The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) 2025 conference was, in a word, energizing. As professionals across procurement, supply chain, and operations came together, a surprising and consistent theme emerged: contract review is still a major bottleneck, particularly in complex industries like healthcare, energy, and logistics. At LegalSifter, we had the chance to talk with dozens of professionals who were candid about their pain points and priorities. Their stories illuminated the growing gap between what traditional contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems offer and what business leaders, supply chain and procurement professionals, and their legal teams actually need.
Quick Takeaways
- Business and procurement professionals often handle the first pass contract review, but dense language and third-party paper cause costly delays before legal even gets involved.
- Many CLM tools are serving as storage, not effective business tools. And they are often deployed and owned departmentally rather than cross functionally. Teams need solutions that actually support analysis and decision-making, especially for third-party contracts.
- With experienced staff retiring and junior employees coming in, organizations need advanced solutions to make institutional contract knowledge scalable and repeatable.
- Attendees want AI-powered reviews, workflow optimization, and faster turnaround times, without sacrificing accuracy or compliance.
CLMs Aren't Enough
Several teams mentioned they had invested in CLM tools, but they weren’t using them to their full potential. We heard how some CLM systems were serving as (expensive) contract repositories rather than effective contract analysis and management platforms. Others were actively looking to move off SharePoint and legacy systems because the tools couldn’t keep up with the speed or complexity of third-party contracts.
What They Need: Standardizing the First Pass
There was widespread interest in tools that can help standardize the first level of contract review. Business teams want the ability to confidently review contracts for risk, compliance, and terms before involving Legal. ReviewPro stood out to many as a practical solution, especially those who had experienced the limitations of traditional CLMs and had seen how AI could augment human review rather than replace it.
The Knowledge Transfer Problem
Multiple attendees shared that they were onboarding younger team members with less experience, and they were concerned about how to train them efficiently. Whether it was a refinery manager or an energy grid coordinator, the message was the same: institutional knowledge is fragile.
As one attendee put it: “I’m retiring in four years. I need to put my brain in a box.”
This wasn’t just a quip—it was a real concern about knowledge transfer, consistency, and the need to embed human insight into scalable systems. AI-assisted review can serve as a bridge, translating years of contract expertise into accessible, repeatable guidance.
What Attendees Asked For
These conversations weren’t just exploratory. Many attendees asked for:
- AI-powered tools to understand and triage contract language
- Integration with platforms like DocuSign or Oracle
- Faster turnaround times (some said reviews take up to 6 weeks today!)
- Playbook customization for compliance and best practices
- A lightweight way to evaluate third-party paper without legal bottlenecks
It’s Not About Replacing People
The ISM conference made one thing clear: professionals aren’t looking to automate legal out of the picture. They’re looking to empower business users to do more, faster, with the right safety nets in place. ReviewPro resonates because it puts contract knowledge at the fingertips of those who need it most, without waiting for legal to catch up.
The phrase "put my brain in a box" may have been said in jest, but it captured a very real aspiration: to make human expertise scalable, transferable, and accessible.
That’s exactly what we’re building at LegalSifter.
Contracts at the Speed of Business
LegalSifter combines contract-specific AI with deep contract expertise and managed services to simplify how businesses review, organize, and manage contracts. With faster reviews, structured metadata, and fully managed contract operations, LegalSifter helps businesses improve efficiency, cut costs, and achieve better outcomes.
Learn more about ReviewPro or schedule a demo to see how it can transform your contract reviews.
About Tom Henson
Tom is the SVP of Product Management & Marketing at LegalSifter, where he connects client needs with the company’s AI-driven contract review solutions and strategic roadmap. He applies over 30 years of experience in scaling growth-stage companies, launching integrated IoT and SaaS products, and building high-performing teams across industries including industrial safety, clinical data management, and supply chain. Tom is passionate about solving problems, driving growth, and creating work environments that are productive, collaborative, and fulfilling.