We Won the LegalTechTalk Hackathon in London

Our team took first place at the LegalTechTalk Hackathon in London. But the real win wasn't the trophy. It was the clarity we gained about where we can make the biggest impact.

Starting from a Different Place

Before the hackathon, we were building something quite different: a practice management solution for law firms. When the opportunity came to participate in LegalTechTalk, we saw it as a chance to pressure-test our thinking and get direct feedback from lawyers in a high-stakes environment.

Janne, Mikko, and Uzair represented Adeu. We teamed up with Andie Garford-Tull, General Counsel for AI & Governance at Dentsu, who brought invaluable in-house legal perspective to the group.

What We Built

Over 48 hours, we created an AI-powered assistant designed to bring clarity to complex contracts. But the product was only part of it. Working alongside Andie, hearing firsthand about the daily challenges in-house lawyers face, shifted our understanding of where AI can genuinely help.

The judges recognized the solution for its practicality and potential impact on how legal teams work. For us, the validation meant something deeper.

The Shift

Hackathons strip away the usual constraints. No legacy systems. No roadmap politics. Just a clear deadline and the freedom to build whatever makes sense.

That environment forced us to listen differently. When Andie described her workflows, the bottlenecks, the repetitive work pulling her away from strategic thinking. It became obvious we'd been building for the wrong audience.

Law firms have different needs than in-house teams. Different workflows, different success metrics, different pain points. The hackathon made that distinction impossible to ignore.

What It Means for Adeu

We left London with more questions than answers, but one thing was clear: there's something missing in the market for in-house legal teams. Not another generic AI tool, but something built specifically around how internal legal departments actually work.

We're now validating this direction with in-house lawyers. If the feedback confirms what we experienced in London, we'll commit fully to building for this audience.

Thank You

Thank you to the LegalTechTalk team for putting together an incredible event, and to Andie for being a fantastic teammate. The experience reminded us why we started this company: to build tools that genuinely help legal professionals do their best work.

We're looking forward to LegalTechTalk 2026.