The wide-ranging study on 2025 contract management trends carried out by Prime Conseil in partnership with contractmanagement.fr identified artificial intelligence (AI) as the top priority for contract managers. We therefore chose to dig into the topic through a mini-series of articles on AI and contract management. After publishing on best practices for AI in contract management, then on the impacts of AI on contract management, we are closing this mini-series with a distinctive joint interview. An interview that moves from the theoretical concepts of ANSSI, CIGREF and others to the daily reality of contract managers, with practical, actionable insights.
For this, we brought together three people with singular backgrounds, experience and expertise for a conversation we invite you to read below:
Meet the participants
Hello to all three of you. Let us start with a quick round of introductions that will help readers understand why I thought of you IMMEDIATELY when I imagined an expert interview on AI & contract management!
Cyril de Villeneuve: I have worked in the legal ecosystem since the 2000s, after two large professional publishing groups. Passionate about innovation, I joined Philippe Ginestié to develop Ginerativ and then Gino LegalTech, which offers an AI-augmented contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution. Since 2021 I have run my own structure to keep supporting companies in their growth, Gino LegalTech among them. I also co-lead the legaltech group at France Digitale, which brings together some forty startups in France across a dozen fields.
Mathieu Bouillon: I am a serial entrepreneur in the legal world and a consultant specialising in legaltech. In particular, I founded Flits, a legal AI agency.
In that capacity I speak at conferences, and I train and support many legal professionals in their AI rollouts.
Lucas Vincent: Hello, I am an entrepreneur in AI and digital. I co-founded Transcri, an AI SaaS dedicated to audio transcription, as well as contractmanagement.fr, the first information site dedicated to contract management.
Alongside this I work as a digital marketing & growth consultant, supporting companies in their online visibility and omnichannel development strategy.
The full interview:
Lucas, with Contractmanagement.fr you are co-author of our study on 2025 contract management trends. Were you surprised to see AI so far out in front?
Lucas: It is anything but a surprise. Artificial intelligence is transforming every sector today, and there is no reason for contract management to be an exception. With growing contract volumes and the complexity of commercial dealings, companies are looking for tools that can automate time-consuming tasks and improve risk management while smoothing negotiations. AI is starting to provide relevant answers to those needs by making it possible to analyse large volumes of data quickly, to detect sensitive clauses or even to draft clauses automatically. It is therefore logical that contract management and administration professionals are taking an interest in AI.
Mathieu, Cyril, in the major contract management study we published last month, nearly 40% of respondents see AI as THE big trend that will affect contract management in 2025. In your view, buzzword of the year or a genuine underlying trend?
Mathieu: Honestly, 40% even seems below the reality to me. AI is already a structuring lever for contract management and is establishing itself as a fundamental transformation. It is not a future promise, it is an operational reality. The most mature use cases (automated drafting, or intelligent contract portfolio management, to name just two) address the sector's challenges head-on. Today AI no longer merely speeds up contract production; it also improves analysis and compliance, and is starting to assist with the performance of obligations. The question is therefore not whether AI will affect contract management, but how far it will transform it. Companies that bring it in now are gaining a head start in efficiency and risk control.
Cyril: I would add that AI is a genuine technological leap, well beyond a passing fashion. The study conducted by Prime Conseil echoes the conclusions of the study "Legaltech & generative AI: imagining the legal function of the future!" published in February 2025, to which I contributed for France Digitale in partnership with PwC and the Cercle Montesquieu. The figures speak for themselves: 62% of General Counsel consider the integration of AI by legaltechs to be a decisive criterion when choosing their tools, and 30% already use it in their contractual practice. A trend that is only intensifying, since 60% of them plan to adopt generative AI in this area within 12 months. The acceleration is under way, redefining market standards for lawyers and contract managers alike.
The study identifies three main barriers to adopting AI in contract management: cybersecurity, data governance and the absence of genuinely "game changing" solutions. Do you think these obstacles can be overcome?
Mathieu: Yes, and quickly. Cybersecurity raises above all an issue of sovereignty and confidentiality. On those points, European solutions are emerging that guarantee better control. Data governance is not a topic specific to contract management, but a broader question organisations must ask themselves about their information assets. Companies need to take up the subject; solutions exist. Finally, on the absence of "game changing" solutions, I will leave it to Cyril to expand, but in my view they are starting to emerge and are developing at great speed! While the entire contract lifecycle is not covered today, AI is moving so fast that what looks limited today will be transformed tomorrow.
Cyril: The legaltechs that integrated generative AI into their solutions fastest are those whose value proposition is built around three key areas: contract management, legal research and compliance. In the contractual field, Gino LegalTech has established itself as a pioneer, as the first French CLM vendor to integrate generative AI. Since March 2023, Gino LegalTech has been embedding AI in its various modules, building on its advanced technology stack on the one hand and its fine understanding of the needs of lawyers and contract managers on the other. Admittedly, enriching post-execution contract management is a key challenge where there is still ground to cover, but as Mathieu said, AI is moving very fast and this stage of the contract lifecycle should not escape artificial intelligence.
