Ask most legal or business leaders what\u2019s buried inside their contracts, and the answers are usually vague. Someone in legal knows. It depends on the deal. We have templates. It\u2019s under control. But the reality is, few companies truly understand what\u2019s in their signed agreements across the board. That lack of clarity comes at a cost.<\/p>\n
Contracts aren\u2019t just legal paperwork. They\u2019re business signals. They reflect what you\u2019re willing to trade, how much risk you\u2019re comfortable with, and what kind of relationships you want to build with customers, vendors, and partners. They\u2019re not just about enforcement. They\u2019re about alignment. And most legal teams are missing the opportunity to use that information to make more informed decisions.<\/p>\n
In a recent episode of \u201cNotes to My (Legal) Self,\u201d Flo Nicolas, a legal tech strategist and founder of Get Tech Smart, offered a perspective many legal leaders need to hear. Flo built her career negotiating and managing licensing agreements in one of the country\u2019s largest telecommunications companies. She wasn\u2019t sitting in a legal silo. She was working cross-functionally, alongside engineers, vendors, and business units, and using contracts as operational blueprints. \u201cWhen you\u2019re reviewing and negotiating license agreements across departments, you see firsthand how much depends on clarity,\u201d she explained. That clarity, or lack of it, impacts delivery, accountability, and outcomes across the entire company.<\/p>\n And yet, in most organizations, contracts are created in isolation and managed as one-offs. Legal negotiates the terms. Business teams execute the deal. After that, the contract gets buried in a shared drive or a CLM, rarely touched again unless something goes wrong. What gets lost in that handoff is the data, the patterns, the trends, and the inconsistencies that could be used to improve not just legal performance but business outcomes.<\/p>\n Flo pointed out that legal operations is one of the few functions capable of bridging that divide. \u201cLegal ops is uniquely positioned as a conduit across departments,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t bring this stuff to light, who will?\u201d The truth is, you don\u2019t need generative AI or a full CLM rollout to start learning from your contracts. You need a mindset shift. You need to treat contracts as data because they are.<\/p>\n This means understanding which terms you negotiate most, which positions you consistently fall back on, and where language varies across geographies or departments. It means looking at where risk shows up repeatedly and where standardization might free up resources for more strategic work. It means aligning your templates not just with legal preferences but with how the business actually operates. Contracts, after all, are commitments. And broken commitments are expensive.<\/p>\n Flo also addressed something every in-house lawyer should hear. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk about AI to a legal team that\u2019s already burning out.\u201d The same goes for contract transformation. If your team is stuck in redlines and reactive review, the solution isn\u2019t another piece of software. It has better visibility. Legal leaders should be asking what their contracts actually say, where things are getting stuck, and how much of that can be solved with clarity rather than complexity.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about perfection. It\u2019s about progress. Start with your most common agreement types. Focus on the terms that slow you down or cause confusion. Talk to your business counterparts about what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not. And take a page from Flo\u2019s book. Step outside the legal echo chamber. Look at contracts the way a business leader would, as tools for execution, not just compliance.<\/p>\n Contracts are some of the most powerful data sets your company owns. They govern your revenue, your expenses, your partnerships, and your obligations. If you\u2019re not extracting insight from that data, you\u2019re flying blind. The teams that win in the next decade will treat contracts not just as legal tools but as strategic inputs into how the business runs.<\/p>\n Watch the full interview with Flo Nicolas here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Olga V. Mack<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is the CEO of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>TermScout<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, an AI-powered contract certification platform that accelerates revenue and eliminates friction by certifying contracts as fair, balanced, and market-ready. A serial CEO and legal tech executive, she previously led a company through a successful acquisition by LexisNexis. Olga is also a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and the Generative AI Editor at law.MIT. She is a visionary executive reshaping how we law\u2014how legal systems are built, experienced, and trusted. Olga\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>teaches at Berkeley Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, lectures widely, and advises companies of all sizes, as well as boards and institutions. An award-winning general counsel turned builder, she also leads early-stage ventures including\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Virtual Gabby (Better Parenting Plan)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Product Law Hub<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>ESI Flow<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Notes to My (Legal) Self<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, each rethinking the practice and business of law through technology, data, and human-centered design. She has authored\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Rise of Product Lawyers<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Blockchain Value<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Get on Board<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, with\u00a0Visual IQ for Lawyers\u00a0(ABA) forthcoming. Olga is a 6x TEDx speaker and has been recognized as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence and an ABA Woman in Legal Tech. Her work reimagines people\u2019s relationship with law\u2014making it more accessible, inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with how the world actually works. She is also the host of the Notes to My (Legal) Self podcast (streaming on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Spotify<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Apple Podcasts<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/a>), and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Newsweek, VentureBeat, ACC Docket, and Above the Law. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. Follow her on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>LinkedIn<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and X @olgavmack.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Flo Nicolas On Why Contracts Aren\u2019t Just Legal Tools, They\u2019re Business Signals<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ask most legal or business leaders what\u2019s buried inside their contracts, and the answers are usually vague. Someone in legal knows. It depends on the deal. We have templates. It\u2019s under control. But the reality is, few companies truly understand what\u2019s in their signed agreements across the board. That lack of clarity comes at a cost.