AI Governance Is the New Career White Space in Law: Bobby Malhotra on the Rise of the Tech-and-Data Lawyer

Jun 9, 2026

Hosted by David Cowen | Careers and the Business of Law

David Cowen sits down with Bobby Malhotra, litigation partner and chair of Winston’s eDiscovery and Information Governance practice, member of the firm’s AI strategy group, and founding member of Legal Data Intelligence. Bobby sits at the intersection of eDiscovery, digital forensics, cross-border data, privacy, cybersecurity, information governance, and AI governance, bringing a rare combination of legal judgment, technical fluency, and hands-on curiosity.
This conversation covers why AI governance has arrived, why information governance is making a comeback, and why the next generation of legal professionals will need to become tech-and-data lawyers.
 
WHY THIS MATTERS?

AI governance is no longer a future issue. It is already here. Companies are dealing with employee use of public AI tools, data exposure, privacy risk, cybersecurity concerns, regulatory pressure, AI policies, privilege questions, AI transcription, and AI-related incidents. For lawyers and legal professionals, this is one of the clearest career white spaces in the market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• AI governance has arrived. It is already one of the hottest and busiest areas in the legal industry.
• AI governance is about vision, guardrails, policies, ethical obligations, legal obligations, regulatory compliance, and business risk.
• Information governance is the backbone of AI governance. You cannot govern AI if you do not know where your data lives.
• Data governance sits inside AI governance, and may be the most important part of the whole program.
• The legal role is expanding, not shrinking. AI governance and data governance are creating new career lanes across law firms, corporate legal departments, privacy, cybersecurity, eDiscovery, and legal operations.
• You do not need 20 years of AI governance experience. No one really has that. Curiosity, teachability, issue-spotting, and legal judgment matter more.
• The best professionals in this space combine legal thinking with technical literacy. It is not just about knowing the tools. It is about applying the law to the facts, the technology, and the risk.
• AI governance is not just about models anymore. It now includes privilege protection, AI transcription, employee AI usage, public AI tools, data exposure, and AI-related breach scenarios.
• Outside counsel and in-house teams both have a role. Some companies rely heavily on outside counsel, while others use outside counsel for strategy, policy review, sanity checks, regulatory guidance, and high-risk questions.
• If you want to build a career in this space, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Follow the law. Follow the technology. Find mentors. Set up news alerts. Stay close to communities like LDI and IAPP.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• David Cowen - Host
• Bobby Malhotra - Litigation Partner; Chair of eDiscovery and Information Governance; AI Strategy Group Member; Founding Member of Legal Data Intelligence
• Melanie Prevost - Referenced in connection with career creation and emerging opportunities
• Malcolm Gladwell - Referenced in connection with the 10,000-hour rule

COMPANIES & ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED

• Winston - Bobby’s firm
• Legal Data Intelligence / LDI - Community and framework for legal data professionals
• IAPP - AI governance and privacy education resource
• CLOC, ILTA, SOLID - Legal operations, innovation, and business of law communities
• M365, SharePoint, cloud platforms, data lakes, and metadata - Referenced as examples of where organizational data lives
  Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, California, and Texas - Referenced in connection with emerging AI legislation
• EU AI Act - Referenced in connection with AI regulatory obligations
• NAIC - Referenced in connection with AI guidance in the insurance industry
• New York DFS - Referenced in connection with regulated financial institutions

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