Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way businesses manage contracts. AI contract review helps companies manage agreements in more efficient and better ways. This is important as companies have hundreds of contracts stored in different locations and files.

Manually managing these contracts becomes exceedingly tricky because a lot of time and effort is spent finding and collating information. Moreover, inadequate contract management systems can cause companies to lose money.

The use of computers and AI software can help reduce the time and labor wasted in manual systems so that more time can be spent on productive work.

With that said, let’s find out how AI software is changing contract management methods.

1. Organizing, Classifying, and Extracting Information

AI systems can be used in various ways such as to:

• Classify documents – They can identify similar types of documents and group them, making it easier to search for a particular contract type. This reduces time in searching for documents of a specific type. AI systems can use natural language processing (NLP) to extract clauses, notes, dates, comments, and metadata from contracts.
• Classify contracts by type – Businesses can group contracts by their type and implement templates for these. For example, they could group all of their MSAs and set up a Master Services Agreement template to automate the specific terms in these contracts. The same could be achieved for lease agreements, statements of work (SOWs) and Non-disclosure Agreements (NDAs), etc. This can help decision-makers select required contracts for modification, renewal, renegotiation, or draft new contracts.
• Classify by clause – By scanning different contracts, important clauses can be picked up and placed in groups. The clauses can then be studied and modified or improved for future agreements. In some AI systems, the software can pick out relevant clauses for a new contract that a human can review.

This classification of stored information helps companies make informed decisions and better contracts. Computers can do this classification in a fraction of the time it will take an army of humans to do the same task, making AI systems indispensable.

2. Better Contract Lifecycle Management

One of the ways companies lose money is by missing important renewal dates, expiry dates, key performance indicators (KPIs), and follow-up dates. AI can step in to stem these problems and help companies keep track of important milestones in the contract lifecycle. For example, AI can help with:

• Diagnostic and Analytical Searches – These can pick up important information like expiry or renewal dates to keep compliance on track and save the company a lot of time, effort, and money. Never miss a renewal deadline with AI systems to keep track of expiry and renewal information.
• Predictive and Cognitive Support – Using AI systems’ predictive intelligence, it is possible to find out where existing contracts are failing or falling short. This is so corrective action can be taken for future contracts. It is also possible for AI systems to point out differences in clauses and contracts, making it possible for a company to standardize its contracts and clauses.

3. Smart and Dynamic Contracts

AI systems can understand and pick up similar clauses from stored contracts using machine learning (ML) and NLP. The similarities and differences in clauses from different contracts can be presented for human review to draft better contracts.

Some AI systems can do this on their own, subject to a legal team’s final review, enabling faster drafting of better and accurate smart contracts.

4. Smaller Teams

One of the issues with manual systems has been the need for huge teams to spend hours and days poring over documents attempting to manage and keep track of contracts. Most of the tasks involving managing contracts are repetitive.

Such tasks are very suitable for computers that can work non-stop. Therefore, computers using AI to complete the job much faster enable companies to have smaller, leaner human teams with the computers doing the hard, monotonous, repetitive work.

5. Managing Quality Contracts

The use of AI systems can improve contracts’ quality because they can compare and analyze clauses in different contracts. This can enable the legal team to draft contracts with similar clauses or enhanced clauses.

6. Optimizing Time Spent in Reviewing Contracts

Using AI systems’ ability to pick, understand, and highlight differences in clauses, different versions of contracts can be reviewed in shorter periods, enabling faster turnarounds times.

7. AI in Contract Risk Management

AI systems can provide risk assessment information. This enables officials to visualize the potential risks and take corrective action, thus saving the company from losing money due to faulty contracts.

The ability to assess and predict risks allows contract managers to make informed and effective management decisions in much shorter times.

Some Challenges in the Use of AI Systems in Contract Management

One of the biggest challenges in AI systems is the “training” of the “intelligence.” To train the system, it has to be given many existing contracts in a similar format. First, all contracts in an organization need to be converted into a standard format that can be fed into the system.

This means they first have to locate all the contracts stored at different locations in different formats. Once contracts are located, they need to be stored in a standard format.

This is a complete exercise involving finding all existing contracts, scanning and digitizing them, and storing them in a similar format. This enables optical character recognition (OCR) to convert them into usable text and arranging them in a way that allows a machine to “learn.”

The system has to be trained to make sense of the data it has been given. Only after the system learns and understands the documents can it provide useful contract management inputs.

Conclusion

The benefits of using computers and AI has grown in recent times. The advantages and benefits of using AI systems include creating and managing standard contracts and keeping track of important dates and deadlines.

However, these are just a few reasons why AI software is the future of contract management.

As we understand the systems better, they are sure to improve and provide even better facilities in the foreseeable future. However, we need to realize that there is a lot of initial work that has to be done to ‘train’ the AI system before it can produce results.

