Building a Team at AI Speed | Harvey’s Maggie Landers

Maggie Landers highlights Harvey’s extraordinary growth, including a valuation increase from $3 billion in February 2025 to $11 billion in March 2026, and the addition of over 1,000 employees within a year. She explains that despite this rapid expansion, the company maintains a startup-like culture focused on celebrating both big wins and small milestones, always aligning with their core value of 'Job's Not Finished.' Maggie emphasizes that the company still feels like a startup, with a focus on continuous progress, ownership, and moving quickly. The team celebrates achievements through kudos, milestones, and shared success stories, fostering a lively and collaborative environment. She notes that with a majority of employees being new, onboarding and culture-building are ongoing challenges, but the company's emphasis on characteristics like ambition, motivation, and a willingness to experiment helps attract the right talent.

Landers discusses how Harvey’s growth has compelled the company to scale rapidly—aiming for around 2,000 employees by the end of 2026—while attempting to preserve its distinct culture. The company seeks candidates who thrive in ambiguity, who are comfortable experimenting, making mistakes, and course-correcting swiftly. The interview process involves values-based assessments centered on simplicity, decisiveness, and ‘Jobs Not Finished,’ where candidates must demonstrate their decision-making and adaptability. Maggie stresses that trust is foundational; leaders at Harvey prioritize giving employees autonomy and agency, enabling rapid decision-making and learning from failures without fear or excessive oversight.

The episode explores how Harvey’s founders, Winston and Gabriel, shape the company's culture through transparency, involvement, and openness. They are described as highly strategic yet deeply engaged in day-to-day details, setting a tone of accessibility and trustworthiness. Winston and Gabe's leadership style includes sharing their thought process openly through memos, town halls, and Q&A sessions, fostering a close connection with employees regardless of company size. Their transparency about successes, failures, and future strategies promotes a culture of humility, continuous learning, and honesty, reinforcing the value of trust and open discourse within Harvey.

Landers speaks about the company's stage—neither a tiny startup nor a large corporation—and how that influences who is suited to work at Harvey. The firm attracts ambitious, intrinsically motivated people excited to help transform the legal industry through experimentation and rapid iteration. The culture encourages learning from mistakes, autonomy, and judgment, which are critical in a fast-moving environment. She emphasizes that Harvey’s openness to vulnerability, transparency, and trust-based relationships distinguishes it from more traditional firms. However, she also explains that not everyone is a fit, especially those who prefer more stability or structured environments, and that aligning expectations during interview processes is key to ensuring a good match.

Landers describes Harvey’s global footprint, with offices in major cities including London, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Sydney, and Singapore, among others. The company aims to maintain a core brand and culture while allowing regional offices to adapt to local legal practices and cultures. Each office reflects the local market’s nuances, and Harvey invests in creating appealing, functional workspaces near law firms and clients. She notes that while the offices differ in function and atmosphere, the company’s overall approach is consistent—focusing on providing excellent service and in-person collaboration. The hybrid work model is flexible, with many employees preferring to work in the office beyond the three-day minimum, valuing in-person interactions that facilitate learning and teamwork.