The details in the data: How AI improves the contract management process

Economies of scale completely transform the way businesses function — and how they derive their profit. A massive increase in output brings unprecedented cost advantages, especially by decreasing costs per unit of whatever product or service a company is offering. As output volumes increase, so does profitability.

Something else happens in the process of scaling up. The increased business activity doesn’t just expand output — it balloons the number of active contracts a business has at any given time. In fact, McKinsey found that utility, defense, food manufacturing, and aerospace can have more than 90% of their revenue in contracts with suppliers and vendors. Failure to properly manage contracts allows for “value leaks” that undermine their profit potential.

Contract management processes arose to seal these leaks and ensure contracts were handled as efficiently as possible, from initiation and negotiation to governance and renewal. Point solutions especially designed for contract management reduce the manual labor and resource consumption that goes into these processes, but most of them still fail to help organizations realize the full value of their contracts. But now a new breed of automation platforms, like Automation Hero, are upgrading contract management with AI.

How AI improves the contract management process

At the turn of the millennium, business automation provided simple but effective benefits, streamlining or eliminating some of the most mundane, repetitive work employees do. As scale increases without additional labor support, workers increasingly need automation solutions that help them streamline mental work as well.

That’s where artificial intelligence comes in.

AI-powered automation platforms like Automation Hero transform contracts from words on a page and into dynamic, well-structured data ready for databases, processing, analysis, and more. Here’s how these next-generation capabilities help the contract management process:

Extracts data automatically

As Automation Hero reads contracts, it can also automate data extraction. AI can quickly recognize information such as vendor names, execution dates, and contract amounts. But the platform can go even further and identify more complex information, such as deal terms, contract clauses, and other important data to ensure compliance and proper governance. 

Streamlines contract workflows

When AI minimizes manual data extraction, it prevents data entry bottlenecks and speeds up overall processing time. AI actually offers benefits throughout the entire contract lifecycle. To confirm compliance, users can search for all contracts that are missing signatures or other specific information, so contract managers can make corrections before issues arise. The platform helps workers easily access information like contract terms and deliverable due dates without the need to go into a database.

Unifies enterprise workflows

As a full end-to-end automation platform, Automation Hero integrates with every system an organization might use, including their CRM and accounting software. Without an automation tool, workers in the accounting department would have to alert contract managers if a vendor didn’t pay an invoice on time. With Automation Hero, users can share information seamlessly between tools to create more cohesive workflows, without any data re-entry or additional work.

Enables data-driven decision making

Unifying information from so many different departments gives users access to even more data than just what’s extracted from contracts. For instance, Automation Hero extracts data about revenue to help users decide whether or not to renew a contract. Similarly, statistics about compliance breaches could help justify discounts when a contract is up for renewal. When information is easily available, without the intensive, time-consuming labor to manage databases, users can devote more time and energy to making intelligent decisions.

As organizations grow, the contract management process becomes increasingly complex for employees in every field. AI gives organizations an edge over competition to create more efficient processes. And end-to-end platforms like Automation Hero don’t just stop at better contract management — they bring intelligent automation to every aspect of an enterprise.