Tom Dunlop, CEO & Founder at Summize is an achieved business and expertise lawyer, Tom’s expertise with reviewing contracts was the catalyst that led to Summize. Previous to this, he labored as a International Authorized Director for a number of fast-growth expertise firms.
Summize is remodeling Contract Lifecycle Administration (CLM) by enabling complete companies—not simply authorized groups—to work quicker and smarter with contracts. The platform integrates immediately into extensively used instruments like Microsoft Phrase, Groups, Slack, Outlook, and Gmail, assembly customers the place they already work. With an intuitive consumer expertise, knowledgeable implementation, and highly effective AI, Summize simplifies and accelerates the contract course of from finish to finish. Centered on driving business-wide CLM adoption, Summize is redefining how contracts are managed, reviewed, and executed throughout organizations.
What impressed you to create Summize? Have been there particular challenges you confronted as a Normal Counsel that led you to develop an AI-powered authorized resolution?
There’s just a few issues that impressed me. Beforehand, as a International Authorized Director, I’d be there with my highlighter marker and printouts, reviewing contracts and attempting to create summaries of every one. There have been additionally groups of very demanding salespeople who wanted consideration and understandably needed to get offers accomplished. There was clearly a necessity for automating duties. I used to be working in a really excessive progress tech surroundings, so when it got here to innovation, I had an entrepreneurial mindset. Everybody round me was additionally always looking out for higher methods of doing issues, too. This stuff all coming collectively have been the catalyst for me growing and beginning Summize.
How has Summize developed since its founding in 2018? What have been some key milestones alongside the best way?
We have been a generic summarization software at first, so it was a giant step ahead after we determined to give attention to the authorized trade, and particularly, in-house counsel. Subsequent was after we reached our aim of making a holistic resolution that will function a touchpoint for each contraction interplay – which additionally led to the widening of our performance. The third milestone was after we started embedding our intelligence in different instruments inflicting adoption to essentially take off. Then there was our growth into the U.S. and the fast progress that adopted.
Alongside the best way we achieved rather a lot. We have been first-to-market with Phrase Add-In and AI performance. We have been first-to-market with Groups and Slack chatbots that might work together with authorized and create contracts. And, we’ll be first-to-market with extra capabilities within the very close to future. We’re always evolving.
What units Summize aside from different Contract Lifecycle Administration (CLM) options in the marketplace?
Our distinctive promoting level is our embedded method versus an all-in-one CLM platform. Essentially, these are the choices, and we really feel an embedded expertise by way of current and acquainted instruments is extra highly effective and facilitates adoption. Our use of synthetic intelligence (AI) and pure language processing (NLP) can be a differentiator. Its potential to streamline processes and cut back handbook effort is driving new ranges of price effectivity for authorized groups.
What industries or authorized features are at the moment main in AI adoption, and which of them are lagging behind?
In-house counsel at expertise and software program firms usually tend to undertake AI because of the excessive quantity of offers and give attention to effectivity. If you’re in additional commercially targeted environments, eradicating blockers to hurry deal processes is vital. We’re seeing adoption throughout all authorized features. Nevertheless, because the voice of a enterprise, normal in-house groups can really be a barrier to AI. They should approve options and that may sluggish adoption amongst customers and throughout wider enterprise features. However bigger business groups which are very deal targeted know there’s speedy productiveness positive factors and financial savings, so that they’re adopting AI quicker.
How do you see AI remodeling authorized work past contract evaluation? What different authorized duties might AI streamline?
Contracts are the system of file for any enterprise transaction, delivering all of the related relationship information, starting from who you’re contracting with to particular obligations to termination particulars. Accessing that info and making it usable is what we’re doing with issues like contract evaluation and summarization. Put AI on the again of that and you’ll drive information pushes between methods and workflow orchestration throughout varied components of the enterprise. That opens the door to a world of functions. It’d sound far-fetched, however AI might even rework the authorized service mannequin itself in the future, enabling corporations to cost based mostly on the information they ship and never time.
In response to Summize’s latest survey, 89% of in-house authorized professionals use AI instruments, but considerations stay round privateness and safety (45%), restricted understanding or coaching (37%), and an absence of clear use circumstances (31%). How can authorized groups transfer past preliminary AI adoption to make sure they’re utilizing it securely and successfully as a trusted companion of their workflows?
They should perceive how AI works, what to look out for from a safety standpoint, and the way information interacts with an AI mannequin. You must guarantee they’re utilizing it securely and successfully as a trusted companion in workflows. This requires coaching and clear AI insurance policies. Group members must also perceive how AI will affect the position of normal counsel over the subsequent 5 years. As soon as they’ve this data, they’ll have the ability to apply what they’ve realized to develop even better use circumstances and spur additional adoption,
How do you assume AI-powered instruments like Summize will change the position of Normal Counsels and in-house authorized groups over the subsequent 5 years?
I believe it will free them from decrease worth, excessive quantity duties, permitting them to give attention to the best sort of labor. It’ll additionally allow Normal Counsels to scale their information, in addition to their experiences, throughout authorized groups and the enterprise itself. And along with being relieved of time-consuming, handbook duties, leaders will know that such jobs are being accomplished to their requirements.
Do you assume regulatory frameworks must evolve to higher govern using AI in authorized tech?
Regulatory frameworks might want to specify the information utilized by language fashions (LLMs). What’s extra, fashions might be required to make use of verified content material, which might shift the main focus from information quantity to high quality and relevance. General, I do assume we’ll see regulatory frameworks evolve, and fashions do higher at understanding the information it makes use of earlier than rendering a solution.
What position do integrations (e.g., with Microsoft Phrase, Groups, Slack) play in making AI-driven authorized instruments extra accessible and user-friendly?
Shifting ahead, it’ll be essential to have AI embedded in consumer workflows and experiences. The query is, how do you do it and make it straightforward for customers? Integrations with Phrase, Groups and Slack are essentially necessary as a result of persons are already utilizing and adopting these instruments each day, making it the simplest entry level to start out a question.
Integrations with on a regular basis instruments will guarantee AI-driven authorized instruments are extra accessible and user-friendly.
What’s subsequent for Summize? Are there any upcoming options or expansions we must be trying ahead to?
We simply launched our next-gen AI-Powered CLM with clever brokers to speed up evaluations and unlock contract insights that makes use of agenetic AI to deal with duties from redlining to evaluation. We additionally broadened our chatbot’s performance to work together with different information units. These are only a couple issues we have now deliberate and we’re trying ahead to introducing different highly effective CLM developments.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to Summize.