Process First, Tech Second: Akshay Verma’s Framework for Legal Ops Success

It’s the expensive mistake many legal departments don’t want to admit: it just spent a good chunk of change on a shiny new piece of legal tech software, yet many of the manual processes and unorganized workflows remain. Often,  blame is placed on the software, but the reality is often more uncomfortable.

As Akshay Verma (COO of SpotDraft) recently shared on the Technically Legal Podcast, the reason many legal tech implementations fail has nothing to do with technology, but with broken or non-existent processes.

In the episode, Akshay  explores his professional journey from his early days as a big-law paralegal and then lawyer. He then worked in a business development role to leading legal operations at tech leaders like Facebook and Coinbase, Akshay shares his unique perspective on why the most successful legal departments prioritize process over technology.

The conversation also explores the ins and outs of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), the evolution of the “agentic” legal tool, and why change management is the biggest hurdle for legal innovation. Akshay also discusses the “underdog mentality” that drew him to the startup world and the future of AI in legal workflows.

Key Takeaways:

• Process First: Technology is not a “magic pill” for broken workflows; centralized repositories and defined approval chains must come first.

• The Power of BD: Business development skills (evangelism and resilience) are critical for successful legal operations leaders.

• The “Holy Trifecta” of Legal Tech: Every department needs a CLM, a Spend Management tool (at scale), and an agentic Workflow/Intake tool.

• AI vs. Lawyering: AI will replace non-legal tasks, not the lawyers themselves, making AI literacy a new standard for the profession.

Listen Now.