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Bring your contracts under control with AI without a big IT project

•Xavier Vincent
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You run an SME and, despite your best efforts, contract management is a recurring headache: versions flying around by email, missed renewal dates, clauses not applied correctly, legal risks that worry you… You feel you are spending too much time on administrative details instead of steering your business. Yet without properly managed contracts, your company is exposed.

In this article, we’ll look at how AI and automation can turn contract management into a simple, secure and much less time‑consuming process, without a major IT project. You’ll see concrete use cases for SMEs, a step‑by‑step method to get started, an example of an automated flow, and a practical checklist to help you take action this week.

1. Why contract management is a hidden weak spot in many SMEs

1.1. What usually happens today

In most small and medium‑sized businesses, contract management looks like this:

  • Contracts are created in Word by copying an old version.
  • They are sent by email, sometimes printed, signed, scanned again…
  • Versions multiply and no one is really sure which one is the final one.
  • Key dates (renewal, price review, termination) may be stored in a personal calendar… or nowhere.
  • Operational teams don’t always have access to the right terms they need to apply.

The result:

  • Missed renewals (contracts renewed even though you wanted to renegotiate or terminate).
  • Potential penalties if some obligations are not met.
  • Missed opportunities (price increases or options that were written in the contract but never used).
  • A huge loss of time to find the right document at the right moment.

Most of these issues don’t come from a lack of professionalism, but from a lack of system.

1.2. Why AI and automation are a good fit here

Contract management is an excellent field for AI and automation because:

  • Contracts follow a fairly repetitive process (drafting, review, signature, archiving, follow‑up).
  • There is a lot of structured information: dates, amounts, parties, duration, notice periods, etc.
  • Many tasks are low value but time‑consuming: renaming, filing, extracting data, creating reminders.

The goal is not for AI to “write complex legal contracts” for you, but to prepare the ground:

  • Propose an initial draft contract based on your templates.
  • Automatically extract key data from contracts you receive.
  • Create reminders at the right dates.
  • Alert you when a contract is about to expire or includes specific clauses you want to watch.

2. What does “AI‑augmented” contract management look like?

2.1. A simple flow without changing all your tools

Here is an example flow for an SME managing client and supplier contracts:

Rendering diagram...

In practice:

  • You use an AI assistant connected to your standard templates (terms and conditions, addenda, etc.).
  • You always validate the final text, but you save time on preparation and formatting.
  • After signature, key data (dates, amounts, duration, notice periods) is extracted automatically into a central tracking file (for example a spreadsheet or a simple contract management tool).
  • Automatic reminders are created: renegotiation 3 months before renewal, yearly price indexation check, review of specific performance clauses, and so on.

2.2. Concrete SME use cases

Typical examples we see in SMEs:

  • Recurring client contracts (maintenance, subscriptions, recurring services):

    • Automatic reminders to renegotiate price or scope before renewal.
    • AI summaries of the main terms for sales and operations teams.

  • Critical supplier contracts (logistics, hosting, software licences):

    • Alerts for risky auto‑renewal clauses.
    • A consolidated view of committed amounts and renewal dates.

  • Employment contracts and addenda (at the intersection of HR and finance):

    • Secure central storage with extraction of key data (contract type, trial period, specific clauses).
    • Automatic preparation of simple addendum drafts, reviewed and validated by HR or your legal adviser.

In all these cases, AI doesn’t sign or decide for you: it prepares, centralises and alerts. Decisions remain yours.

3. How to get started: a simple 5‑step method

3.1. Step 1 – Pick a narrow scope

Don’t try to “fix all contracts” at once. Choose a limited scope, for example:

  • Recurring client contracts for a single offer.
  • Or supplier contracts in a single category (e.g. logistics, software licences).

Good selection criteria:

  • A process that is already fairly standardised.
  • Enough volume so that gains will be visible.
  • Controlled legal risk (for highly sensitive contracts, start with follow‑up, not drafting).

3.2. Step 2 – Clarify your target process

On one page, outline your ideal flow:

  1. Who requests the contract?
  2. Who drafts it? Based on which templates?
  3. Who approves it? (sales, management, legal adviser…)
  4. How is it signed? (e‑signature tool, manual signature…)
  5. Where is the contract stored?
  6. Who needs to be notified, and at which dates?

You don’t need a perfect diagram: you need a shared, realistic view.

