DocuSign is changing the game for how businesses handle agreements with innovative AI technology, … [+]
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As the age of AI sweeps through the business landscape, one particular area has been notably slow to evolve—business agreements and contracts. However, that’s about to change. DocuSign, the company that popularized electronic signatures, is stepping up to redefine how organizations draft, manage, and leverage their agreements.
A Sneak Peek at the Problem
Despite the digital transformation of many business processes, agreements have been left in the dark ages. Sure, we might edit them in Word and share them via email, but as DocuSign’s CEO, Allan Thygesen, points out, “Everything about agreements remains as brittle, delayed, and unpredictable as it’s ever been.”
This predicament extends beyond clunky processes. Thygesen highlights that after the painstaking negotiation of agreements, they often get tucked away in inaccessible folders, leaving companies in the dark about what’s actually contained within. This lack of visibility often leads to missed deadlines, lost renewal opportunities, and an overall stagnation in improving contractual relations.
AI to the Rescue
DocuSign’s entry into the AI realm couldn’t have come at a better time. “I joined DocuSign just as we experienced a leap in AI capabilities with the launch of GPT 3.5,” Thygesen recalls. This technological breakthrough has empowered the company to reimagine unstructured agreement data as actionable intelligence.
With their new AI-driven platform, DocuSign can now sift through agreements, extract vital information, and make it easily searchable. But it doesn’t stop there—this smart system can also aid in drafting contracts, personalizing templates, and even conducting preliminary legal reviews on incoming documents.
Transforming Business Operations
The application of this technology is already being felt across various sectors. Thygesen emphasizes three crucial areas where the AI platform proves invaluable:
- Sales: The platform helps keep tabs on renewal dates and notice periods, preventing missed renegotiation opportunities and equipping sales teams with critical insights previously buried within agreements.
- Procurement: For teams often stretched thin, the AI empowers them to foster better vendor relationships, offering tools that boost productivity, as Thygesen noted.
- HR and Recruitment: In workplaces dealing with numerous employment contracts, the platform streamlines processes while ensuring compliance and quick customization.
What Lies Ahead
Looking to the future, DocuSign sees a world where AI could take charge of entire agreement processes without human intervention, especially for straightforward contracts. “I believe higher accuracy for simple agreements will be technically possible in the near future,” Thygesen predicts, mentioning that standardized documents like NDAs may be among the first to enjoy full automation.
Yet, he stays grounded in the reality of AI’s capabilities, stating, “For various reasons, including risk compliance and regulations, it will take some time before we see automation beyond trivial agreements. There will always be a need for a human touch.”
The Grand Vision
DocuSign harbors an ambitious yet pragmatic goal. “If we succeed, we’ll create the first dedicated system of record for agreements,” Thygesen states. This distinct approach aims to shift away from the chaotic storage of agreements lost in email threads or multiple digital drives.
The transformation is certainly gaining traction. With 1.6 million monthly paying business users, DocuSign is on course to lead this significant revolution. Thygesen notes an astounding reduction in processing costs for agreements—down by two orders of magnitude in just the past 15 months—showing the tangible results of ongoing tech advancements.
A New Era in Business Efficiency
As businesses constantly strive to enhance efficiency and cut costs, DocuSign’s AI-driven approach to agreement management marks a remarkable leap forward. By converting static documents into smart, dynamic assets, they are not only solving a tech issue—they’re tackling a fundamental challenge affecting businesses of all sizes.
The narrative of business agreements is being redefined. Yet, as with any major technological shift, the challenge will lie in striking the right balance between automation and human oversight, ensuring efficiency while maintaining control and reliability.
The AI Buzz Hub team is excited to see where these breakthroughs take us. Want to stay in the loop on all things AI? Subscribe to our newsletter or share this article with your fellow enthusiasts.
