As artificial intelligence moves to the heart of legal work, a new professional role is emerging at the intersection of legal knowledge and technical building, and the Gulf is among the first markets to begin cultivating the discipline.
Law is no longer a field apart from technology. That conviction has begun to reshape the contours of the legal profession worldwide, and with it have come roles that did not exist a few years ago, chief among them the “legal engineer,” a position that combines an understanding of legal texts and procedures on one side with the ability to translate them into technical tools and solutions on the other.
At a time when the pace of AI adoption is accelerating across legal institutions globally, start-ups in the region are moving to train young talent for this hybrid role, a step considered among the first of its kind in the region. Among them is Oqood AI, the Kuwait-based legal technology firm whose founder is building a regional legal AI stack, and which has brought on a cohort of trainees in the newly defined legal engineer role, in what it describes as a first for the region.
The numbers reflect the scale of the shift. According to Clio’s 2025 Legal Trends Report, 79% of legal professionals now use AI tools in their work. Regionally, Ken Research estimates the GCC legal technology market is worth around $1.2 billion, driven by AI adoption and automation in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in particular.
What does a legal engineer actually do?
Those working in the field explain that the day-to-day work of a legal engineer sits in the space connecting law and technology. They engage with contracts and legal processes, seek to understand them deeply, then consider how they might be turned into solutions or tools that make the work easier and more efficient.
While the lawyer focuses on advising or litigating, and the programmer builds the technical system, the legal engineer stands as the link between the two, grasping what the legal team needs and translating it into language the technical team can execute.
“The lawyer focuses on advice or litigation, and the programmer on building the system, while the legal engineer is the link between them, understanding what the legal team needs and translating it in a way the technical team can implement.”
Noura Alotaibi, Legal Engineer
The work can be strikingly concrete. In a post on LinkedIn, Oqood founder Khaled Al-Rashed described the trainee cohort taking on one of the more intricate problems in the field during the summer programme: mapping a 2018 Kuwaiti Constitutional Court ruling, which struck down part of a provision in the country’s anti-money-laundering and terrorism-financing law, back to the legal texts it affects. It is precisely the kind of task, he wrote, that the team works on and enjoys daily.
Legal and technical skills, not pure coding
On the skills that matter most in the role, specialists agree it is a blend of legal thinking and technical fluency, without necessarily requiring someone to be an expert programmer.
The foundation, in their view, is that the legal professional holds solid grounding in their field, paired with a genuine willingness to learn the technology and understand how systems and AI work. Problem-solving and the ability to communicate across different teams also stand out as among the most important assets for anyone in this arena.
“You don’t need to be a coding expert, but what matters most is having a legal foundation alongside the readiness to learn the technology and understand how systems and AI work; problem-solving and communicating with different teams are among the most important skills in this field.”
Noura Alotaibi, Legal Engineer
Why this role over the traditional path?
Some of those entering the discipline say what drew them in was an early recognition that law is no longer insulated from technology. Though they studied law in the first place, their interest remained fixed on artificial intelligence and its capacity to change how legal professionals work.
They add that the field offers a chance to acquire a new skill that sets them apart from those working in the traditional way, particularly in a fast-changing labour market whose requirements shift year after year. It is a view echoed by members of the Oqood cohort, whose founder is among the regional voices set to address the role of legal AI at an upcoming Kuwait legal summit.
“What drew me in was the idea that law is no longer separate from technology. I studied law, but I was interested in AI and how it could change the way legal professionals work. I felt this field gave me a chance to stand out from someone working the traditional way, especially as the job market is changing fast.”
Mohammad Marafie, Legal Engineer
The regional market appears to bear this direction out. Industry estimates suggest around 42% of law firms in the Gulf are investing in AI solutions to improve data management, while the legal AI market across the Middle East and Africa is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 18% through 2030.
Taken together, these accounts point to a deeper shift in the legal profession, one in which technical fluency is no longer a luxury but a professional necessity. For firms such as Oqood, cultivating that talent locally also reflects a wider argument that the region cannot simply rely on imported legal AI, but needs professionals fluent in both law and technology, and attuned to local practice. As Al-Rashed put it, precision and the linking of legal sources, not data on its own, are what build a legal system that legal teams can rely on with full confidence.