Staying with the contract lifecycle, Mathieu, which stages do you think can already be entrusted to AI tools or systems?
Mathieu: Contrary to received wisdom, many solutions already ease the load on contract managers, mainly at the following stages:
- Negotiation and drafting: CLMs or in-house bots already make it possible to generate drafts from preliminary documents, to assess their compliance with internal rules and even to propose new clauses based on a negotiation context and a body of rules to be respected.
- Monitoring and performance: to take just this one example, it is already possible to use tools that detect key information (deadlines, obligations, penalties) and generate from it contract awareness material and other summaries, or generate automated alerts so that contractual milestones such as the submission of documentary deliverables are not missed.
Admittedly the cycle is not covered in full today, but there are already many tools that let contract managers move faster, analyse better and, above all, focus on what matters: strategy, negotiation and the management of risks and opportunities.
It seems that the stages of the contract lifecycle concerning lawyers were addressed before those that primarily concern contract managers. Cyril, why in your view do CLM vendors not speak to contract managers?
Cyril: The legal department market, by its size and its low level of tooling, is indeed a market that initially attracted CLM vendors more. However, having designed products mainly for lawyers, CLM vendors then developed them - through friendlier user experiences, the addition of negotiation modules and collaborative tools, and richer management indicators (KPIs) - to also target the operational functions that work hand in hand with lawyers. Some contract managers - admittedly still few in number - already use the solutions currently on the market, but I am very confident about their adoption to come, thanks to the power of generative AI and to richer post-execution features.
Following on from the previous question, Cyril, do you think AI can be the lever that allows CLMs to cross the boundary of contract administration and genuinely engage with contract management?
Cyril: Absolutely. AI already structures and speeds up negotiation by refining risk management and giving better visibility over the parties' rights and obligations. What AI brings to negotiation is the ability to detect deviations, to propose drafting adjustments or to generate a compliance score whose criteria and acceptability thresholds the contract manager and/or the lawyer will have defined beforehand, supporting better-informed decision-making. Following this path, it is easy to imagine advanced AI-based features tomorrow, such as analysis of the deliverables register (identifying and tracking obligations carrying deadlines or specific processes, drawn from a document: email, letter, contract, contract amendment, etc.) or financial valuation of the contract portfolio. CLM solutions are evolving well beyond simple document management. They are becoming genuine strategic management tools, covering the entire contract lifecycle, from initial drafting through to effective close-out of the contract.
Lucas, with your entrepreneurial background in digital, you have a sharp eye for AI and productivity tools. Beyond integrated solutions such as CLMs, do you have a few must-have AI tools that contract managers could use?
Lucas: Of course! In fact, some contract managers already have "powered by AI" tools available within their organisation. Between DocuSign Insight, which can exploit contract metadata, and Copilot for companies working on Microsoft, there is no shortage of tools. Beyond that, the idea is not to encourage shadow IT, but depending on the permissions, rights and digital latitude contract managers enjoy, creating custom AI agents through solutions such as Ucontrol.ai, using Plusai.com to generate presentations faster, or Transcri.io to make your meeting minutes easier or keep a written record of your negotiations, are all worth exploring.
Mathieu, if you had three pieces of advice for a contract manager wanting to take the plunge with AI, what would they be?
Mathieu: Before rushing towards a "solution", start by identifying the problem: start by identifying your friction points. Where do you lose the most time: drafting, searching for clauses, tracking deadlines? With a clear view of your needs, you will be able to choose the tool that has an immediate impact on your daily work. My second piece of advice would be to proceed in iterations. There is no need to wait for the perfect all-in-one solution. If your main issue is drafting, try a contract assistant. If it is managing obligations, go for an AI that automates reminders. What matters is bringing AI in gradually, where it adds the most value. My last piece of advice would be to stay curious and keep watch. AI is moving at great speed. The sooner you start using it, the more comfortable you will be with these tools and the readier you will be to adopt the innovations to come. The idea is not to revolutionise everything overnight, but to move forward intelligently, staying in control. In short: test, adjust, and keep an open mind. AI is not a replacement, it is an accelerator for your profession!
I could not end this conversation without asking all three of you THE question on everyone's lips: do you think AI will replace the contract manager?
Mathieu: I was expecting that one! In my view, no. AI will automate repetitive tasks, but it will not replace people in negotiation, risk management or strategic decision-making. Rather than a threat, I see AI as an opportunity for the profession to evolve.
Lucas: Same for me. That said, I am convinced AI will reshape the boundaries of the discipline and the contract manager's role, and bring out the human, relational dimension of the job.
Cyril: I agree with Mathieu and Lucas: AI will not replace the contract manager, but it will profoundly transform the role.