What Exactly BigHand Launched
- New AI Engine for Workflow Management
- BigHand has introduced an AI Email Routing feature in its cloud‑based Workflow Management platform. (bighand.com)
- This engine automatically reads emails sent to a centralized support inbox, determines what work is being requested, extracts key details, and routes the task to the right person — eliminating manual triage. (bighand.com)
- The goal: remove the need for someone to manually review every support‑request email, significantly improving speed and efficiency. (legalpracticeintelligence.com)
- Built for Legal Teams
- The AI is designed specifically for legal support workflows (“purpose-built for legal”), not just repurposed from other industries. (bighand.com)
- It supports legal‑specific routing logic, with approval rules and capacity‑based task assignment out-of-the-box. (bighand.com)
- Because it integrates with BigHand’s existing Workflow Cloud, lawyers don’t need to change how they work: they just keep emailing as usual. (bighand.com)
- Improved Visibility and Reporting
- Every email intake becomes structured workflow data. This gives teams better visibility into demand, turnaround times, and workload capacity via BigHand’s Process Reporting. (bighand.com)
- According to BigHand, firms using Workflow Management already saw task‑processing times drop by 39% even before AI routing — the AI is expected to make this even faster. (bighand.com)
- Accessible to Cloud Customers, at No Extra Cost
- Importantly, BigHand is making the AI Email Routing available at no additional license fee for their cloud customers. (bighand.com)
- This aligns with their strategy of embedding useful AI into existing tools rather than forcing major behavior change. (legalitprofessionals.com)
- Part of a Broader AI Drive
- The launch follows BigHand’s recent rollout of Cloud SR, an AI-powered speech recognition engine for their cloud workflow platform. (Legal Futures)
- BigHand says they designed these AI capabilities based on listening tours with real legal teams, to ensure they build what helps most. (legalpracticeintelligence.com)
Why This Matters — Strategic Commentary
- Efficiency Gains: By automating email triage, firms can free up administrative staff and streamline work assignment. This likely means faster turnaround for support requests and less bottlenecking in task allocation.
- Low Barrier to Adoption: Because the AI works in the inbox (something lawyers are already using), there’s minimal behavior change. That’s a huge plus, because many AI tools fail when they require users to learn a completely new workflow.
- Data-Driven Insights: Turning every email into structured data opens the door for better analytics. Firms can track how many tasks come in, how long they take to assign, who’s overloaded — which helps with staffing and resource planning.
- Cost-Effective Innovation: Offering this AI feature at no extra cost demonstrates BigHand’s commitment to delivering real, practical value, not just flashy tech. It also lowers the risk for firms to try it.
- Foundational AI Strategy: This isn’t just a one-off feature. Combined with their Cloud SR (speech recognition) and past investments, BigHand is signaling that AI is central to its cloud workflow strategy.
Risks & Considerations
- AI Mistakes: No AI is perfect — there’s a risk the system could misinterpret an email request, leading to wrong routing or mis-assigned tasks. Firms should monitor early adoption closely.
- Change Management for Admin Staff: While lawyers may not need to change, admin teams will likely see shifts in how they receive and process work. Training and trust in the AI will be important.
- Data Privacy: Automatically parsing email content means sensitive legal data travels through AI systems. Firms will need to be confident in BigHand’s security and compliance.
- Overreliance: Relying too heavily on AI could create problems if the model fails or misroutes work — there should still be oversight and fallback options.
Bottom Line
- BigHand’s launch of AI Email Routing is a smart, practical step: it automates a very manual, time‑consuming process without forcing users to change how they work.
- For law firms using BigHand Workflow in the cloud, it’s a low-friction way to gain major efficiency, reduce email triage time, and gain better visibility into request workflows.
- The fact that it’s included at no extra cost makes it especially compelling — and it aligns with BigHand’s broader, user-centered AI strategy.
- Good call. Here are some case‑studies + commentary on BigHand’s new AI‑powered Email Routing feature — what the real-world impact is, the strategic thinking behind it, and what the risks might be.
