AI and digital transformation are hot topics as companies look for ways to be more efficient, give teams back valuable time, and collaborate in a virtual office environment. The benefits of AI and digitization efforts can initially be met with skepticism or fear. However, by examining how technology can help organizations improve processes, reduce risk, and save money, it becomes clear that digital transformation efforts are worth the time.
Oftentimes, people think they don’t need technology solutions since they are fine doing things the way they’ve always done them. So, in order to get people to see the need for transformation, you have to sometimes step back and educate them about the gaping problem right in front of them.
The first challenge is always resistance to change in large enterprises. But the minute you start explaining all the benefits, the worries start to fall away. In the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) industry, this includes things like reducing contract drafting cycles from weeks to minutes or seconds, negotiations reduced from months to days resulting in accelerated sales deals. They will have complete visibility across the enterprise to all their contracts. This changes the equation. The consumer-grade interface is also key. It makes searching for your contracts like finding a product on Amazon.
Making the Case for Change
In our space, research shows that a staggering 85 percent of enterprises lack an effective CLM solution. And for the typical organization, contract management pitfalls, like missed contract milestones, erode 9.2 percent of revenue annually. That adds up quickly and makes the case for stepping in and making changes.
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One customer shared their experiences going from initial resistance to change to embracing new ways to get work done. We had the chance to work with a multi-billion dollar global food supplier that did contracts on paper only – you can imagine the days and months contract management took. They dealt with hundreds of thousands of contracts in painstaking processes.
We transformed their whole enterprise to go paperless, with collaboration across departments, during a global pandemic. The first few months were a transition, but they now cannot live without our solution and have saved so much time and sped up their service to their customers because of the time saved.
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Continuing Innovation
We have just scratched the surface with AI. Our algorithms learn from the user’s behavior, collaboration, contract syntax, and semantics using Deep AI NLP. Our vision is to be the middle-office platform that builds a seamless bridge between CRM and ERP. We believe that 95% of mundane tasks related to the source to pay and quote to cash can be completely automated.
We work on a continual basis to improve our AI algorithms. A few exciting things are centered around automating negotiation processes for organizations. We do this by reducing human touch by up to 90%, freeing up valuable time. The second part is industry benchmarking of efficiency, effectiveness, and efficacy. Benchmarking allows organizations to see how well companies are doing against the whole industry. That’s important because it creates a gamification kind of experience where you’re competing to do well in the industry and get better compared to other organizations.
Tips to Drive Digital Transformation in Any Industry
Face the Fear
Addressing the fear many people have around AI and tech is important so they understand how AI can be an enabler. For example, instead of a lawyer thinking, CLM will take their job, we help reframe their thinking to see how AI can help them expand from, say, 100 contracts to managing 200 or more contracts in the same amount of time.
Give Back Time
Our time is our most finite resource. Creating technology that helps customers save time is critical when it comes to digitalization. We see this as one of the main drivers in every single conversation.
Show a Better Way
A lot of companies are focusing on digital transformation because it’s the new buzzword in many industries, despite being around for a while. Before chasing the latest new trend, it is important to pause and determine what matters and what problems you want to solve. By doing this, you increase your chance of success.
Engage Customers Where They Are
Many people are intimidated by technology and so they don’t engage. That’s why it’s important to ensure your solution is easy to explain, addresses customers’ real pain points, and is done in a way that excites them to take a step into something new. One customer recently shared, “Things we once relied on IT to help us with, we are now able to do ourselves with the support of your team.”
When people recognize how technology empowers them, they become open to new possibilities. That moment is precisely when true digital transformation can thrive.
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
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