Have you ever thought about using social media to drive traffic to your website? Is it not working as well as you thought it would? With the knowledge that most people who use a mobile device have some sort of social media account or another, taking advantage of the multiple social media platforms has quickly become one of the most popular ways for business to market their content and products.

One of the most prominent reasons it has become popular is because when used correctly, it can boost your sales dramatically. Not to mention that it gives you the ability to directly interact with your consumers, which allows for increased engagement from the followers and encourages them to visit your website. Here is how you can boost your sales by marketing yourself on Twitter.

Create a unique hashtag

We all know that hashtags are a fun thing to put in your post that somewhat relates to it, but did you know this this could be a very important tool when it comes to marketing your business and starting marketing campaigns?

Hashtags are a fantastic way for you to guide your tweets in the direction of your target demographic; the audience you want to gain. They allow you to increase your coverage and reach while also letting you see what other users are posting about your brand.

Not only is it good to use a hashtag in your posts, but creating your own one is even better. This will make it easier for you to relate it to your brand and keep it original and interesting, which ensures that all the attention goes to your brand.

Don’t forget to keep it simple and easy to remember, and make sure that it is relevant to your business. This allows for your post to remain relevant and keep your followers engaged with your marketing campaign 

Be interesting to get real followers

First and foremost, Twitter is a social media platform used mainly for entertainment purposes. This means that the content you are creating and posting should not just be limited to advertising your products or services.

When posting to twitter about your brand you should keep it interesting by using different forms of multimedia, such as memes, videos, and Gifs in order to keep your posts relevant and allow for engagement with followers. If you choose to just advertise your brand, followers will soon become bored and no longer be enticed to interact with your account.

If you are struggling to increase your follower base, there are organic marketing services that are out there to help you with just that. Try using something like Twesocial to get legit Twitter followers, they will handle every aspect of your twitter account from deciding what to post and when, to choosing hashtags that will help increase your follower base, as well as engaging with your followers through likes and comments. All you have to do is supply the content!

Use discounts to drive traffic to your website

One thing that everyone loves, no matter who they are, is free stuff. A super effective way of driving traffic to your website is by offering coupons and discounts to your twitter followers. On average, 43.5% of twitter users follow brands just to see what special offers and deals they have available.

By sharing coupon codes and discounts with your followers, not only will you probably gain a whole bunch of new followers, but if you link the website in your bio, these followers will have to visit your website in order to make use of the coupons, which will, in turn, expose them to more of your products.

Check out the competitors

One way to increase your sales, even if you are following all the tips imaginable, is to scope out what your competitors are doing. Have a look at others who have accounts that are performing better than yours and analyse their tweets to see what they are doing differently. Have a look at what they are posting, how they engage with their audience, and how often they post.

Don’t, however, just copy what others are doing, use their tweets for inspiration and find a way to implement what they are doing into your own tweets and promotions.

Statistics project that the global e-commerce retail industry will approach the $5 trillion mark. But even as sales are set to increase, fraudsters are evolving daily to keep up with changes in the industry.

With the increase in fraudulent e-commerce transactions, more sellers are placing up fraud management systems to stop the crime. However, in the process, these businesses could flag honest purchasers.

When your fraud management system flags legitimate buyers, you stand the risk of more than 60% of these customers never doing business with you.

Preventing fraud and increasing sales is a delicate game of balance. You have to use systems that protect you without compromising a customer’s experience or your sales.

Common Ecommerce Fraud

Understanding the common e-commerce fraud will guide you in developing fraud management systems to protect your business.

The common types of e-commerce fraud include:

• Card-not-present fraud in which the fraudulent customers uses stolen credit cards and credentials to place an order from your store. The credit card owner will dispute the transaction, and you must issue a refund.
• Return fraud where the customer tries to get the product for free. In this scenario the buyer will create multiple accounts, purchase merchandise, return the original packaging empty and sell them elsewhere. 

You could detect e-commerce fraud through the following indicators:

Preventing Ecommerce Fraud

When retailers are the victims of fraud or want to prevent fraud, they take it to the extreme and put up as strict measures as they can.

The result is a system that filters out all customers who, for any reason, fit the description of potential fraud. Such strict screening is the leading cause of false declines and major losses in sales and customer experience.

Smart fraud management allows e-commerce retailers to have the best of both worlds: reduced losses due to fraud and increased customer retention and experience.

Look at the big picture

Too often, you might be preoccupied with analyzing every single transaction that you miss the patterns that fraudulent transactions leave. At one point, a legitimate transaction is likely to fit the description of a fraudulent one, leading to a missed sale.

As a business owner, have an expert reviewing the patterns fraudsters follow so that you can catch fraudulent transactions at different stages. For instance, a fraudster could have the credit card details, CVV, address, and real card owner details.

However, after the transaction, he or she will change the shipping address and effectively defraud you. If you have identified this as a pattern, you will have a system in place to confirm via telephone or email about the change of shipping address.

