European firms quantify AI as business-model pressure intensifies

On September 25, the Financial Times reported that firms including A&O Shearman, Freshfields, Noerr and Three Crowns were using AI to improve efficiency or build bespoke services as the technology increased pressure on traditional business models. The report framed measurable productivity, value-based pricing and AI-native entrants as connected competitive forces rather than isolated technology projects. For firm leaders, adoption metrics need to connect usage and time saved to pricing, staffing and client outcomes. The strategic risk is that broad access to similar models makes workflow design and commercial execution—not tool ownership—the durable differentiator.