About Stahl Swanson
A boutique consulting firm dedicated to turning institutional knowledge into competitive advantage.
Our Story
Stahl Swanson Consulting was founded with a simple conviction: the most valuable asset in any professional services organization is its collective knowledge — and most firms dramatically underutilize it.
Our founders, Maria Stahl and Stephanie Swanson, spent years inside global professional services organizations, witnessing firsthand how fragmented knowledge systems, poor search and inconsistent processes hindered growth and client service.
We created Stahl Swanson to bridge that gap — combining deep industry expertise with modern technology to help organizations capture, structure and leverage what they know.
Leadership
Maria Stahl
Co-Founder & Managing Partner — Mexico · Chief AI Officer
Maria is a lawyer with a Master's degree in Corporate and Business Law from Université Paris II Panthéon‑Assas and a knowledge management expert with more than 10 years of experience. She combines a solid legal foundation with a practical, implementation-focused approach to knowledge, automation and digital transformation. She leads the firm's Mexico operations. Prior to co-founding the firm, she served as Knowledge Manager at Baker McKenzie, where she led knowledge strategy and innovation initiatives across Mexico. She designed training programs spanning Mexico, the United States and Latin America, co-created client-facing initiatives with measurable impact, and contributed to privacy audit initiatives leveraging LegalTech tools. Earlier in her career, she practiced as a litigation and corporate lawyer in Mexico. Maria is a Certified Chief AI Officer and was named Leading LegalTech Expert of the Year (Legal Honor Global Awards, Houston 2026). Maria is a member of the Mexican Academy of Digital Law (AMCID).
Stephanie Swanson
Co-Founder & Managing Partner — United States & Peru
Stephanie is a legal knowledge management and legaltech strategist with more than 15 years of experience. She combines deep transactional legal expertise with a practical, implementation-focused approach to knowledge, innovation, and technology. She leads the firm's US and Peru operations. Most recently she served as Global Director of Knowledge, Markets & Research at Baker McKenzie, where she led firmwide knowledge strategy across more than 40 countries. In that role, she oversaw knowledge, research, and information teams, and spearheaded initiatives to improve lawyer productivity, including the testing and deployment of generative AI tools. She also previously led the firm's knowledge function in Latin America, building the region's first coordinated knowledge strategy. She has also practiced as a corporate lawyer in New York, advising on cross-border transactions, capital markets offerings, and complex financings for clients across the Americas. Stephanie holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Williams College. She is admitted to the New York bar.
Our Principles
Use cases before tools
We start with the business problem, not the technology. Tools serve the process, never the other way around.
Trust by design
Governance, permissions and quality controls are built into every system from day one.
Deliver in workflow
Delivering knowledge, intelligence and AI directly within the workflows where decisions are made — in CRM, email and proposal tools — not as standalone tools, but as part of how teams actually work.
Measure business impact
Every engagement is designed around defined, measurable outcomes that matter to your business.
Continuous operation
We build solutions that last — with governance, training and adoption baked in from the start.
Values
How we work
We collaborate closely with your team, co-creating solutions with agility and a relentless focus on measurable results. Every engagement is tailored to your context, your people and your goals.