Is contract intelligence the same as contract automation?

No. Automation focuses on workflow efficiency—moving contracts through approval steps faster. Contract intelligence focuses on understanding contract content using AI. A contract can be automated without being intelligent, and it can be intelligent without automated workflows. The best solutions combine both.

How long does it take to extract data from existing contracts?

Modern AI-powered extraction platforms process large portfolios rapidly. A typical enterprise can have historical contracts fully ingested and indexed within weeks, not months. The speed depends on contract volume, format consistency, and language variety—but processing thousands of documents takes days or weeks, not the quarters manual review would require.

Will contract intelligence replace legal teams?

No. It augments them. Lawyers interpret ambiguity, negotiate exceptions, and provide judgment calls. AI handles volume and pattern recognition—tasks that occupy junior lawyers and paralegals reviewing documents for hours. This frees senior counsel for higher-value strategic work and client relationships.

How does contract intelligence differ from OCR-based contract extraction tools?

OCR tools convert documents into searchable text, but they don’t interpret meaning. Contract intelligence goes further by understanding context — identifying obligations, commercial terms, renewal triggers, dependencies, and risks. Unlike OCR, which stops at text recognition, contract intelligence enables analytics, pattern detection, and automated obligation tracking.

Can contract intelligence work with legacy contracts or poorly structured documents?

Yes. AI-native platforms like Sirion can extract data even from scanned PDFs, legacy templates, multi-language contracts, and unstructured formats. The system learns from your contract library, improving accuracy over time and standardizing data from even the most inconsistent historical agreements.