The AI Value Divide: Clients Are Demanding Invoice-Level Transparency — And Most Firms Cannot Deliver

Thomson Reuters Institute's Legalweek 2026 analysis documented a structural paradox that is now arriving in BD conversations daily. Clients have moved from asking whether firms use AI to demanding matter-specific accountability: Was AI used on this task? How much time did it save? How much money did that efficiency gain produce? Greenberg Traurig's Chief Pricing and Innovation Officer Matthew Beekhuizen said the pace of change accelerated sharply since October 2025. GSK's Chief of Staff Legal and Compliance Ellen Hudock said GSK is gathering information from outside firms about GenAI deployment and wants to partner on new use cases — but also described the pressure to deliver savings as intense. The central problem: only 22% of firms have a GenAI strategy; firms with one are 3.9 times more likely to achieve ROI. Ropes & Gray's Director of Technology Innovation Sergey Polak said ROI measurement is currently based more on conventional wisdom than hard evidence. DLA Piper's Senior Managing Director of AI Innovation Barclay Blair advised firms not to wait — set the meeting, lead the conversation about how AI value will be shared, and negotiate the terms before clients do.