Kaplan: How has Ekamm8 tailored its approach to suit the unique needs of different legal teams?
Shashank Pande: Ekamm8 tailors its approach to the unique needs of its clients through a combination of focused, personalized service provided by a team of legal and business experts. Every employee understands how to align business and legal strategies. Ekamm8 conducts tailored assessments, interviews and workshops to understand each client’s pain points and technology maturity level. When selecting a technology for an organization and a project, it has to be fit for purpose. It should be able to solve the problem at issue and work into the future, as well. It is crucial to develop customer-centric strategies because not all clients are the same, so their needs differ. In legal operations, for example, we break down high-level business goals into specific legal outputs that create measurable outcomes that the GC or the legal team can favorably report to enterprise leaders. We also develop clear legal roadmaps for different departments and identify technology or processes that allow the legal team to handle more requests without additional resources. We strive to deliver tangible results to the clients and recognize that the approach may differ for each.
Ari Kaplan: How should leaders in legal encourage technology adoption?
Rachita Maker: Leaders have a responsibility and an obligation to use technology themselves. Gen Z does not need any encouragement. Technology is changing so fast, and it is almost impossible to keep up, but I think leaders in law need to be ready and willing to take some calculated risks. An initiative may fail, but that should not be a reason to avoid trying something new while keeping your organizational guardrails in mind and ensuring that you have governance protocols. There is no 100% solution. All available technologies enable humans to do their work more efficiently. Even autonomous agentic AI decision-making is based on human judgment. We do not want artificial intelligence making independent decisions, but you should have some risk appetite in leadership.
Ari Kaplan: How do you see innovation in legal evolving?
Shashank Pande: We have seen a significant upward trajectory in the last few years, driven mainly by changing client demands, technological advancements and regulatory landscape shifts. We have also seen considerable investment post-COVID, so the legal tech ecosystem has expanded. The structure of law firms has changed, with a chief innovation officer often providing insight and strategy on driving innovation to executive leaders. Innovation in law is about simultaneously adopting new technologies, changing how legal services are delivered, and improving how legal professionals work. Finally, data is becoming more complex, and advanced tools are central to effectively leveraging that information.
Listen to the complete interview at Reinventing Professionals.
Ari Kaplan regularly interviews leaders in the legal industry and in the broader professional services community to share perspective, highlight transformative change and introduce new technology at his blog and on iTunes.
This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.
