The Legal AI Lawyer Re-Shaping The Way Lawyers Act

Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor

Before Sarah Johansson helped build one of the legal industry’s most promising AI products, she was deep in the trenches of litigation: reading thousands of case documents, drafting letters, researching precedents, and wondering why so many parts of the legal process weren’t taking advantage of newer, innovative tech.

Now, as Head of Legal Product at Theo Ai, Johansson is bringing modern solutions to a truly legacy industry.

She leads the team behind the first predictive engine for legal cases; a platform built not only to forecast case outcomes with accuracy, but to support legal professionals throughout the entire lifecycle of litigation.

From pre-complaint analysis to trial preparation, Theo Ai is becoming the go-to decision-support tool for law firms, litigation funders, and in-house teams who are looking for more data-backed confidence to reinforce their strategies.

The path prior to joining Theo Ai gave Johansson a glimpse into the traditional systems she now aims to improve.

A Merit Scholar with an LL.M. (Master of Laws, National Security Law) from Georgetown and an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) from Queen Mary University of London, Johansson spent years working with attorneys and judges on everything from high-volume civil dockets to complex cross-jurisdictional fraud litigation.

The reality she encountered in those roles deeply shaped her approach to product building.

“Law school teaches you to anchor your idea of a winner to the letter of the law,” she says. “But in practice, so many outcomes hinge on things beyond that: strategy, narrative, even timing. That gap between theory and reality was where I started to see the opportunity to build something unique.”

AI Products That Can Be Used

That opportunity turned into a mission: to design an AI product that legal professionals would actually use. The trick was designing a product that mirrors how they think, rather than asking them to change how they work.

At Theo Ai, Johansson has helped shape a platform that draws on AI models tailored specifically for legal use cases. The benefits go well beyond document review or contract parsing; Theo Ai delivers predictive insights grounded in a blend of historical case data, proprietary inputs, and real-time analytics.

And unlike most AI tools built on generalized models, Theo Ai is embedded where litigation actually happens.

“Many tools stop right where lawyers need them most,” she says. “We built Theo to live in their workflows. The engine has the capacity to enhance the way they practice, not interrupt it.”

Her team includes engineers, legal strategists, and data scientists all working in tandem. As a leader, Johansson thrives on the balance between precision and perspective.

She believes that engineers and lawyers both share a unique obsession with detail, and that great product design comes from knowing when to zoom in on minutiae and when to pull back to see the bigger picture.

“Our engineers, like Alan Pogrebinschi and Justin Krivda, have built components that stand alone as innovations. But what excites me is how they also come together to create something bigger, a system where the parts are equally as impressive as the sum.”

AI Ethical Imiplications

Perhaps most notably, Johansson is vocal about AI’s ethical implications and its potential to reinforce fairness rather than bias. She sees Theo as a product that doesn’t just accelerate decision-making, but enhances it, by surfacing patterns and data that humans alone might miss.

“There’s a lot of conversation around how AI might introduce bias. But I think it also has the power to reduce it, especially in the legal system where outcomes have historically varied based on geography, judge, or even demographics. The key is designing with that responsibility front and center.”

With Theo Ai’s rapid growth includes $6.4 million in funding since their launch in 2024 and industry partnerships across different verticals in the legal industry. These major milestones are allowing the company to establish itself as the foundational player in the AI-driven law space. Additionally, Johansson is helping ensure that foundation is built with clarity, rigor, and empathy.

“I’ve always been inspired by translating legal art into sophisticated technology,” she says. “Theo is about building something people love to use but more than that, it’s about helping shape a future-looking legal industry.”