EDRM is proud to support the 39th edition of the eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, now open through May 29, 2026
CORBETT, OR, UNITED STATES, April 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — ComplexDiscovery OÜ, a leading independent digital publication providing insights on cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory compliance and eDiscovery, has launched its 1H 2026 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, developed in partnership with the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM). Now in its 39th edition, this industry survey continues to serve as a vital benchmark for legal and technology professionals seeking transparency into business conditions, operational risks and the real-world impact of generative AI across the eDiscovery ecosystem.
“As the survey enters its 10th year, every new response helps sharpen the picture of how our evolving industry is really performing.”
This edition expands the survey to 17 questions, adding new coverage on AI governance frameworks and an organizational revenue-size dimension that, for the first time, allows the dataset to segment confidence and AI maturity by scale. The 2H 2025 results closed with the strongest sentiment readings in the survey’s history—64% of respondents reporting active AI deployment, while nearly one-third cited accuracy as their top barrier—making this edition a timely measure of whether governance and accountability are keeping pace.
The survey is concise by design yet consistent enough to track change across cycles. It takes just a few minutes and asks how conditions look today, where they are likely headed over the next six months, which single risk is most pressing and how teams are operating against financial and technology markers that matter, including revenue and profit direction, awareness of days sales outstanding, the direction of monthly recurring revenue and the practical status of generative AI and large language model use.
“The combination of measurable changes in sentiment over time with quantifiable measures of recurring revenue and cash flow trends provides the foundation,” said Mary Mack, CEO and chief legal technologist at EDRM. “The new questions on AI governance and organization size will shine a better light on similarities and differences in our community and our market as we experience the unprecedented rush to adoption.”
What’s new in 1H 2026
AI governance: The 2H 2025 results showed that 64.06% of respondents had moved generative AI and LLM initiatives from pilot into active deployment, yet accuracy remained the dominant concern at 32.81%. Deployment without governance is deployment without guardrails. The new AI governance questions ask whether organizations have established formal policies for generative AI use, how those policies are enforced and what oversight structures, if any, are in place. These questions move the conversation from adoption velocity to adoption accountability, giving the dataset a read on whether the industry is building the control frameworks its AI ambitions require.
Organizational revenue size: Prior editions tracked role, function and geography but left a gap in understanding how business conditions and technology posture vary by the scale of the organization reporting them. A 15-person consultancy and a global service provider with $500 million in annual revenue may both rate conditions as “good,” but the operational meaning of that rating diverges sharply. Adding a revenue-size dimension allows the dataset to segment confidence, AI maturity and financial visibility by organizational scale—producing a finer-grained view that leaders can use to benchmark against peers of comparable size.
The survey will remain open through May 29, 2026, and can be accessed at eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey 1H 2026. ComplexDiscovery OÜ and EDRM will publish the results after the window closes, continuing a practice of presenting the data in a concise, comparable format that teams can use for planning and peer comparison. The value compounds each cycle because the questions remain stable enough to track change without adding noise.
“As the survey enters its 10th year, every new response helps sharpen the picture of how our evolving industry is really performing,” said Holley Robinson, senior marketing operations manager at ComplexDiscovery OÜ. “We invite professionals from across the industry—law firms, corporate legal departments and service providers—to take a few minutes to share what they’re seeing, and to invite at least one colleague from another function to do the same, so that we can build a more transparent, data‑driven view of eDiscovery’s business environment.”
About EDRM
Empowering the global leaders of e-discovery, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) creates practical global resources to improve e-discovery, privacy, security and information governance. Since 2005, EDRM has delivered leadership, standards, tools, guides and test datasets to strengthen best practices throughout the world. EDRM has an international presence in 145 countries, spanning six continents. EDRM provides an innovative support infrastructure for individuals, law firms, corporations and government organizations seeking to improve the practice and provision of data and legal discovery with 19 active projects. Learn more at https://edrm.net.
About ComplexDiscovery OÜ
ComplexDiscovery OÜ is an independent digital publication and research organization based in Tallinn, Estonia. ComplexDiscovery covers cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory compliance and eDiscovery, with reporting that connects legal and business technology developments—including high-growth startup trends—to international business, policy and global security dynamics. Focusing on technology and risk issues shaped by cross-border regulation and geopolitical complexity, ComplexDiscovery delivers editorial coverage, original analysis and curated briefings for a global audience of legal, compliance, security and technology professionals. Learn more at https://complexdiscovery.com.
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