CobbleStone Software is a Business Reporter client
It’s not sci-fi, it’s just better.
Let’s be honest. When we hear about AI, our minds jump to robots and sci-fi movies.
But the truth is, the AI coming to our offices in the next couple of years won’t look like something out of a blockbuster. It’ll just feel… better. Faster. Smarter. By 2026, AI won’t be this amorphous, intimidating thing you have to “use”. It’ll be woven into the fabric of how we already work, making our jobs a whole lot easier.
Think about the tools you already use every day. Word, Outlook. We’re already living in them. By 2026, these will get a massive upgrade. No longer just a way to type and send emails, they’ll become intelligent assistants that change everything – such as allowing you to draft and manage contracts via a seamless integration.
Your new AI colleague in the contract department
Let’s talk about contracts. Without the right tools and strategy, it’s a manual, headache-inducing process. You get a new contract, you have to read it line by line, look for the expiration date, flag it on a calendar and hope you don’t miss anything. It’s a pain that can slow down even the most efficient teams.
But what if you had an intelligent assistant right inside Microsoft Word to handle the heavy lifting for you? This isn’t just another add-in – it’s your new superpower.
Imagine your daily workflow, supercharged. You click a button, and the AI assistant screen quickly appears, ready to work its magic. No more slogging through massive contracts. Now, you can:
- Get a quick summary. Need to understand a massive contract but you’re short on time? The AI summarisation feature gives you the essential details in seconds. It’s like having a legal expert on speed dial.
- Spot hidden risks. Worried about hidden risks and inconsistencies? The AI proactively flags potential issues, from suboptimal language to hidden “traps”. It’s your early warning system, so you can catch issues before they escalate.
- Automate your review. Manual reviews are slow and prone to human error. Leading AI performs an automated document review, checking everything from provisions and terms to overall structure and completeness. It helps ensure quality and consistency without the manual headache.
- Access everything from a single hub. No more hunting for scattered documents and data. AI provides easy navigation to your entire library of contracts, companies and other related documents – all in one centralised hub.
This kind of AI doesn’t just simplify, it empowers. You can easily manage, view and swap clauses from a pre-approved library, ensuring every contract is compliant. You get a clear picture of high-risk findings, analyse contract sentiment indicators and even perform multi-document analysis to spot trends across your entire portfolio. You stop fighting with your contracts and start working with a powerful AI helper.
The rise of generative AI: your legal assistant chatbot
But the most transformative change is the rise of a new generation of AI, built on the same kind of technology that powers services such as ChatGPT. This isn’t just about reviewing documents; it’s about actively creating and strategising with you.
Imagine an engaging chatbot living right inside your system, ready to answer complex questions instantly. You’ll be able to ask it:
- “How do I create a new vendor record?”
- “What are the compliance regulations for GDPR?”
- “Draft a clause for indemnification.”
This is where the magic happens. Such chatbots are smart enough to understand the context of your legal work and can generate a contract clause on demand. Even better, you can then add these new, AI-generated clauses to your company’s pre-approved clause library. This ensures that every contract is consistent and follows a unified, centralised process, blending human expertise with AI efficiency.
This enhanced AI also takes risk management to a new level. It can perform a quick risk assessment at the click of a button, not only highlighting high-risk findings but also providing AI-powered suggestions. And with sentiment analysis, the system can determine whether the facts and language in a new contract are positive, negative or neutral, giving you crucial visibility into potential issues before they become a problem.
A game-changer right in your inbox
You practically live in Microsoft Outlook throughout your workday. So what if you could handle most of your contract work without ever leaving your email inbox? Say goodbye to bouncing between windows!
With this kind of game-changing integration, a powerful contract management system is chilling right there in your Outlook. You can:
- Find live contracts in a flash. Need a contract right now? No problem! Search and filter all your active contracts directly from your email. It’s like having a super-smart contract assistant living inside your inbox, ready to find anything you need, instantly.
- Effortless creation and control. You can create a brand-new contract record on the fly without ever leaving Outlook. Just fill in the blanks for the company name, contract type and status – it’s all right there, super-centralised and efficient.
- Manage clauses made simple. Got a library of pre-approved clauses? Access them directly through the plugin! It’s like having your legal team’s best advice always just a click away in Outlook.
- Update contracts, no sweat. You can quickly and efficiently update existing contracts, too. Change a metadata field or add a new attachment – keep everything perfectly accurate, right inside your familiar Outlook screen.
The bigger picture
The bottom line? In 2026, AI won’t feel like some big, complicated technology. It will simply feel like your work got easier, your decisions got smarter, and you have more time for the stuff that truly matters.
This isn’t just about legal documents. AI will be everywhere, making our day-to-day work smoother and smarter. It will power customer service that actually helps, supply chains that are one step ahead and cyber-security that’s constantly on guard.
The future of business is intelligent, interconnected and undeniably powered by AI. For more information, visit cobblestonesoftware.com.
