In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies, speaks with Ryan Zahrai, Founder of Zed Law, a cutting-edge legal and advisory firm built for fast-growing startups and ambitious scale-ups. Over the past 18 months, Zed Law has achieved 10x growth by bridging a key gap in the market by delivering agile legal services and strategic corporate advisory to clients who have outgrown the startup hustle but...
In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies, speaks with Ryan Zahrai, Founder of Zed Law, a cutting-edge legal and advisory firm built for fast-growing startups and ambitious scale-ups. Over the past 18 months, Zed Law has achieved 10x growth by bridging a key gap in the market by delivering agile legal services and strategic corporate advisory to clients who have outgrown the startup hustle but find traditional mid-tier law firms too slow and bloated. Beyond legal work, Zed Law supports clients with venture capital fundraising, debt financing, and market entry strategies, even investing directly in early-stage companies. With a founder-first, synergy-driven approach, Ryan and his team have cultivated a thriving network of bootstrapped and mission-led entrepreneurs who value speed, collaboration, and results.
Ryan’s unconventional legal career journey began in top-tier Australian law firms, took him to Israel for a global in-house legal role, and later into the private equity-backed healthcare sector. Working closely with CTOs, startup founders, and business leaders shifted his perspective on intelligence, challenging the legal profession’s over-reliance on academic credentials. He discovered that innovation in law often comes from those who think differently and operate outside rigid structures. This led Ryan to abandon the billable hour model, which he views as inherently limiting, in favour of tech-enabled legal solutions that deliver scale, efficiency, and greater client impact.
The discussion also explores the surge in venture capital investment driven by AI FOMO (fear of missing out). Ryan compares the trend to the crypto boom, with companies repositioning themselves or launching niche AI products to attract investors; with some securing funding without even an MVP. He envisions the future law firm as a small, expert legal team supported by hundreds of AI agents, from M&A specialists to contract drafting bots, enabling unprecedented efficiency. Anthony and Ryan also discuss the AI talent war, where top engineers are being courted with bonuses and salaries comparable to elite sports transfers.
AI’s transformation of the legal industry is already evident through platforms like Harvey – Professional Class AI , Crosby AI, and Veraty, Zed Law’s chosen partner for delivering AI-first legal services. Veraty’s platform resolves about 75% of legal queries via AI, with optional human lawyer verification for added accuracy. Ryan believes that AI already outperforms many mid-tier lawyers in efficiency and accuracy, much like how AI in healthcare has surpassed human performance in early-stage cancer detection. He predicts that while AI will dominate routine legal tasks, the optimal model will remain AI plus human oversight. He also outlines how AI will reduce demand for junior lawyers and paralegals, with fewer traditional entry roles but greater opportunities for those skilled in AI tool mastery and output verification.
As the episode closes, Ryan emphasises the importance of business agility in the AI era. He urges small and mid-sized firms to review strategies quarterly, run market tests, and pivot quickly based on early data, warning that failure to adapt will lead to being left behind. In contrast, large, inflexible firms often struggle to change at the necessary pace. Ryan’s key takeaway is clear: whether you’re in law, technology, or any AI-impacted industry, regular strategic adaptation isn’t optional; it’s the only path to long-term success.
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