<\/p>\n Contracts aren\u2019t just legal paperwork. They\u2019re business signals. They reflect what you\u2019re willing to trade, how much risk you\u2019re comfortable with, and what kind of relationships you want to build with customers, vendors, and partners. They\u2019re not just about enforcement. They\u2019re about alignment. And most legal teams are missing the opportunity to use that information to make more informed decisions.<\/p>\n In a recent episode of \u201cNotes to My (Legal) Self,\u201d Flo Nicolas, a legal tech strategist and founder of Get Tech Smart, offered a perspective many legal leaders need to hear. Flo built her career negotiating and managing licensing agreements in one of the country\u2019s largest telecommunications companies. She wasn\u2019t sitting in a legal silo. She was working cross-functionally, alongside engineers, vendors, and business units, and using contracts as operational blueprints. \u201cWhen you\u2019re reviewing and negotiating license agreements across departments, you see firsthand how much depends on clarity,\u201d she explained. That clarity, or lack of it, impacts delivery, accountability, and outcomes across the entire company.<\/p>\n And yet, in most organizations, contracts are created in isolation and managed as one-offs. Legal negotiates the terms. Business teams execute the deal. After that, the contract gets buried in a shared drive or a CLM, rarely touched again unless something goes wrong. What gets lost in that handoff is the data, the patterns, the trends, and the inconsistencies that could be used to improve not just legal performance but business outcomes.<\/p>\n Flo pointed out that legal operations is one of the few functions capable of bridging that divide. \u201cLegal ops is uniquely positioned as a conduit across departments,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t bring this stuff to light, who will?\u201d The truth is, you don\u2019t need generative AI or a full CLM rollout to start learning from your contracts. You need a mindset shift. You need to treat contracts as data because they are.<\/p>\n This means understanding which terms you negotiate most, which positions you consistently fall back on, and where language varies across geographies or departments. It means looking at where risk shows up repeatedly and where standardization might free up resources for more strategic work. It means aligning your templates not just with legal preferences but with how the business actually operates. Contracts, after all, are commitments. And broken commitments are expensive.<\/p>\n Flo also addressed something every in-house lawyer should hear. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk about AI to a legal team that\u2019s already burning out.\u201d The same goes for contract transformation. If your team is stuck in redlines and reactive review, the solution isn\u2019t another piece of software. It has better visibility. Legal leaders should be asking what their contracts actually say, where things are getting stuck, and how much of that can be solved with clarity rather than complexity.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about perfection. It\u2019s about progress. Start with your most common agreement types. Focus on the terms that slow you down or cause confusion. Talk to your business counterparts about what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not. And take a page from Flo\u2019s book. Step outside the legal echo chamber. Look at contracts the way a business leader would, as tools for execution, not just compliance.<\/p>\n Contracts are some of the most powerful data sets your company owns. They govern your revenue, your expenses, your partnerships, and your obligations. If you\u2019re not extracting insight from that data, you\u2019re flying blind. The teams that win in the next decade will treat contracts not just as legal tools but as strategic inputs into how the business runs.<\/p>\n Watch the full interview with Flo Nicolas here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Olga V. Mack<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is the CEO of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>TermScout<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, an AI-powered contract certification platform that accelerates revenue and eliminates friction by certifying contracts as fair, balanced, and market-ready. A serial CEO and legal tech executive, she previously led a company through a successful acquisition by LexisNexis. Olga is also a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and the Generative AI Editor at law.MIT. She is a visionary executive reshaping how we law\u2014how legal systems are built, experienced, and trusted. Olga\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>teaches at Berkeley Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, lectures widely, and advises companies of all sizes, as well as boards and institutions. An award-winning general counsel turned builder, she also leads early-stage ventures including\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Virtual Gabby (Better Parenting Plan)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Product Law Hub<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>ESI Flow<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Notes to My (Legal) Self<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, each rethinking the practice and business of law through technology, data, and human-centered design. She has authored\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Rise of Product Lawyers<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Blockchain Value<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Get on Board<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, with\u00a0Visual IQ for Lawyers\u00a0(ABA) forthcoming. Olga is a 6x TEDx speaker and has been recognized as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence and an ABA Woman in Legal Tech. Her work reimagines people\u2019s relationship with law\u2014making it more accessible, inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with how the world actually works. She is also the host of the Notes to My (Legal) Self podcast (streaming on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Spotify<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Apple Podcasts<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/a>), and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Newsweek, VentureBeat, ACC Docket, and Above the Law. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. Follow her on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>LinkedIn<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and X @olgavmack.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Flo Nicolas On Why Contracts Aren\u2019t Just Legal Tools, They\u2019re Business Signals<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ask most legal or business leaders what\u2019s buried inside their contracts, and the answers are usually vague. Someone in legal knows. It depends on the deal. We have templates. It\u2019s under control. But the reality is, few companies truly understand what\u2019s in their signed agreements across the board. That lack of clarity comes at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n