Burges Salmon advances DEP journey with trusted, responsible AI powered by Microsoft Copilot and Harvey

Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon, which has a large presence in Scotland, is pleased to announce the next phase of its Digital Enablement Programme (DEP), a multi-year initiative to modernise how the firm delivers legal services. This new phase builds on a firm-wide foundation of Microsoft Copilot and follows the decision, after a successful trial, to adopt Harvey, a legal generative AI platform, for matter-specific legal workflows.

Over the last year, Burges Salmon has completed its Copilot rollout across the firm and continued to embed usage through innovation, experimentation and knowledge-sharing by its Digital Champion Network. Today, around 1,300 of the firm's people are enabled and usage is trending upwards, with approximately 700,000 prompts to date. Adoption of AI 'agents' is also accelerating, with 4,000 research and analysis agent tasks completed and the Facilitator agent launched to all Business Services colleagues. This approach reflects the firm's strategy: establish a robust, firm-wide foundation with Copilot, then progress to work-specific tools and targeted agent scenarios that support real-world tasks.

As part of that progression, Burges Salmon has selected Harvey following a structured internal trial and evaluation period. The decision reflects strategic and practical alignment with the firm's needs, with evidence from pilot groups and legal teams (including Real Estate) pointing to benefits arising from changes in lawyer behaviours and operational maturity. Harvey will be introduced through carefully governed, practice-led use cases designed to complement the firm's Copilot foundation.

Burges Salmon continues to build external insight and deepen its AI expertise, including through its attendance at Microsoft Ignite for the second consecutive year. This forms part of the firm's commitment to staying closely engaged with the wider technology community and ensuring that its DEP roadmap reflects the latest thinking, capabilities and best practice in enterprise AI.

To ensure innovation is delivered responsibly, Burges Salmon has established a Responsible AI Board. The Board brings together colleagues from across the firm to ensure that the adoption and use of AI supports and aligns with its obligations, objectives and values. Working alongside the Digital Enablement Programme team and the Harvey project team, the Board will embed responsible AI across policy, process and training. Its work is supported by the firm's market-leading AI advisory team, enabling Burges Salmon to help clients navigate the same opportunities and risks.

Roger Bull, Burges Salmon's Managing Partner, says: "Burges Salmon's Digital Enablement Programme is focused on investing in the tools, data and ways of working that help our people deliver the highest-quality outcomes for clients. With Copilot embedded firm-wide and Harvey adopted for targeted legal workflows, we're maturing how AI supports our work; responsibly, securely and at scale."

Emma Dowden, Chief Operating Officer at Burges Salmon, adds: "Our Digital Enablement Programme is ultimately about equipping our people with the tools, skills and confidence to work in smarter and more modern ways. What's important about this next phase is not just the introduction of new technology, but the way we are embedding AI thoughtfully and responsibly across the firm. With Copilot firmly established as our foundation and Harvey now supporting more sophisticated legal workflows, we are creating the conditions for meaningful innovation where our lawyers can focus more of their time on the higher-value thinking that clients rely on. It's a significant step forward for the firm, and one that reflects our commitment to investing in the future of how we deliver legal services."

Eddie Twemlow, Head of Technology at Burges Salmon, concludes: "We took a purposeful approach to selecting Harvey, grounded in trials, feedback and real use cases. Combined with Copilot and our growing set of AI agents, the next phase focuses on behaviour change, operational practices and measurable value in our teams."

The next steps in the Burges Salmon's DEP journey:

• Scale real-world use cases in selected practice areas, beginning with pilots shaped by what we learned during the trial phase
• Grow the agent ecosystem, focusing on research, analysis and facilitation scenarios that demonstrably save time or improve quality
• Strengthen governance and skills, with the Responsible AI Board engaged with existing teams in policy, risk and training as AI scales

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