Ironclad’s Cai GoGwilt on a Decade of Anticipating the Transformative Power of AI

Ironclad's story is one of great patience, careful preparation, and steadfast belief in the transformative power of artificial intelligence. For nearly a decade, the team has been preparing for the AI moment we are now in. Join us as Cai GoGwilt, Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Ironclad, shares the challenges and triumphs of their journey since founding the company in 2014. The story inspires founders to ask themselves: are there things you want to do in the future that you can prepare for today?

Cai never expected to work in the legal industry. At Palantir, he was a software developer in military intelligence and AI. He noticed many industries were underserved by modern software and, inspired by friends who were lawyers, decided to start building tech that would improve the practice of law. Around the same time, Jason Boehmig, who is now Cai’s Co-Founder and Ironclad’s CEO, was a corporate attorney at Fenwick & West. Jason was seeking tech solutions to break through legal bottlenecks. In 2014, they teamed up to build Ironclad to do precisely that. For the first few years, they focused solely on collaboration tools. But in the background, they were always working on AI. Years later, when GPT3 launched, it changed everything.

“When I first saw what AI is now capable of, my first thought was, ‘It's time.’’” – Cai GoGwilt

They have been building, learning, and experimenting with AI for nearly a decade. Despite meticulous preparation, the rapid pace of progress over the past year was not without challenges. In the upcoming episode, Cai and Accel’s Steve Loughlin will share how their team sustained their stamina for AI and turned roadblocks into critical ingredients for success.

Conversation Highlights:

00:00 - Cai’s early interest in legal tech and the formation of Ironclad’s founding team
7:00 - Balancing early product development with patience for the AI ecosystem to develop
11:00 - Predictions for the dramatic impact AI will have on the legal practice
14:00- Ironclad’s attempts at building an AI agent – and their big open-source breakthrough
18:00 - What startup founders can learn from Ironclad’s quick response to GPT
23:00 - Implications of AI on the legal workforce; massive efficiency gains
27:00 - Advice for avoiding common mistakes startups make when a new disruptive technology emerges

Host: Steve Loughlin, Partner at Accel

Guest: Cai GoGwilt, Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Ironclad