Our Take
A hire announcement masquerading as strategy: iTrain is staffing up to sell adoption services now that UK law firms have already bought the software.
Why it matters
Most UK law firms licensed AI tools in 2023–24 but struggle with consistent team deployment and governance. A services vendor hiring a respected in-house transformation officer signals real demand for change-management support, not just training.
Do this week
General Counsel or IT Director: audit your current AI adoption metrics (tools licensed vs. tools used by role) before engaging any AI services vendor, so you know what you're actually paying to fix.
iTrain appoints Blair to head AI services
Technology adoption specialist iTrain has appointed Sarah Blair as head of transformation to lead its portfolio of AI services. Blair was previously director of technology and transformation, and latterly chief transformation officer at Thorntons Law, an independent Scottish law firm. She has also chaired the Law Society of Scotland's LawTech Advisory Board since 2019.
Blair joins iTrain as UK law firms move beyond initial AI tool procurement. Most have now licensed generative AI platforms, but many struggle with consistent adoption across teams, governance frameworks, and long-term usage retention.
The real adoption gap is organizational, not technical
Blair's appointment reflects a market shift. Firms no longer ask, "Which AI tool should we buy?" They ask, "How do we get our people to use it consistently and safely?" That is a people and process problem, not a software problem.
iTrain's AI adoption framework runs across three pillars: foundations, skills, and embedded adoption. The company says the approach centers on business goals, day-to-day work patterns, lawyer judgment, professional responsibilities, and governance. It is built around the fact that accountability ultimately sits with the lawyer and firm, not the vendor.
Blair's background matters here. She has operated inside a law firm, built transformation teams, and sat on industry advisory bodies. She is not a pure vendor executive; she has lived the friction between licensing a tool and making a tool stick in a regulated environment.
Know your adoption gap before you hire help
If your firm has licensed AI but usage is uneven across teams, or governance is unclear, or adoption plateaued after the first cohort of early adopters, you are the target customer for services like iTrain's. The question is not whether to hire outside support, but whether you can diagnose the specific blocker first.
Common patterns: leadership has committed to AI, but middle management has not translated that into role-specific workflows. Governance exists on paper but lacks enforcement. Training was a one-off event, not embedded. Trust in outputs varies widely by practice group.
Blair's quote is useful here: "Most of the organisations I speak to have already invested in the tools. The real work now is helping people use them well." If that describes your firm, your next step is not a new tool. It is a structured, people-centred adoption programme with accountability and long-term support.