When legal headlines talk about AI, it’s usually all hype or all fear. Either we’re replacing lawyers with robots or bracing for doomsday.

But back on Earth, where work still has to get done, AI is a business decision, not an existential dilemma. An important decision that legal departments, especially lean ones, need to make with clarity, not chaos.

Enter the Hanna Center: a nonprofit that treated AI not as a headline but as a workflow challenge. With process optimization as their goal, they went beyond simply testing a new tool and built a repeatable, resilient system that made their limited resources go further. In 2025, that approach evolved into a full-scale rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise accounts for 50 staff across departments, a practical experiment in how AI can add measurable value to mission-driven work. Their story shows how structured operational thinking can turn experimentation into meaningful, measurable progress.

Start with the Why

Our engagement with the Hanna Center began with a straightforward challenge: too much manual work for a small team, the kind that drains hours and focus from higher-impact priorities. Rather than chasing the next shiny tool, we zeroed in on what mattered most: value. Together, we mapped where time was being lost, what tasks could be safely offloaded, and how to safeguard both their people and their mission.

That shift in focus changed everything. By grounding the project in a real operational problem instead of an abstract idea of “innovation,” we created the space to measure outcomes that actually mattered. Hanna’s goal wasn’t a headline; it was lasting efficiency.

That efficiency began with a workflow audit that identified nine clear use cases, each ranked by complexity to create a roadmap for phased adoption. The early pilots targeted the simplest but highest-friction tasks. As these proved successful, more complex efforts followed, and the program was rolled out more broadly across the organization.

When ChatGPT was launched to all 50 staff members, we worked with them to structure the rollout for measurable impact. It was a mixed-methods evaluation that included surveying 27 users and conducting seven focus groups. The results showed that staff saved an average of 4.13 hours per week, totaling roughly $22,767 in monthly value across departments.

Beyond time savings, teams reported greater autonomy, faster report turnaround, and reduced reliance on outside consultants. The project also sparked creative thinking and enthusiasm, generating over 50 ideas for future AI use cases. That same value-first approach defines our every engagement. Whether we’re partnering with a large enterprise or a small nonprofit, our strategy starts with what the team needs to work better. Flashy solutions come and go. Practical ones endure.

Pilot Small, Build Smart

Hanna’s rollout built on that same clarity of purpose. It started small with a focused pilot to automate time-consuming, overly manual tasks that were slowing the organization down. The project was scoped intentionally, with cross-functional alignment from the start, and treated like a test kitchen: structured, transparent, and open to feedback.

The initial pilots focused on high-value, low-risk workflows, projects where AI could immediately reduce administrative burden without disrupting sensitive processes. Early examples included automating data extraction from ancillary services invoices and high school transcripts, simplifying the creation of program manuals, and using ChatGPT to draft trauma-informed care (TIC) policy updates. These early wins built staff confidence and freed up time for deeper strategic work.

From there, the team expanded into moderate-complexity use cases, including building automated dashboards, generating impact reports that combined survey data and narrative insights, and drafting curriculum content for the Hanna Institute. By ranking use cases by complexity, Hanna avoided overreach and ensured that each new deployment was built on proven success.

Staff testimonials from the evaluation captured the impact in human terms. One grants team member said, “It would have taken me a good 20 to 30 minutes, and I have it in five,” and another noted that reports that once took “three to four hours of focused time” could now be completed “within an hour or less.” Across departments, staff described the same pattern: spending less time on formatting and searching and more time on judgment, planning, and collaboration.

Each iteration refined not just the technology but the process itself. As the pilot matured, core operational principles such as risk management, change readiness, and metrics kept it grounded. Every improvement was documented, every win validated, and every new workflow designed to be repeatable, not one-off.

That discipline paid off. By the time Hanna’s ChatGPT Enterprise program reached full adoption, it had become a living example of operations transformation in motion: start small, prove value, scale with intention.

Turning Experimentation into Impact

By mid-2025, Hanna Center’s AI adoption had gone beyond the pilot stage and had become a model for practical, mission-driven transformation. The results spoke for themselves: measurable time and cost savings, stronger internal capacity, and teams empowered to solve problems independently.

For leadership, the takeaway was clear: when you treat AI as an operational enhancement rather than a disruptive overhaul, adoption sticks. Staff comfort levels averaged 4.1 out of 5, and 81% of users cited writing and editing as their most frequent task.

For every organization exploring AI, that’s the real lesson: progress doesn’t come from chasing the newest tool, but from applying disciplined operational design to build targeted, simple process improvements that endure.

A Thoughtful Shift

This takeaway goes beyond technology itself. What matters most is the mindset behind how teams choose to use it. Structured operational thinking is, at its core, about alignment: connecting how work gets done to what the organization is trying to achieve. Success shows up in time saved, smoother processes, and stronger trust between teams, not in the number of tools deployed.

No matter the project, whether it is automating FAQs, refining workflows, or improving coordination across departments, the same principles hold true: start with value, test intentionally, communicate openly, and design for real use.

When operations lead the strategy, AI becomes an amplifier for good work, not a replacement for it. Hanna Center showed how that happens. The future of work isn’t defined by automation. It’s defined by how we use technology to strengthen the organization, one deliberate step at a time.

Brandi Pack has a diverse background that spans the legal, hospitality, education, and technology industries. Over the course of her career, she has excelled in various strategic business operations roles at Hewlett Packard Company, Constellation Brands, and Goodwill Industries. Brandi has a successful track record in project management, training, business development, legal operations, and IT services. She is a thought leader in the emerging space of AI in the workplace, particularly as it impacts the legal landscape.

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