Everlaw CEO AJ Shankar on how AI is accelerating legal tech

Everlaw is a legal tech company started in 2011 that helps law firms and corporations run what’s called “e-discovery”— essentially a process of investigating often massive piles of documents to find the key pieces of evidence, the smoking gun, and then to construct a narrative from it. Last valued at over $2B, Everlaw has over 1,000 customers over the world.   In this episode, Sandhya Hegde chats with AJ Shankar, CEO and founder of Everlaw. Join us as we discuss:  00:00: The vision for Everlaw  0:36 Introduction to Everlaw 1:45 AJ Shankar's Journey to Starting Everlaw 4:43 The Vision and Early Years of Everlaw 6:41 Challenges in Fundraising and Building the Early Team 9:56 Understanding Customer Needs and Building Authenticity 11:38 Product Development and Technical Skills 16:22 Impact of Everlaw on the Legal Industry 20:36 Fundraising Challenges and Success 23:59 Adoption of Generative AI and its Implications 29:30 The Future of Everlaw and the Legal Industry 35:51 AJ Shankar's Evolution as a Founder and CEO Sandhya Hegde is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in modern SaaS companies with a focus on AI. Previously an early executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at [email protected]. AJ Shankar is the CEO and founder of Everlaw. Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building the next generation of software companies. Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Webflow, Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, and Harness. Learn more about us at https://www.unusual.vc/.