How to slash contract creation time and costs with AI

Contract creation has long been a major burden for many organizations, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It drains resources, draws attention away from the work they really want to focus on, and typically involves costly external legal expertise.

Whether it's drafting client contracts, employee agreements, or vendor terms, contract creation consumes time and money most smaller organizations don't have (or could better spend elsewhere).

So what's the impact? A report from the Aberdeen Group found that it takes an average of 20 to 30 days for a company to create, negotiate, and finalize a contract. And that doesn't even take the financial cost into account.

You might think that with AI revolutionizing everything from finance to science and entertainment, it's only a matter of time before it transforms how we create and manage contracts. Well that time is already here and forward-thinking businesses are already using AI to dramatically cut costs and save time. Let's find out how.

The status quo

Right now you probably create a contract in one of three ways:

1. You draft from scratch
2. You amend an existing contract
3. You start with a template.

The first option is the most time consuming, the most expensive, and most likely involves employing a legal professional. On the plus side, you can be confident that the contract will be tailored to your specific needs.

Amending an existing contract (for example, using an old employee contract as the foundation for a new one) is usually easier and cheaper, but has its own downsides. For a start, traditional contracts are often PDFs — a static document format not designed to be edited, making changes challenging. You may also hesitate to update a contract without legal support.

Starting with a template can be a good option, but templates are fairly generic and often require significant work to include the specificity you need. You might also spend considerable time hunting down the right template in the first place (we make that part easier with our range of expertly prepared templates).

Enter AI contract generators

AI is pushing document creation into a new era, making it easier, faster, and more cost efficient to produce and manage contracts. These are some of the game-changing features that are making AI contract generation the new default for many businesses.

Conversational document creation

Many AI contract generators offer a chat-like interface where you simply describe what you need and the AI generates the document. From that point you can refine and add more detail as needed. For example, if you were working on a service agreement, you might want to include a non-disclosure clause or clarify what guarantees your company offers and in which situations.

With training on thousands of similar documents, the AI combines its understanding with advanced language processing to transform your requirements into a professional contract. The result is a more accessible way to create contracts in minutes, rather than hours or days.

Save time with templates

Before we looked at why generic templates might not address your unique business needs. But what about templates crafted exactly to your requirements?

Some AI contract generators let you save documents you've customized as templates for future use. No need to reformat or amend — your personalized template is ready when you need it.

This saves time, ensures consistency, and makes creating new contracts much easier.

Faster contract completion with eSignatures

Some AI contract generators include an eSignature feature that simplifies signature collection once the document is complete, further saving time.

Rather than printing documents for physical delivery, eSignature functionality lets you send contracts digitally to all parties, collecting signatures in minutes. The platform tracks signature status so you can see who has signed and who hasn't.

Plus, eSignatures are legally binding — just like physical signatures—ensuring your contracts remain secure, enforceable, and recognized by law.

Introducing AgreementGen: Smarter contract creation

AgreementGen is a new AI-powered agreement drafting sidekick that’s designed to transform the way businesses create, customize, and manage contracts.

Currently in beta, AgreementGen employs an intuitive conversational interface that enables you to generate professional documents or import and convert existing PDF agreements into dynamic documents that can be adapted exactly how you need.

Want to be among the first to use AgreementGen and shape its development? Try it today for free and share your feedback.