The task
Most NDAs are the same document with different names on it, and the few that are not are buried behind them in the queue. Configure an agent to read each one, record the handful of terms your team actually decides on and route the exceptions. The register it builds is also the answer to what you signed last quarter.
What you provide
The inbound agreement
Whatever arrives: the counterparty’s paper, a marked-up copy of yours, or a signed scan forwarded by a colleague.
Your standard terms
The term length, governing law, mutuality and carve-outs you accept without escalation, and the ones that always need review.
Your routing rules
Who receives a standard agreement, who receives an exception, and the counterparty types that always reach a named lawyer.
Give the agent a clear brief
Use these instructions as a starting point, alongside your approved sources and permissions.
Extract the counterparty, effective date, term, governing law, mutuality and any unusual carve-outs, citing the clause for each. Compare them with the supplied standard terms and state which fall outside. Route each agreement according to the supplied rules and give the reason. Report an unreadable or missing term rather than inferring it. Do not sign, countersign, return an agreement or confirm acceptance to a counterparty.
How the work comes together
Read the agreement
Identify the parties and pull the decided terms with clause references. A scanned signature page often carries a different date from the body, and both are recorded.
Compare with your standard
Check each term against what you accept without escalation. One-way confidentiality on counterparty paper and an unusually long tail are the two that most often slip through.
Route and register
Write the result into the intake register with the routing decision and its reason. The register is the lasting output; the routing just gets today’s queue moving.
Illustrative example · fictional data
Two routine, one not
Three illustrative inbound agreements triaged against a fictional standard of mutual terms, three years and a named governing law.
| Agreement | Terms read | Routing |
|---|---|---|
| NDA-0912 · counterparty paper | 3 years, mutual, expected governing law | Standard, straight to signature queue |
| NDA-0913 · our template | 3 years, mutual, unchanged | Standard, straight to signature queue |
| NDA-0914 · counterparty paper | One-way, 7 years, different governing law | Exception, named lawyer |
Signature remains a human act in every row, including the two marked standard. The routing decides who reads it, not whether it is agreed.
The human review
A lawyer reviews every exception and anything the agent could not read with confidence. Signature, countersignature and any communication to the counterparty stay with your team.
Set it up for your team
Define your standard
Write down the terms you accept without escalation. Without a written standard, every agreement is an exception and the queue does not move.
Handle scans properly
A large share of inbound agreements arrive as photographs or scans. Test extraction on your actual intake quality before trusting the register.
Keep signature out of scope
Configure the playbook to stop at routing. Execution belongs in your signature process with its own authority checks.
Check the result before scaling
Use a batch of agreements your team has already processed, including one-way paper and unusual governing law. Measure terms read incorrectly and exceptions routed as standard, which is the error that costs you something.
Keep the data in the right place
An intake register reveals who you are talking to before any deal is announced. A fully local deployment keeps the agreements and the register inside your network.
Explore deployment optionsQuestions & answers
Can it sign an agreement that meets our standard?
No. It routes agreements and records terms. Signature stays a human act inside your existing execution process.
Does it work on scanned agreements?
Scans can be processed, and this is the case to test first because so much intake arrives as photographs. Unreadable terms are reported, not guessed.
What if the agreement is on our own template?
It is still read and compared, because a marked-up copy of your template is where an unnoticed change is most likely to survive.