Australia’s leading futurist Steve Sammartino will headline this week’s LawFest Conference where he tells Georgina Bond he will demonstrate how the legal profession can shape technology rather than be shaped by it.
You can’t simply declare yourself a futurist. “People have to call you one for a long time before you do,” says Steve Sammartino – widely regarded as Australia’s leading voice on what’s next.
“Like a rockstar, you need the albums and the hits first.”
Over decades, Sammartino has built a career that has earned him the title of ‘futurist’.
He began coding at just 10 years old and went on to work in software development, robotics, and economics, blending technical expertise with a sharp understanding of marketing and human behaviour. This combination has shaped a career advising major companies on strategy and innovation at the intersection of technology and commerce.
The author of The Great Fragmentation: And Why the Future of Business is Small and The Lessons School Forgot: How to Hack Your Way Through Technology, Sammartino is also a sought-after media commentator on emerging technology, known for translating complex ideas into practical, commercial outcomes.
And this week, he’s in New Zealand, taking the stage at the LawFest conference to talk with lawyers about one of the most game-changing technologies reshaping the profession: artificial intelligence or AI.
“I’m a technologist who talks about where the future is going. I bring an outsider view of what I would do if I was in the legal industry, That’s good, because I don’t wear the blinkers of the past, but I offer an external view of your world,” Sammartino says.
What is a futurist?
To explain the title, Sammartino points to three parts: anthropology, technology, and economics.
“I look at anthropology and human behaviour, and as much as we think it changes, it really doesn’t in terms of core human needs. Humans haven’t had a software upgrade. Our core DNA hasn’t changed,” Sammartino says.
But while people remain fundamentally the same, technology doesn’t. It changes exponentially, with certain patterns that can be mapped and anticipated.
Then you bring economics into the mix, because technology must make economic sense. “Unless technology has an economic user, it won’t get mainstream adoption.
“This is where we need the overlap, the technology needs to solve human problems, and we have an economic model that makes sense somewhere. When that happens you get revolutions and that’s where AI fits.”
For Sammartino, futurism lives in that overlap where human needs, accelerating technology and viable economic models meet. For lawyers, he says, this approach offers a roadmap for understanding AI’s real-world impact and their role in shaping it.
Humans are the pilots
While AI is a powerful tool, it still needs human oversight and judgment,” Sammartino says.
That’s why, contrary to popular fears, he isn’t predicting a legal job apocalypse. Instead, he says lawyers are the perfectly positioned to master AI.
“That’s because, lawyers are masters of language, and large language [AI] models operate by recognising patterns within language frameworks to give plausible answers,” he says. “But the large language models need boundaries around where they should go. “We need the legal fraternity to help set those boundaries,” he says.
He uses the metaphor of AI being the autopilot, while lawyers remain the pilots.
“With artificial general intelligence – we are there. I define that as being better than most people at most things. We have that. But it still needs us to take the plane off autopilot and bring it in to land. And that’s the job of the future – working with the AI tools but we are still the pilots and need to set the course, monitor the AIs while they do the work, then bring the plane in to land. That’s the metaphor that I think holds everyone in good stead.”
The human advantage
Sammartino says automation is just the next step in humanity’s evolving work. “Two hundred years ago, 95% of humans worked on farms. Today, only 5% do. Jobs vanish, new ones appear.”
Humans always move forward, and always one layer above the “tech stack”, he says.
“We will see a real shift. Automation will reduce the cost and give us the productivity we need, and we do need it because birth rates are declining.
“But the most powerful things in the future will be because a human is delivering them. For example, a concierge service or seeing Taylor Swift live in concert.”
Going back to the pilot analogy: As the pilots, lawyers will have the choice to focus on high-value, interpretive work while AI handles routine tasks.
Why NZ lawyers are in a unique position
Having spoken in New Zealand many times, Steve appreciates the local perspective and says New Zealanders are more thoughtful and protective of their own country, “whereas Australia’s a bit more sycophantic to the US”, he says.
“New Zealanders are a bit more steadfast in what is right for New Zealand. I like that and think Australia should learn from that. So, I find New Zealand audiences a bit more receptive about shaping technology to its benefit.”
Sammartino’s LawFest talk will focus on emerging business models, practical applications of AI, and how to respond to technological revolutions.
“The tools are here, but how they’re applied, regulated, and bounded will determine whether they help society or create chaos.
“We will always have boundaries for the game of commerce, and I don’t think we will ever let AI adjudicate the rules of commerce.”
Lawyers will be critical in setting those boundaries, he says.
Looking ahead
A keen surfer, Sammartino says he’d love to have time to surf Piha or Raglan during his stay in New Zealand this week, but this visit will be short and purely for the conference.
He says to expect a lively session.
“People should look at the future with a smile and have a laugh, because the truth is always hidden in comedy.”
You can read more about the LawFest 2026 conference here:LawFest 2026: How a one-man mission became a legal innovation movement
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