AI at ABA TechShow: Point Solutions vs. Stapled-On Add-Ons – What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

AI was, unsurprisingly, the star of the show at this year’s ABA Legal Tech conference. From glowing product demos to ambitious roadmaps, nearly every vendor had a story to tell about artificial intelligence. But beneath the buzzwords and branding, a major divide is emerging in how legal AI is delivered: point solutions versus stapled-on AI.

If you’re evaluating new tools or wondering how AI should fit into your eDiscovery strategy, it’s critical to understand this distinction.

🎯 Point Solutions: Purpose-Built, Deep, and Often Narrow

Point solutions are AI tools built to solve a specific legal task. They are designed from the ground up with a narrow scope but deep capability. Examples at ABA Legal Tech included:

• AI tools for contract clause extraction
• Products trained on employment law case law or M&A documents
• eDiscovery AI for sentiment analysis or privilege detection

These offerings often deliver impressive results—but only for the job they’re meant to do. They are ideal when:

• You need deep functionality for a repetitive, high-volume task
• The AI model has been trained on domain-specific legal data
• You’re solving a single, clearly-defined problem

The catch? They often don’t integrate well into broader workflows and can create tool sprawl across teams.

🧩 Stapled-On AI: The Afterthought Add-On

On the flip side, we saw many vendors showcasing what can only be called “AI by checkbox”—features hurriedly added to existing products just to keep up with the hype. These are stapled-on AI features that:

• Look good in marketing slides
• Use generic LLMs with limited legal tuning
• Provide shallow functionality (e.g., basic summarization, document clustering)
• Can feel bolted on instead of seamlessly integrated

Stapled-on AI may offer some convenience but often lacks:

• Contextual understanding of legal data
• Transparency in how decisions are made
• The reliability needed for litigation-grade workflows

They can also increase risk by introducing black-box behavior into systems meant to be defensible.

🧠 How Digital WarRoom Thinks About AI

At Digital WarRoom, we’re not interested in chasing AI trends. We focus on strategic, explainable AI that enhances user decision-making and integrates directly into your review workflows.

We work with clients to:

• Use senior consultant-assisted AI for smart search, data modeling, and fact development
• Apply AI to augment, not replace attorney insight
• Avoid “black box” tools that compromise defensibility or transparency

Our goal isn’t to dazzle with generic AI—but to deliver meaningful, case-specific insight in partnership with our clients.

Final Thoughts: Choose AI That Fits Your Legal Brain

AI is no longer optional—but it should never be a gimmick. Whether you’re exploring a point solution or considering an AI in an integrated legacy platform, ask yourself:

• Client requirement: Is this AI solving a real legal problem I have?
• Client informed consent: Is it transparent, explainable, and defensible?
• Usefulness to my practice: Does it fit into my workflow, or will I have to change everything to use it?

At Digital WarRoom, we’re always happy to talk shop—whether you’re exploring AI tools, refining review strategy, or just need a sounding board on where the industry is headed.

📩 Want to discuss our view of AI in action the right way?
Let’s schedule a demo or a strategy call. Reach out at www.digitalwarroom.com