3.3. Step 3 – Put AI in the right place

For this scope, identify what AI can do usefully:

  • Drafting assistance:

    • Based on a few questions (type of client, duration, options), AI can assemble a draft contract from your existing templates.
    • You keep final approval, possibly with your in‑house or external legal support.

  • Reading and extraction:

    • AI can read a PDF or Word contract and extract:
      • Start and end dates
      • Amount
      • Renewal conditions
      • Notice periods
      • Specific clauses (penalties, exclusivity, etc.)

  • Plain‑language summaries:

    • Generate a short, readable summary for your teams: “This contract includes…”.

  • Reminder creation:

    • Based on identified dates, automatically create events in a shared calendar or task system.

What remains strictly human:

  • Deciding whether to enter or renew a contract.
  • Defining non‑negotiable points.
  • Validating sensitive clauses.

3.4. Step 4 – Automate a minimum viable flow

Your goal is to build a first, simple flow, for example:

  1. A form or a standard email model to request a new contract.
  2. An AI assistant that creates a draft based on your template.
  3. An internal review and signature workflow (via email or your e‑signature tool).
  4. After signature, an automation that:
    • Stores the contract in the correct folder.
    • Renames the file with a standard pattern (Client_Type_Date.pdf).
    • Sends it to an AI assistant for key‑data extraction.
    • Adds this data to a central tracking file (Google Sheets, Excel online, simple contract tool, etc.).
    • Automatically creates reminders in a calendar or task manager.

You can set up this flow using no‑code tools or connectors built into existing solutions (e‑signature, storage, etc.), without developing bespoke software.

3.5. Step 5 – Test on a few contracts and adjust

For 2 to 4 weeks:

  • Run all new contracts in the chosen scope through the new flow.
  • Systematically check AI outputs (dates, amounts, key clauses) and fix them where needed.
  • Note every friction point:
    • Missing information in the initial request.
    • Reminders set too early or too late.
    • Summaries that are unclear for the teams.

Then adjust. Aim for a system that is roughly 95% reliable, saves you time and reduces stress.

4. Practical section: checklist and action plan

4.1. Checklist to secure your project

Before you start, make sure you can tick these boxes:

  • [ ] We have chosen a limited scope (one contract type, one domain).
  • [ ] We have validated templates (reviewed by a lawyer or trusted legal adviser).
  • [ ] We have defined who approves what in the process.
  • [ ] We know where contracts will be stored and who will have access.
  • [ ] We have identified key dates to track (renewal, price review, notice period, etc.).
  • [ ] We have a simple tool (spreadsheet or other) to centralise extracted data.
  • [ ] We have clearly defined what must remain 100% human (sensitive clauses, commitment decisions).

4.2. 10‑day action plan to get started

Here is a realistic plan for an SME, without a heavy IT project:

  1. Day 1–2: Choose your scope (e.g. client maintenance contracts) and list current issues.
  2. Day 3: Gather your existing templates and have them reviewed if necessary.
  3. Day 4: Sketch the simple target flow (from request to archiving) on one page.
  4. Day 5–6: Set up a first AI assistant to:
    • Propose a draft contract based on a template.
    • Read a signed contract and extract key data.
  5. Day 7: Configure a tracking file (Excel, Google Sheets, simple contract tool).
  6. Day 8: Create an automation to feed this file and generate reminders.
  7. Day 9–10: Test the flow on 3–5 new contracts, fix issues, simplify.

After these 10 days, you won’t have “automated everything”, but you will have a working system that:

  • Centralises one type of contract.
  • Warns you ahead of critical dates.
  • Reduces manual handling and forgotten tasks.

Conclusion

In SMEs, contract management often stays invisible… until a missed notice period, a badly applied clause or a lost renegotiation opportunity becomes expensive. AI and automation won’t replace your judgement or that of your legal advisers, but they can simplify and secure this critical process.

To sum up:

  • Start small, with one contract type.
  • Let AI do what it does best: read, extract, summarise, remind.
  • Keep sensitive decisions and trade‑offs firmly in human hands.
  • Build a minimum viable flow and improve it gradually.
  • Track time saved, errors avoided and better‑negotiated contracts.

If you want support setting up this kind of system, Lyten Agency can help you choose the right scope, design the flow and configure AI assistants tailored to your reality.

If you would like support in your digital transformation, Lyten Agency helps you identify and automate your key processes. Contact us for a free audit.

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