Have you ever been in a meeting where someone confidently says, “We could just build this ourselves,” and everyone nods, even though no one is entirely sure what that would actually involve? For in-house counsel, the build-versus-buy question has become unavoidable in the age of AI. New tools appear constantly, internal curiosity is high, and the pressure to modernize legal operations keeps mounting. The challenge is not access to technology. It is choosing an approach that genuinely helps the legal team without creating hidden risk or long-term drag. The decision of build vs buy AI is integral in this context.
That tension surfaced clearly in a conversation with Horace Wu, founder and CEO of Cynthia, a company focused on contract data analytics and smart drafting. His insight was grounded and practical. AI has made experimentation easier than ever, but it has not changed the fundamentals. Good decisions still start with understanding the problem, not chasing the technology.
Watch the full conversation with Horace Wu:
Why Building AI Feels Easier Than It Really Is
Modern AI tools make it surprisingly simple to create something that works in a demo. With today’s language models and open-source frameworks, a small team can build a prototype quickly. For in-house legal teams, this can feel empowering. You finally see a solution that reflects your workflows and speaks your legal language. However, when weighing build vs buy AI, this perceived simplicity can be misleading.
The difficulty emerges after that first success. Scaling a tool across a legal department introduces entirely new challenges. Security, data governance, reliability, user adoption, and long-term maintenance quickly become central concerns. Legal teams do not need tools that work once. They need tools that work every day, under pressure, and with sensitive information. Many internal builds stall at this stage, not because the idea was wrong, but because sustaining it requires more resources than anticipated.
When Buying Makes More Sense for Legal Operations
Buying an existing solution often feels less exciting, but it can be the most strategic choice. Mature legal tech products already account for scale, compliance, and ongoing improvement. For in-house counsel, buying can mean faster impact with less operational risk. The build vs buy AI question often tilts towards buying when considered in terms of time and expertise.
Horace Wu emphasized a simple but often overlooked principle. If lawyers already know what they want and trust a specific solution, forcing a different internal build rarely leads to adoption. Legal teams succeed when tools meet them where they are. Buying the right solution can free legal leaders to focus on judgment, strategy, and stakeholder relationships instead of product upkeep.
Why Partnering Can Be the Best Middle Ground
Partnering sits between building and buying and is often overlooked. A design partnership allows in-house legal teams to shape a tool without carrying the full burden of developing and maintaining it. This approach works best when the problem is real, the commitment is shared, and both sides are aligned on goals. In the build vs buy AI discussion, partnering is a flexible alternative.
Successful partnerships evolve through milestones rather than fixed endpoints. The goal is not perfection but progress. Legal teams benefit by getting solutions tailored to their workflows, while vendors gain insight into real-world legal challenges. When done well, partnership creates leverage instead of dependency.
Let User Pain Points Drive Every Decision
The most important takeaway for in-house lawyers is deceptively simple. Start with pain. Ask what slows the team down, where frustration lives, and what prevents better legal judgment. AI is powerful, but it does not replace listening.
When legal leaders ground technology decisions in real user pain, the build-versus-buy question becomes clearer. Sometimes the answer is to build. Often it is to buy. Increasingly, it is to partner. What matters is not the label, but whether the decision helps the legal team work better tomorrow than it did yesterday. The debate over build vs buy AI is essential for optimizing these decisions.
Watch the full conversation here: Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 9, Episode 6 (ft. Horace Wu)
Join the Conversation
At Notes to My (Legal) Self®, we’re dedicated to helping in-house legal professionals develop the skills, insights, and strategies needed to thrive in today’s evolving legal landscape. From leadership development to legal operations optimization and emerging technology, we provide the tools to help you stay ahead.
What’s been your biggest breakthrough moment in your legal career? Let’s talk about it—share your story.
