Best of Pioneers and Pathfinders: Richard Susskind

This week, we’re revisiting a wonderful discussion with Professor Richard Susskind. In the time since he joined us on the podcast, Richard has been promoted to CBE—Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the King's New Year Honours List 2025 for his “services to Information Technology and to the Law.” Richard has also written a new book, How To Think About AI: A Guide For The Perplexed, in which he addresses the most challenging issues of AI technology that are currently being debated—the business, risk, legal, ethical, management, and philosophical implications. The book will be available in March for those in the UK, and in April for those in the US. We have provided a link with additional information in the show notes. Congratulations to Richard on these recent accomplishments. And thank you to everyone for listening. We hope you enjoy! Today, we welcome a very special guest—Professor Richard Susskind. For those who have been engaged in the discussions around legal tech for the past few decades, Richard needs no introduction. He is one of the most advanced thinkers on the impact of technology on the profession, and has been challenging our notions about what it will mean to be a lawyer for a long time. Richard is an adviser, speaker, and author who was focused on legal tech and the future of the profession long before these subjects were top of mind in the industry. In the 1980s, he wrote his doctorate at Oxford University on artificial intelligence, and today, his main area of expertise continues to be the impact of AI and other technologies on the legal profession. Among other roles, Richard is President of the Society for Computers and Law, and Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He is also an adviser to leading professional firms, in-house legal departments, and governments and judiciaries around the world. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, retreats, and other events, having been invited to lecture in more than 60 countries. Richard has written 10 books and has contributed more than 150 articles to The Times of London. His most recent publication is the third edition of Tomorrow’s Lawyers, which guides legal professionals through the imminent future of law, and calls upon the next generation of lawyers to embrace technology in order to improve current legal and court services. In our conversation, Richard discusses the ways we should all be thinking about legal innovation, the challenges of training lawyers for the future, and the qualifications of those likely to develop breakthrough technologies in law, as well as his own journey and how he became interested in AI as an undergraduate student.