How two AI leaders are reshaping traditional industries: Insights into the future of high-growth tech

On October 28th, James Ding, DraftWise CEO and co-founder, will join Jordan Taylor, Vizcom CEO and founder, for a conversation at TechCrunch Disrupt, moderated by Sofia Dolfe from Index Ventures. The founders will share their insights as Gen AI leaders in industries traditionally resistant to change and what the surprising parallels in the reception to AI in legal and design spaces reveal about the future of technology in the workplace. 

The conversation will explore the ongoing transformation in the historically slow-moving industries, illustrated by James’ and Jordans’ experience as early innovators in legal and design. 

As AI integrates further into communities resistant to change, innovative solutions are changing the status quo and reshaping expectations for the future. Join the conversation in person, or follow along online, to learn how AI and other emerging technologies are driving the future of work.

AI and innovation in traditional industries

As AI continues to push the boundaries of innovation, even industries known for their slow adoption of new technologies, like law and design, are beginning to embrace its transformative potential.

At first glance, the work processes of lawyers and designers look very different. At Disrupt, Jordan and James will unpack the surprising intersections between lawyers and designers in their reaction to and expectations for Generative AI. Both lawyers and designers are highly specialized, require a high level of accuracy in their work, need specific technological capabilities to support their roles, and are historically slow to adopt new technology and practices. 

The high precision needed for success in these fields tends to make professionals more skeptical of new technologies and work processes. But the tide of the market is changing, and a new openness to innovation is rapidly changing expectations for the future. 

Building for success: practical insights 

The question at the center of valuable interaction with AI is “What's a better way to do this?”. People are drawn to technology for the value of the solution it provides. Consequently, customers notice when technology works how it's supposed to, and even more so when it doesn’t.  

In both legal and design, the recent wave of AI tools has promised to connect users with solutions to everyday problems. But ‘AI hype’ has prioritized feature racing and feature chasing across industries, measuring success as the longest list of capabilities and potential applications rather than in the efficacy of the end result.

During their conversation, James and Jordan will share practical insights for how to succeed in building tools for industries undergoing digital transformation, aligning product decisions with customer needs for products that stick. 

The next innovation wave: the role of AI technology

The desire for authorship and ownership is a key theme emerging in both legal and design spheres. Both lawyers and designers want to maintain a certain level of autonomy in their work; they look to AI tools for acceleration and enhancement rather than automation. 

AI technology is powerful for automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks in niche workflows. This efficiency gain is important. But arguably, even more impactful to the bottom line is the ability to reallocate saved time towards accelerating reasoning, strategy, and creative work that is inherently aligned with human capability. 

During their conversation, James and Jordan will share how lawyers and designers are impacted by AI’s ability to accelerate strategic and creative work, and what this means for the role of technology in the workplace.

Understanding the future of knowledge work

The newfound ability to better navigate knowledge that AI has introduced in traditional workplaces has created the emergence of a new role: the curator. 

As leaders in their respective industries, both Jordan and James call attention to the importance of connecting users, whether lawyers or designers, with visibility into their data. Better connecting users with relevant data not only improves the efficacy of an individual’s work but also opens the door to transforming how knowledge is applied within companies at scale. 

The emergence of curator roles marks a new industry-spanning opportunity for companies to organize and distribute internal data. At Disrupt, James and Jordan will share how the curator role is taking shape in both legal and design and how AI is changing the way that employees interact with and apply proprietary data to create value. 

Learn more about the future of high-growth tech

AI is not just changing the way that individual’s work is done, it’s reshaping entire industries by challenging old paradigms. Don't miss the opportunity to join the conversation at Disrupt—whether in person or online—or connect with our team to learn more about how AI is shaping the future of work. 

‍