How We Solved Our NDA Review Problem with Our Own AI Platform
“Innovation doesn't come from technology alone. It comes from people who imagine new ways to use it.” - Josh Levy
As the leading contract and document compliance platform for construction, Document Crunch excels in helping our customers identify risks and potential issues within contracts and project documents. But recently, we faced our own contract review bottleneck, and a lightbulb moment led to a workflow that would transform our internal non-disclosure agreement (NDA) review process and demonstrate exactly how companies—and people—can bend powerful AI technology to further fit their needs.
The Problem
As recently as six months ago, Document Crunch CEO & Co-founder Josh Levy, a former construction attorney, was working double-duty as chief executive and corporate counsel, personally reviewing every NDA our sales team received from potential customers. As sales grew and deals accelerated, so did the flow of NDAs. Even after hiring corporate counsel just months ago, the process remained a bottleneck that was slowing down our sales cycle.
"We quickly realized: why were we burning our legal resources and delaying our sales team when we were building AI technology to automate that exact process for our customers?" says Matt Porter, Document Crunch Industry Solutions Manager & Corporate Counsel.
The Solution
So, Matt let our AI do the work. Just like the Checklists powered by CrunchAITM that we create for our customers to identify risks and key provisions within construction contracts, our team configured a simple Checklist in Document Crunch to flag and review the provisions in NDAs that we care most about. The platform provides a description of our legal standards, AI-generated summary of how the provision in the contract aligns, an assessment of acceptable or unacceptable, plus an explanation, citations with links, and suggested improvements.
For our sales team, it’s easy. If everything comes back acceptable, they move straight to signature. This saves everyone time and empowers the sales team to review their own NDAs. If one or more of the five key provisions is flagged as unacceptable, they submit it to our legal experts through a custom-built Slack workflow.
"Instead of training our sales team on complex legal provisions or asking them to make judgment calls they weren't comfortable with, we leveraged our own technology to do the first pass," Porter notes.
The results were immediate. NDA turnaround times dropped from days to about 10 minutes, the legal team now only reviews documents that truly require their expertise, and there’s a formal process for tracking and reviewing agreements.
The Bigger Picture
The bigger story here isn't about NDAs or contract review. It's about rethinking how organizations—and PEOPLE—can adopt and adapt AI technology to solve problems. This internal workflow perfectly illustrates what we tell our construction customers all the time: take powerful technology and bend it to meet your needs. Create your own workflows, and let AI make you the best at what you do.
We already know forward-thinking customers like Balfour Beatty, PCL, and Commodore Builders are doing exactly this (reach out to our sales team if you want to know more!). They're not waiting for perfect solutions. They're taking best-in-class AI technology and adapting it to solve their specific challenges.
"Innovation doesn't come from technology alone," says Levy. "It comes from people who see possibilities and aren't afraid to experiment. This is my message to my legal peers as well. AI won’t replace you, but people who use AI will. Be your own hero."
In an industry that’s often cautious about new technology, Document Crunch's internal unlock offers a compelling blueprint: Start with a clear problem, leverage available technology in creative ways, and empower your team to work smarter, not harder.