Contract Management Blog Articles

There are many steps that businesses have to go through when creating and executing contracts. From negotiating key elements to finalization and renewal, contract management is a central part of dealing with clients, employees, and partners.

As the old saying goes, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, unless you’re talking about the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Global Institute 2022, that is. The connections made, topics discussed, and stories shared will stick with all of us as we get back to business this week.

To get some clarity and cross the contract AI chasm,  we have partnered with World Commerce & Contracting to conduct the first-ever, comprehensive benchmark study on the benefits, barriers, and usage of AI within contract management. In this part of our series "Crossing the Contract AI Chasm", we dive deep into our first trend: there are still obstacles to implementing CLM solutions, which limits the application of AI tools.

Our Findings

While some organizations have already turned to digital contract management, many have not.  Over 50% of respondents said no when they were asked if they have implemented a CLM solution. This is more than those who said they had implemented a solution already! However, there is hope. More than half of the respondents who haven't implemented a CLM solution yet said selecting a solution is a top priority in the next 12 months with many stating that planning is already underway.

The legal profession has historically seen itself as unique and exempt from the constraints and concerns that have dominated the business sphere. With the rise of technology and its role increasing in power and influence over how businesses run, the legal profession now is coming around to the idea of not being a cost center and the department of no to a value creator and the department of can do.

Malbek has reached a new milestone in our growth. After years of being remote, we have opened a new headquarters in Princeton, NJ.  And let me tell you, it's nice to finally be back in office with the flexibility to work from home. There are a few things that aren't the same over a Zoom call: the creative meetings, the coffee and snacks, throwing a dart over to a fellow Malbekian, and the actual socialization (which is much needed after two years of a pandemic 😅). 

Even though I will miss my ten-step commute to my home office in my PJs, I am excited to go to a fun and collaborative work space and be with my local-area team again. Here are a few fun facts about our new office:

The initial unplanned sprint to working remotely has since made way for meaningful collaboration through technology. And throughout this shift, we’ve supported several high-growth companies in identifying the people, processes, and tools they need to take a collaborative approach to contract management. Though each company came to us with its own set of unique challenges and requirements, each of them began their journey the same way—with the people. Not the shiny tech tools, not the AI features, but first, with an innate understanding of the people that are involved in managing contracts.

In a world of “do more with less”, it's no secret that almost all organizations are interested in using the contract data of yesterday to improve the business outcomes of tomorrow. The real secret lies in why there's still hesitancy around digital contract management and AI adoption in general. 

Could it be because too many solutions have been over-promised and under-delivered? Or is there simply a general lack of trust in technology that has perpetuated manual contract management processes?  

The reality is that the way organizations conduct contract management has changed, and modern contracting challenges require modern solutions. 

You’ve likely heard the term wet signature and may have wondered what the heck is a wet signature?

A wet signature is simply a signature using a pen, pencil, or seal on a physical document. For a long time, wet signatures were commonly used to represent a binding contract.