Why it’s time to leave PDFs and DOCs behind
At the heart of every business is a contract — a commitment to get things done. But while businesses are moving faster than ever, many contracts are stuck in the past — buried in email chains or cloud folders, as static PDFs and DOCs. In a world where agility and real-time decision-making are crucial, why are contracts still so outdated?
Today, we’ll walk through the different steps enterprises can take to transform their contract management from digital paperwork into fully automated, self-managing systems, and why it’s time to say goodbye to those clunky old PDFs once and for all.
- Digital signing & storage: the first step
Most businesses start their digitisation journey with cloud storage and electronic signatures. Tools like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox provide a central place to store contracts, while Adobe Sign, DocuSign, and SigniCat allow for digital signatures.
Our take: While this is a great first step, it’s only half the battle. Digital storage and e-signatures make contracts more accessible but don’t solve the deeper issue — contracts remain static files that need to be manually updated, tracked, and monitored.
If your contracts are sitting in a cloud folder or inbox, they are still not working for you.
2. Automating reminders & notifications on PDFs
This is the phase where many companies begin to experience real value — automating key aspects like reminders for renewal dates and payments. Many contract management issues arise from relying on individuals to remember important deadlines, which often results in missed opportunities and costly delays.
Example: A construction company with multiple ongoing projects may depend on its project managers to remember crucial contract dates. But as human error creeps in, missed payments or unfulfilled obligations lead to project delays or penalties.
Our take: Great ways to level up your digital storage is by moving your contracts in CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) platforms like Conga and Ironclad, which provide notification systems for key contract dates, helping enterprises avoid missed deadlines. There are many companies in this category which can help your business manage contracts more efficiently.
3. Digitising contracts entirely: moving beyond PDFs
Converting paper contracts into PDFs or Word documents may feel like progress, especially with the convenience of signing from anywhere. But the hard truth is a digital file is still just a static file. These PDFs still end up cluttering email threads, causing version control issues and wasting time as people chase down the “latest version.”
What your business needs is a new format of contracts with smart, structured data, not just a digital version of an outdated process.
The next step in transforming your contract management is to adopt a “programmatic” document format. This involves embedding a machine-readable layer into your existing documents, where every clause is translated into actionable code, creating a hybrid format with built-in automation. Essentially, your contracts become living, automated systems that can seamlessly connect to your digital ecosystem, triggering real-time actions without manual intervention.
These new, dynamic contracts function on two layers:
- The front layer is your original, legally binding document. You can still compile it in Word or any other document editing platform.
- The back layer contains automation code that allows the contract to execute tasks based on the terms outlined. For this layer, you need to find a platform that can generate it for you. Ideally one where you can create multiple templates for various contracts and re-use whenever you need.
By using artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP), it’s now possible to create the second layer and automate complex workflows, ensuring integrity and allowing highly customisable actions to take place automatically in the background.
How to do it: Several platforms already offer similar solutions, but you could also explore using a Large Language Model (LLM) to develop a proprietary solution tailored to your needs. However, building your own can be resource-intensive and requires ongoing support and maintenance. Ideally, you’d find a platform that integrates smoothly with your existing tech stack while offering full customisation, saving you from the complexities of developing and maintaining a bespoke system.
Our take: We believe this will fundamentally change how businesses operate. Imagine contracts that don’t just remind you of deadlines, but actually take action on their own. Think about automating an entire payment process, extracting data from multiple systems, or generating detailed reports on your projects without lifting a finger. This level of automation and efficiency is unmatched — particularly for enterprises managing large deal portfolios.
Clarification
We label these new contracts as “programmatic”, attributing to their programmable layer. They are not to be confused with smart contracts used on blockchain networks. Unlike smart contracts, which exist entirely as code, programmatic ones use artificial intelligence to create a layer of automation on top of standard, legally binding documents.
Programmatic contracts retain all the legal properties of traditional contracts while adding the benefit of machine-powered automation.
