Last year, Harvard Business Review published a great article on the ways that AI are changing contract management. Author Beverly Rich has said that AI and machine learning will be integral to contracts in the 21st Century. Rich said that there are some challenges to utilizing AI for contracts. The biggest issue is that the majority of companies don't retain data on their contracts. However, as a growing number of companies digitalize their contracts, they will have an easier time handling these processes.

Truly, it triggered the worst of times. What was thought to be the most stable of industries – finance – was brought to its knees. It triggered a new era of corporate financial scrutiny. The oft-quoted term'more for less' was permanently inscribed on the heads of all legal professionals. During the great recession in the West, companies started to look at all areas to cut costs to survive.

Growing up in India, I've witnessed, read and worked on all sorts of different contracts. Still fresh in my mind are the verbal agreements people in my town would make with standard "net 30" payment terms while buying their groceries from the little shops near our house. While practicing law, I would review contracts on paper, often dictating the changes to my stenographer. Thankfully, the world has moved on and we increasingly use computers to draft contracts, emails, and even negotiations, thereby minimizing dependency on stenographers. Historically, once a contract is signed after weeks and sometimes months of hard work, it's left unattended for years on end in a musty cupboard, until some poor person has to spend half a day locating and dusting it down for use in a dispute.