Why One Australian Law Firm Built Its Own AI Instead of Relying on Big Tech
As Australian law firms invest heavily in artificial intelligence, Faculti Lawyers has taken a different approach: developing its own AI platform to retain greater control over how technology supports its legal practice.
While many firms are adopting established legal AI products, Faculti Lawyers has developed an in-house platform called Fai.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, executive chairman Adrian Tembel explained why the firm considers AI strategically important to its future.
Rather than committing to a single technology provider, Faculti has built Fai around a multi-provider model infrastructure, allowing the firm to draw on different AI technologies.
The approach reflects a growing concern across the legal industry: as AI becomes embedded in everyday legal work, how much control should law firms retain over the technology they depend on?
A different approach to legal AI
For many Australian law firms, the most straightforward route to AI adoption has been purchasing specialist software. However, developing an internal platform offers a different set of opportunities. Firms can potentially customise technology around their practice areas, integrate internal knowledge and workflows, and reduce dependence on individual software vendors. The decision also brings challenges, including development costs, ongoing maintenance, cybersecurity and the need for specialist technical expertise.
The wider shift in Australia's legal market
The debate comes as AI investment accelerates across the profession.
According to Thomson Reuters' Australia State of the Legal Market 2026, midsized Australian law firms increased technology and knowledge-management expenditure per lawyer by 16% during FY2026. The question is no longer simply whether law firms should adopt AI, but how they should integrate it into their operating models.
LawUno Insight
The next competitive advantage in legal practice may come not just from using AI, but from how effectively firms control and integrate it.
Faculti's approach demonstrates that some Australian firms see AI as long-term business infrastructure rather than another software subscription.
For lawyers, this could mean increasingly customised tools, new ways of delivering legal services and greater demand for professionals who can combine legal expertise with technological understanding.
For law firm leaders, it raises a strategic question:
Will the future belong to firms that buy the best AI technology, or those that build technology around the way their lawyers work?