Case Studies
- BigHand’s Internal Listening Tour → Feature Design
- BigHand says it developed the AI Email Routing after face-to-face listening tours with legal teams. According to BigHand’s press release, they heard that lawyers prefer working through email — so instead of making them adopt a brand‑new interface, they built AI that “listens” in the background and creates tasks from email. (bighand.com)
- This is important: the design goal was zero behavior change for lawyers. BigHand emphasizes that if a lawyer can already send requests via email, they don’t need to learn a new system — “if they can email, they can use Workflow Management.” (bighand.com)
- Efficiency Gains & Reported Productivity Improvements
- BigHand claims that, even before AI routing, customers using its Workflow Management already saw task processing times drop by 39%. (bighand.com)
- With the AI doing the intake, BigHand expects even faster turnarounds. According to its product page, the AI “instantly” handles support request intake, routes it to the right resource, and balances workload. (bighand.com)
- Also, the AI makes every support request — which comes in via email — turn into structured data in BigHand’s Process Reporting tool. That means firms can now track demand, capacity, turnaround times, and more. (bighand.com)
- Free for Cloud Customers, Built Around Legal Workflows
- BigHand is offering this new AI Email Routing at no additional license cost for its cloud customers. (bighand.com)
- It’s purpose-built for legal support services — not just a generic AI‑workflow tool. The routing logic includes legal-specific rules, approvals, and capacity-based task assignment. (bighand.com)
- This means admin staff can work more efficiently, while lawyers don’t need to change how they submit requests: the AI does the heavy lifting. (Legal Futures)
- Part of a Broader AI Strategy
- This AI Email Routing is not BigHand’s only AI move: they recently launched Cloud SR, an AI-powered speech recognition engine for their cloud workflow platform. (legalitprofessionals.com)
- The company frames these AI features as incremental enhancements, not disruptive overhauls: “use AI to fix inefficiencies, not reinvent processes,” according to BigHand’s Global Director, Ben Jennings. (bighand.com)
- The initiative is also tied to a marketing campaign called “We’re Not Assholes”, which BigHand says comes from client feedback. The idea: build AI that helps people in real ways, rather than forcing unnecessary change. (bighand.com)
- Alignment with Law Firm Operational Pain Points
- BigHand has long positioned its Workflow product to solve the “inbox chaos” problem: legal support teams often spend too much time triaging unstructured email requests. According to BigHand‑published client quotes, their workflow tool gives more visibility and structure than just shared inboxes. (bighand.com)
- With AI handling the triage, law firms can more accurately allocate work, reduce missed requests, and make support operations more transparent — especially for remote or hybrid teams.
Commentary & Strategic Analysis
Strengths / Opportunities:
- User-Centered AI: By designing AI around how lawyers already work (i.e., by email), BigHand lowers the friction for adoption. This user-centric design is smart: tech only succeeds when people use it.
- Operational Efficiency: Automating the manual triage step frees up administrative teams to focus on more valuable work. It also speeds up the time between an email request and the creation of a task — improving responsiveness.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Turning every support request into structured workflow data is a big win. Firms can now analyze workload patterns, predict demand, and optimize resource allocation.
- Cost-Effective AI: Since the feature is included at no extra cost, BigHand avoids the risk that clients will “opt out” of paying for AI. It makes the upgrade a no-brainer for cloud customers.
- Incremental Innovation: This isn’t AI for AI’s sake. BigHand is layering capabilities (speech recognition, email routing) in a way that addresses real, painful workflow problems in legal operations.
Risks / Challenges:
- Accuracy & Misclassification: AI could mis-interpret an email, leading to tasks being routed incorrectly. That could frustrate users or create manual rework.
- Overreliance on AI: If firms rely too heavily on routing AI, they may underinvest in human oversight — which is risky if the model makes a mistake.
- Change Management for Admin Teams: While lawyers might not have to change, admin staff responsible for triage will need to trust the AI. Building that trust will take time.
- Privacy & Compliance: Automatically parsing email content raises data-security and privacy considerations. Legal teams will need to be comfortable with their AI solution reading potentially sensitive information.
- Scalability & Load: As request volumes grow, the AI engine must scale reliably. If it slows down or fails under load, the benefits could evaporate.
- BigHand’s Internal Listening Tour → Feature Design