How law firm Gilbert + Tobin governs and scales AI with OpenAI

Gilbert + Tobin is one of Australia’s leading corporate law firms, recognised for its work across capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, disputes, and technology. The firm’s practice depends on specialist knowledge, careful judgment, and the secure handling of sensitive information.

When generative AI began reshaping knowledge work, Gilbert + Tobin saw an opportunity—not to change how it delivers legal advice, but to raise the standard of the operational work that supports it. The firm set out to give every operations team sharper tools for research, drafting, and analysis, while preserving the governance and professional accountability its clients expect.

ChatGPT Enterprise was introduced first to operations teams, where practical use cases could be tested in a controlled environment. From there, adoption expanded into marketing, business development, recruitment, finance, technology, business transformation, and parts of the legal practice. Throughout, the focus has remained on how the firm operates, not on displacing the professional judgment at the heart of its legal services.

With Codex, the firm is moving further still, from AI that assists individuals with discrete tasks to AI that completes defined steps across larger workflows.

Turning leadership support into firm-wide adoption

Visible leadership helped make AI adoption relevant and legitimate across the firm. CEO Sam Nickless introduced ChatGPT to employees through examples from his own work. His message, “AI is not cheating,” positioned it as another tool employees could use to apply their judgment, rather than an inappropriate shortcut. Other senior leaders became active users and shared examples with their teams.

Gilbert + Tobin paired that leadership support with role-specific enablement. Instead of relying on generic training, the business transformation team joined individual team meetings to demonstrate workflows tailored to marketing, finance, recruitment, operations, and other functions. Internal videos, showcases, challenges, and use-case stories helped employees keep pace as ChatGPT gained new capabilities.

The firm did not mandate usage targets. It focused on showing employees what the technology could do while keeping people accountable for the result. As of June 2026, 87% of enabled seats were active, more than twice the adoption rate Gilbert + Tobin typically sees for other tools. Active users included partners and employees outside the technology function.

“AI is not cheating. It gives our people another way to apply their judgment and improve how the firm operates. In a profession built on trust and accountability, that starts with strong governance. OpenAI provides the enterprise-grade foundation that allows us to move forward with confidence.”

—Sam Nickless, Chief Executive Officer, Gilbert + Tobin

Building trust through governance and Australian data residency

Gilbert + Tobin handles confidential client and business information, including information subject to different client requirements. Its AI rollout was supported by clear guidance on approved tasks, what employees could enter, and how outputs should be reviewed. The firm also assessed contractual protections, role-based access, data-processing requirements, and administrative controls.

Moving to an OpenAI environment with Australian data residency gave Gilbert + Tobin greater confidence to expand access while meeting internal requirements and client expectations.

“OpenAI approached the platform from an enterprise perspective and built the controls that organisations like ours need to operate with confidence.”

—Mitch Owens, Chief Information Officer, Gilbert + Tobin

Improving everyday work across the firm

ChatGPT now supports several business functions. It reduced a recruitment research and data-extraction task from approximately four hours to about 20 minutes. A separate reference-processing workflow saves an estimated 25 minutes per candidate, supporting a team that manages high recruitment volumes.

Marketing and business development teams use ChatGPT to synthesize previous pitch materials and tailor responses for new opportunities. The firm produces 400 to 500 pitches each year, and ChatGPT helps teams prepare content faster while improving its quality and alignment with the firm’s writing standards. Teams also use deep research to support industry reports and sector, client, and business-development strategies.

Finance teams use ChatGPT for spreadsheet and data-analysis work. Technology teams apply it to documentation, scripts, training materials, and internal guidance. Lawyers who use ChatGPT draw on it for the operational side of their work, while our legal-specific workflows are supported through approved platforms, such as the AI-powered Harvey platform. Across all these use cases, people remain responsible for constraining the task, checking outputs, applying professional judgment, and approving the final work product.

One distinctive ChatGPT use case is a custom GPT that helps executives pressure-test ideas before taking up the CEO’s time. Built from approved examples of Nickless’ writing, priorities, professional background, feedback, and business context, it acts as a ‘digital twin’ of the CEO without making decisions on his behalf or speaking for him.

“Instead of going straight to our CEO, we can test an idea with his custom GPT first. It helps us pressure-test ideas, refine our thinking and understand how it might align with his priorities.”

—Daniel Quinn, Chief Marketing Officer, Gilbert + Tobin

Moving from assistance to execution with Codex

Codex has helped Gilbert + Tobin complete defined, multistep operational work under human review. For instance, it prepared audit reports covering 300 entities, avoiding a full day of manual work across the entire workflow. Codex also checked and renamed 1,100 files for upload into another system, replacing work that would previously have taken days.