Blog Summary: How Has Contract Management Software Become More Accessible?
IntelAgree now lets any team member with the right permissions and a Saige Assist subscription ask contracts questions in plain English and get instant answers. This article explores three breakthrough features that eliminate model training requirements and transform contract intelligence into a real-time strategic asset.
How is Data Extraction Evolving in Contract Management Software?
Contract data extraction used to mean one thing: weeks of training models before you could ask your first question. You'd feed the system 20+ examples and wait for it to learn your patterns, then hope it found what you actually needed.
That approach has been evolving across recent Saige Assist markup enhancements. Teams can now extract contract intelligence by asking questions in plain English or describing what they're looking for, eliminating the traditional barriers between you and the insights you need.
Here's what's evolved in recent releases:
Contract Intelligence Through Conversational AI
Question attributes represent the biggest leap forward in contract intelligence: the ability to have conversations with your contracts using natural language. Instead of teaching contract management software to spot patterns, you simply ask what you want to know.
This capability goes far beyond finding specific words or phrases. Ask "How long is this agreement?" and the system might analyze effective and expiration dates to determine "24 months" even when the contract never directly states a term length. Ask "Does this contract present unfavorable liability risks?" and provide any specific parameters or specific business context to obtain reasoned analysis around favorability for that specific attribute.
The system can provide answers without requiring a tangible location in the contract, using inference and interpretation across the entire document instead. Plus, it walks you through its reasoning for each answer and includes testing capabilities so you can refine your questions before deploying across your portfolio.
How to Set Up Question Attributes:
- Select “Attributes” in the left navigation.
- Create a new meta or term attribute or edit an existing one.
- Toggle on "Question Attribute" (located below the “Markup using Saige Assist” option). This will automatically turn off any custom machine learning models.
- Note that a question will now be required, and you'll see an info icon with guidance on how to write your question. Write your question in plain English, being specific about what you want to extract.
- For meta attributes, define what each custom value means within your question for optimal accuracy (e.g., "yes" means permitted, "no" means not permitted, "silent" means not mentioned).
- For term attributes, include any parameters in your question (e.g., if the value will always be in months, specify that).
- Click "Test Question" to go to the test question page. Provide entire contract text examples for the most optimal testing results.
- Review the predicted value and the Saige Assist analysis showing how the system reached its conclusion.
- If results aren't accurate, adjust your question wording and test again. Test multiple times with different contract examples to confirm acceptable results.
- After you are done testing, click the back arrow to return to the attributes page. If you have made changes to your question during testing, you'll see a modal asking to "Continue" (without saving) or "Save and Continue."
- Save the attribute itself (you'll then see the Saige Assist logo appear next to the attribute on the attributes page).
Keep in mind: Question attributes can only analyze what's actually written in the contract, so asking about external information — like who requested the contract — won't return useful results. Additionally, your attribute type determines what kind of answers you'll get: use term attributes with text data type to extract specific information (perfect for questions like "What is the contact person's name?"), and meta attributes when you want answers that match your predefined values (ideal for questions like "Does this contract allow press releases?" where "yes" means permitted, "no" means not permitted, and "silent" means not mentioned).
Markup Hundreds of Contracts Simultaneously
Need to extract the same information from hundreds or even thousands of contracts? Bulk markup handles this in batches automatically, and recent enhancements mean you can now use Saige Assist – either with a name and description or question attributes – instead of training machine learning models first.
Simply describe what you're looking for, or ask a question like 'What are the payment terms?' and bulk markup applies this across multiple contracts simultaneously. The contract management software processes contracts in batches and returns predicted values so you can review and accept results efficiently rather than marking up contracts one by one.
This proves especially valuable when you inherit contract portfolios through acquisitions or need to quickly assess compliance across your organization. Instead of spending weeks gathering training examples for new attributes you want to track, you can immediately start extracting data. The system focuses specifically on new attributes, so you're not duplicating work that's already been done.
How to Use Saige Assist: Bulk Markup:
- Select “Attributes” from the left navigation.
- Choose your target attribute and click “Actions,” then "View Attribute Details" or "Manage Machine Learning."
- Click the "Bulk Markup" tab.
- Under bulk markup, select "Actions" then "New Saige Assist: Bulk Markup."
- Review the pre-populated description or question in the modal. Optionally choose specific contract types if you want to narrow the scope (will only show contract types that use the selected attribute).
- Click “Submit” to start processing contracts. Once processing is complete, click the success toast notification to refresh the page and see results in the bulk markup table.
- The results will show contract name, contract type, status, predicted value, and suggested markup.
- For individual contracts, use the ellipsis action button to click “View Markup Text,” “Accept Markup,” or “Decline Markup.” For multiple contracts, select items in the table and then use the bulk actions menu to “Accept Markup” or “Decline Markup” (note: cannot markup the same attribute multiple times in one contract).
Modern Contract Management Software: Built for Business Agility
Contract intelligence is often seen as all-or-nothing. Either you commit weeks to training models for specific data points, or you go without insights entirely. When business priorities shift suddenly — new regulations, unexpected acquisitions, changing risk appetites — teams are stuck with the intelligence they'd already built, not what they actually need.
Saige Assist: Bulk Markup transforms contract data from a fixed asset into a flexible resource. Business hypotheses can be tested against actual contract language without rebuilding your entire data extraction approach. And contract analysis finally serves business strategy instead of limiting it.
What's Coming Next?
In future releases, expect to see:
- Enhanced Approval Authority Limits: Set contract value approval thresholds (e.g. up to $50K, up to $100K, or up to $250K) for each user and let contracts automatically route to the first person authorized for that dollar amount.
- User Activity Reports: See exactly how your team uses the platform: which features they're clicking, where they spend their time, and what actions they're taking. Perfect for understanding adoption patterns and identifying training opportunities.
- Attribute-Based Send For Signing: Trigger approvals at contract signing based on specific attribute values, with options to skip approvals for terms you've already signed off on or require fresh approval every time — whatever your compliance needs demand.
Wrapping Up
Your contracts are ready to answer whatever questions your business throws at them. The setup barriers that used to block contract intelligence have been eliminated.
Ready to get started? Visit IntelAgree University for step-by-step guides and training, or schedule a demo to see Saige Assist in action with your contracts.