What AI Contract Review Should Look Like in 2025

Contract review has long been a friction point: costly, slow, and dependent on limited legal resources.

Despite advancements in automation elsewhere, legal review has remained mostly manual, with teams relying on overworked lawyers, static playbooks, or generic tools not built for the job.

That’s changing. AI contract review software supports faster, more consistent, and more reliable contract reviews at scale, without compromising on quality. 

With the right tools, contract review times are reduced by 85% and complex legal language is simplified into actionable, real-time email summaries.

What Is AI Contract Review Software?

AI contract review software uses artificial intelligence to analyse, redline and summarise contracts automatically. Unlike basic automation tools, these platforms apply legal reasoning to flag risks, suggest alternative language, and surface key terms.

Modern solutions combine generative AI with expert-developed playbooks and rules-based logic to deliver accurate, consistent and compliant outputs, without requiring users to be lawyers.

What features to prioritise in contract review AI software

1. Instant Readiness with Pre-Built Legal Playbooks

One of the most persistent delays in contract reviews lies in the set-up. Building review frameworks, drafting fallback positions, aligning internal stakeholders, it all takes time.

In 2025, that’s no longer acceptable.

AI contract review software gives businesses immediate access to pre-built legal playbooks, designed for common contract types such as MSAs, NDAs, DPAs and SaaS agreements.

These playbooks should include clearly defined risk positions, vetted fallback clauses, and jurisdiction-specific guidance, available out of the box.

For in-house legal and procurement teams, this means:

• No lengthy onboarding cycles.

• No need to reinvent review criteria from scratch.

• Confidence that every agreement is assessed consistently, from day one.

2. Guided, Intelligent Redlines Without the Guesswork

The future of review is about precision as much as it is about speed. 

Modern contract review tools now combine legal-grade content with AI to recommend redlines that are both relevant and reliable.

Users can apply trusted model clauses, automatically revise clauses using pre-approved fallback language, and navigate alerts by priority, without needing to rewrite terms manually or escalate unnecessarily.

This new approach empowers:

• Legal teams to focus on the edge cases, not the routine.

• Procurement and contract managers to manage first-pass reviews independently.

• Faster turnarounds with fewer errors and less risk exposure.

Importantly, these revisions aren’t “best guesses” from generic AI. They’re based on real legal expertise, providing the assurance required for regulated, risk-conscious industries.

3. Transparent Workflows and Built-In Governance

Good contract management doesn’t stop at the signature, and neither should good contract review.

A future-fit process includes comprehensive version control, automated audit trails, and side-by-side comparisons of different contract iterations.

Whether it's the legal team reconciling third-party edits or finance teams preparing for audit, having a clear record of how key terms evolved - and why - is essential.

This level of visibility supports:

• Internal governance and risk oversight.

• Easier collaboration between legal, finance and operations.

• Faster alignment when disputes or compliance questions arise.

Governance isn’t just a back-office concern. It’s a critical enabler of trust, speed and scale, especially as AI becomes more embedded in review processes.

4. Secure by Design, Trusted by Legal Teams

When it comes to using AI in contract review, security and privacy aren’t optional.

The underlying technology used in the review process is fully SOC 2 Type II compliant, with strong protections in place for data privacy and access control. When generative AI is used, it runs through Microsoft Azure-hosted models, and customer data is:

• Never used to train the foundational model

• Never stored by Microsoft, not even temporarily for abuse monitoring

• Fully isolated, so it's never visible to other users or organisations.

Legal guidance and redlines are based on content written and reviewed by experienced legal professionals, not generated or scraped from the internet. Your teams can take action with confidence and clarity.

Security standards are constantly reviewed and upheld by dedicated InfoSec teams to ensure data remains protected at every step of the review process.

Rethinking the contract Review Process in 2025

As CFOs look to control costs, reduce friction and improve compliance, the contract review process offers one of the most immediate areas for impact.

The tools now exist to:

• Start faster with legal-approved frameworks.

• Review more accurately with guided AI assistance.

• Track changes and decisions with total transparency.

 AI contract review software offers the opportunity to opportunity to streamline spend, reduce external counsel reliance, and drive better commercial outcomes.

how gatekeeper Delivers aI contract reviews

Gatekeeper embeds AI-powered legal review directly into your vendor and contract workflows, without adding friction or implementation delays.

By bringing AI-assisted redlining and risk detection into the pre-signature phase via its partnership with LegalOn, Gatekeeper helps organisations move faster and with greater confidence.

Off-the-shelf legal playbooks, built on real legal expertise, allow teams to review agreements like MSAs, NDAs and DPAs right away, no setup required.The result is a contract review process that’s:

• Faster, without compromising legal rigour
• Easier to delegate across legal, procurement and commercial teams
• Fully auditable, with tracked decisions and version comparisons built-in

This means less rework for legal, more autonomy for business users, and stronger governance across the board. For CFOs, it translates into shorter contract cycles, improved risk oversight and reduced spend on external legal support.

Contracting doesn’t need to be a bottleneck. With Gatekeeper, it becomes a competitive advantage, from the first pass to the final signature.

Book your demo today. 

FAQs: Understanding AI Contract Review Software

What is AI contract review software?

AI contract review software uses artificial intelligence, including Large Language Models (LLMs), to identify, redline, and explain contract risks. Tools like LegalOn combine LLMs with rule-based logic and legal playbooks to produce accurate, review-ready output.

How is this different from ChatGPT?

General AI tools may sound convincing, but they’re prone to hallucinations, 
producing inaccurate legal advice. Leading contract review software avoids this by grounding suggestions in pre-written legal content created by experienced lawyers.

Can non-lawyers use AI contract review?

Yes. Tools like LegalOn are designed for legal teams and commercial users. Contract managers, procurement professionals and paralegals can manage first-pass reviews with guardrails in place, escalating only when needed.

What’s the difference between a CLM and AI review software?

CLM systems manage the contract lifecycle, intake, approval, signature, storage. AI contract review software focuses specifically on reviewing and redlining legal terms, either standalone or integrated with your CLM software. 

Is the AI secure?

Yes. LegalOn, for example, uses Microsoft Azure-hosted OpenAI models with enterprise-grade controls. Customer data is never used to train the underlying models, and sensitive data is kept private.