Agiloft Taps Former Microsoft Legal Tech Lead as Chief Product Officer

Barnwell joined Agiloft in December 2024 as Chief Legal Officer, but quickly began influencing the firm's product trajectory. His tenure at Microsoft involved managing the legal operations that powered the company’s massive procurement infrastructure, an experience he describes as essential to understanding where current AI tools fail. He replaces Andy Wishart, who will depart the company on July 3, 2026.

Agiloft CEO Eric Laughlin noted that Barnwell’s rare intersection of legal practice and software engineering makes him uniquely suited to steer the firm's AI-native contract intelligence platform, Agiloft Astra. Barnwell argues that the efficacy of AI in contracting is entirely dependent on the quality of the underlying data. By treating contracts as a structured, searchable data layer, he intends to bridge the gap between abstract technical promises and the practical needs of legal and operations teams. Agiloft will not seek a replacement for the Chief Legal Officer position, effectively consolidating legal and product leadership under Barnwell to drive a more data-centric roadmap.