At Zoho’s SMZ 2025 event, Zoho Contracts unveiled enhancements aimed at transforming how small businesses handle contracts. By integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and customer relationship management (CRM) tools, the platform seeks to simplify the contract lifecycle, reduce risks, and improve transparency – all on a unified platform.
Streamlining the contract lifecycle
Arjun Kesavan Balasubramanian from the Zoho Contracts team highlighted the platform’s ability to manage every stage of the contract process.
"So Zoho Contracts is Zoho’s contract lifecycle management software. So, if you want to transform your entire contract lifecycle, if you want to have one tool to manage the contract requests, the collaboration, the approval negotiation signature and all of the post execution stages like amendments, renewals, extensions, termination and the contract analytics part. All of this is covered in one tool, which is Zoho Contracts", he explained.
This consolidation eliminates the need for multiple tools, allowing users to create, collaborate on, and execute contracts seamlessly. Post-execution tasks, such as renewals and amendments, are managed automatically, ensuring that nothing gets overlooked.
AI assistance for smarter contract management
One of the standout features of the latest update is the integration of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, which adds a layer of intelligence to contract workflows.
"The recent features that we launched with this update is basically our integration with LLMs like ChatGPT. So what that adds to the CLM system is it adds an additional layer of intelligence. So if you are working on a contract document, let’s say 50 pages long, it would be amazing to have an assistant that will tell you what are the key insights from this contract, right? Like it can summarize your contract. It can give you an update on what are the potential risks I have in this contract and it can extract what are the obligations you have in this particular contract so that AI assistant is a powerful feature", Balasubramanian explained.
This innovation empowers small business owners and teams without in-house legal expertise by quickly pinpointing deadlines, risks, or critical clauses. Looking ahead, Zoho plans to roll out its own AI engine, Zia, to offer these capabilities in a privacy-focused manner.
Balancing AI with human judgment
Despite the advanced capabilities of AI, Balasubramanian emphasized the need for human oversight in legal workflows.
"That’s a good one. So if you think about it, you have an AI assistant that can summarize that can tell you what is the risk and what is not, but you still need a human judgment to validate whatever the AI is saying, because legal is this one sector where the nuances are a lot, right."
While AI streamlines the drafting and reviewing process, human expertise remains vital for interpreting legal nuances, understanding regulations, and ensuring compliance.
Prioritizing data privacy with BYOK integration
Data privacy is crucial for businesses handling sensitive contracts. Zoho’s ChatGPT integration is designed with a "Bring Your Own Key" (BYOK) approach, allowing organizations to use their existing ChatGPT setups.
"Definitely. So this particular ChatGPT integration is covered as bring your own key integration. So if you already are using ChatGPT at your organization, you’re bringing that key and you’re enabling this integration with Zoho Contracts, right? So you’re already OK with ChatGPT processing that data to help you improve efficiency or make your contract management easier."
For those concerned about external data sharing, Zoho’s planned LLM solution will provide a private alternative that doesn’t use contract data for external training. Balasubramanian emphasized Zoho’s commitment to trust, noting, "What Zoho has achieved is trust, and that trust was built over 3 decades… when Zoho LLM is implemented into our system, the decision becomes very, very easy for our customers."
CRM integration for seamless workflows
Zoho Contracts now offers deeper integration with Zoho CRM, bridging the gap between sales and legal processes. This ensures that contracts can be generated directly from CRM data, enhancing efficiency.
"So if you are a CRM user. And when you see that a deal is imminent, you can just create a record right from your deal, record in CRM and all of that information in CRM will be fetched. It will be automatically mapped into Zoho’s Contracts. A contract document will be generated and that document is also available as an attachment in Zoho CRM", Balasubramanian explained.
This streamlined process minimizes errors while allowing sales teams to close deals faster without switching between tools.
Ready-made templates and clause libraries
To further simplify legal workflows, Zoho Contracts includes 14 pre-approved templates and a clause library tailored to common contract types. While these templates cover a wide range of scenarios, Balasubramanian advises businesses to review them for industry-specific relevance.
"We have 14 predefined templates and these templates are some of the commonly used contracts that any business would need, but actually we would still recommend the small businesses to actually do a check of whether these clauses are relevant for the industry that they are operating in", he said.
The templates are designed as a starting point, reducing the dependency on legal counsel and speeding up contract negotiations. "So more of a way to give a lawyer something that’s you know, 90% of the way there instead of starting from scratch", Balasubramanian summarized, adding, "Exactly. Exactly. It’s about reducing the dependency. It’s not about replacing lawyers."
Supporting regional and multi-organization needs
Zoho Contracts also caters to businesses operating in multiple regions or managing multiple subsidiaries. Features such as regional settings, multi-organization support, and the ability to attach files and URLs to contracts ensure flexibility for growing businesses.
"We support multi organization. We have some regional settings covered now you can add files and URLs and attachments to your contract documents", said Balasubramanian.
Empowering small businesses through innovation
Zoho Contracts positions itself as a practical tool for small businesses, offering AI-driven insights, seamless CRM integration, and pre-approved templates to save time and money. Freelancers, retailers, agencies, and growing enterprises can benefit from a centralized contract management process that ensures compliance, reduces risks, and accelerates workflows.
By emphasizing privacy, trust, and efficiency, Zoho Contracts aims to empower small businesses to handle legal complexities with confidence. As Balasubramanian stated, "Even though we have chat integration, people would still ask when is Zoho LLM coming? Because they would really want to switch. And yeah, that trust I think. Will definitely help the adoption of LLM as well."
In combining advanced technology with a user-friendly approach, Zoho Contracts is making contract management smarter, faster, and more accessible for small businesses.
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