Repsol

After Pablo Blanco’s appointment as General Counsel in 2023, Repsol’s Legal Division set out to redefine in-house excellence under pressure to deliver high-quality advice faster. The department needed to lead—not follow—AI-driven change across digital transformation, legal tech, and knowledge management. Leadership launched the Protea Project to build “unbeatable lawyers” empowered by technology for strategic impact.

In late 2023, Repsol ran a blind evaluation of Harvey, Microsoft Copilot, and its internal prototype Lexia; Harvey ranked highest on complex legal tasks. A January 2024 pilot with 50 lawyers across 12 jurisdictions led to a full rollout by April 2024. Harvey is now embedded in daily workflows—clause comparisons, litigation prep, contract analysis, translations, and knowledge management via Vault.

Two years into the program, Harvey adoption reached 96% across the legal department, with lawyers saving 4–6 hours per week (an increase from early pilot phases). Compliance clause review dropped by over 90%, from 30–60 minutes to a few minutes. Vault analysis that once took days now takes minutes, and other departments including Tax and Labor have begun adopting Harvey.

• Rigorous blind testing against alternatives (including an internal tool) built confidence before full rollout
• High adoption and workflow embedding—Harvey open alongside Word—turned AI into daily practice, not a side experiment
• Time saved was reinvested in strategy, collaboration, and professional growth rather than treated as pure headcount reduction