Our Director of Legal & Business, Stephanie Cruz, spoke with Diario Financiero about the strategic role that contract management plays today in reducing risks and strengthening operational continuity.
The growing complexity of business relationships is transforming the way companies manage their contracts. What was viewed for years as primarily an administrative process has become a strategic component for improving operational efficiency and strengthening decision-making, in a context marked by increased regulatory and supply chain demands.
“Companies currently operate with more extensive supply chains, technological services, massive data processing, specialized suppliers, and relationships that—even when conducted in Chile—often involve parent companies, platforms, or counterparties located in different jurisdictions,” notes Stephanie Cruz, Director of Legal & Business at az, who adds that new requirements regarding compliance, free competition, data protection, cybersecurity, and sustainability also shape these relationships.
The Cost of Poor Management
In this context, inadequate contract management can result in losses for organizations. A study published in 2025 by World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) estimates that if this process is deficient, it can erode, on average, 8.6% of a company’s annual value—a percentage that can exceed 15% in more complex industries.
Cruz argues that this has operational and economic consequences that can result in cost overruns, duplicate payments, loss of warranties, operational delays, indemnities, litigation, and a gradual decline in margins when contracts do not include mechanisms to address economic or regulatory changes. Added to this are legal and reputational risks. The absence of adequate clauses on matters such as anti-corruption, data protection, information security, or subcontracting can increase companies’ exposure to authorities, clients, and third parties.
Francisco Bilbao, Director of Legal and Compliance at BH Compliance, warns that “this could even lead to criminal liability.” From the perspective of the Crime Prevention Model, he argues that “knowing the third parties with whom we have contractual relationships and the nature of those relationships is fundamental throughout the entire process, not just at the outset, which is where most controls are in place.”
From Paper to Strategy
The integration of artificial intelligence and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms is accelerating this transformation. LemonTech CEO Juan Pablo Granda explains that these tools make it possible to organize requests, streamline reviews, maintain control over clauses and their various versions, and provide useful information to anticipate risks and facilitate decision-making. The executive says that implementing these solutions has reduced “the time it takes to draft a contract by between 40% and 50%.”
Bilbao states that the industries leading this change are banking, mining, and energy, “all of which require interacting with many third parties to conduct their business.” However, Granda asserts that the benefits are not limited to these sectors alone.
“Efficient contract management helps protect cash flow, preserve margins, improve operational continuity, and reduce uncertainty. It’s not about adding more bureaucracy, but rather about optimizing compliance with the commitments made by the company,” explains Cruz.
However, Granda warns that “many companies believe their contract management is complete simply by storing documents in a folder, on Google Drive, or in SharePoint. But the reality is very different. Saving a PDF is not the same as managing a contract,” he argues.
In his view, the true value lies in transforming the information contained in contracts into actionable data that reaches the sales, finance, compliance, and IT security departments in a timely manner, making it possible to anticipate renewals, detect breaches, and avoid lost business opportunities.