As part of the big picture, you have to keep evolving as e-commerce fraud management measures evolve. Keep your software updated and employees educated to ensure your business is as safe as possible.

Have a strong-password policy

Customers with weak passwords put both their information and your business at risk of loss, with account takeover fraud costing more than $5 billion annually.

As a business, you must enforce strong password policies so that your customers’ data is safe. Encourage them to use long passwords with a combination of lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

It might be frustrating for them, but it is safer than losing their information or accounts to fraudsters.

Use best practice transaction security

Payment Card Industry data security standards guide e-commerce retailers on the standards to follow when storing, processing, or transmitting credit card information.

Ensure your store complies with these standards to prevent data loss, fraud, and financial losses due to fines for non-compliance.

If you are using an e-commerce platform, learn the PCI standards they have in place, and add any missing requirements.

Work with experts

Most merchants are not equipped to handle fraud detection or security of their e-commerce stores, leaving enough loopholes for fraudsters.

To mitigate this risk, work with security experts to manage every transaction stage, detect fraud, and test your system to catch vulnerabilities that expose you to fraud.

Use fraud monitoring systems

Most e-commerce software or processing platforms have alert systems that you can set up to notify you of suspicious activities like:

Use tracking numbers for your orders

Some unscrupulous customers will receive a product and file a chargeback claiming they never received the product. However, a tracking number ensures that the customer received their product, which you can use to defend a chargeback request.

In addition to the tracking number, request your customer’s signatures upon delivering the requested product.

Key Takeaways

Fraud management in e-commerce is about assessing risks, developing systems, and adopting best practices that reduce fraud without reducing your sales or customer experience. Approach fraud management with the big picture in mind, learn fraud trends in your niche and develop measures that mitigate these risks.

The number of cyber-attacks on businesses is increasing. As more of us rely on remote working, protecting our work life from sophisticated cybercriminals is becoming more important than ever.

Businesses do everything they can to keep cybercriminals at bay while working in the office. Security software, firewalls, and VPNs’ play a major part in keeping office systems protected from hackers and scammers. But what about employees who are working from home, or work remotely? The pandemic has forced businesses to up their privacy game as many have left their office desks behind. VPN protection is not just for the office. Making sure your external devices are protected is essential too.

Working from home

One adjustment many of us have had to make is working from home. While the commute is significantly shorter, other important factors may have been overlooked. It’s unlikely that your Wi-Fi at home has the same level of security as a business network, but you will still be working on the same projects. So, how can you protect yourself when working from home?  A VPN establishes an encrypted connection to the server, which makes it impossible for cybercriminals to access it. It will also hide your IP (Internet Protocol) address which details your location. This means your home address is not exposed, and your real location is kept private. Being able to work safely from home means you have one less thing to worry about in these uncertain times.

Public Wi-Fi

Businesses may not realise the risks when staff use public Wi-Fi networks when they are away from the office. Public Wi-Fi is widely available in places that are popular with business people such as train stations, coffee shops, and airports, but they have very little security protection. They are a hot spot for cybercriminals looking to take advantage of the lack of protection. Accessing emails, customer data, and financial information is easy for professional hackers and scammers when you use a public Wi-Fi network without a VPN. Using a public Wi-Fi VPN protects data, keeps personal and business information private, and ensures your browsing activity is anonymous.

Remote working

Installing a VPN will allow employees to connect to a company’s server securely. Even if they are halfway across the world. This is a very useful feature for those who travel for work or regularly visit countries that enforce censorship. A VPN will allow you to connect to a server back in the UK, so you can access everything you need without any geo-restrictions or delays. You can work on documents, send emails, and use company databases securely with a VPN on your device. For businesses, it is essential to protect every device. It only takes one cyber-attack to cause a multitude of problems for the individual and the company. If your company issues smart devices such as laptops, phones, and tablets to employees, it needs to be protected with a VPN.

Company confidentiality

A VPN will protect your company’s confidentiality, no matter where your employees are working from. The projects, documents, and emails you are working on are private – so you don’t want any prying eyes to see anything confidential. Any data travelling through your internet connection while you are connected to a VPN is completely private. From banking to budgets, the only people who see it will be those who need to.

Think about the implications

If your devices are targeted by cybercriminals when using public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop, there could be serious implications. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are very skilled at what they do, and financial information, customers details, and company passwords could all be exposed before you even know it has happened. A VPN will scramble your connection so your online activity cannot be tracked, and private information will not be compromised. A data breach would also impact brand trust and customer loyalty. This can take its toll on your reputation, which can be hard to recover from. Financially, a loss of customers or lack of new ones could affect the company profits.

Setting up

Don’t worry. Setting up a VPN is not as daunting as you might think. You won’t need to contact your IT department or spend hours searching for tutorials online. In a few clicks, a VPN can be downloaded and installed onto your device seamlessly. As well as increased privacy, you’ll get peace of mind knowing your work life is protected, no matter where you are working from.