Contract Heroes

From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs in Legal Teams With Laurie Ehrlich

In this episode of Contract Heroes, hosts Marc and Pepe welcome back Laurie Ehrlich, a legal leader who has navigated the full spectrum of the industry, from steering the "battleship" at global enterprises to leading a lean startup through a major acquisition. Laurie shares her whirlwind journey as the former Chief Legal Officer at Dioptra and her current role at Icertis following their acquisition of the startup in late 2025. She provides an insider's look at how Dioptra’s agentic AI tools are being rebranded as Vera Engage and integrated into the Icertis suite to revolutionize contracting efficiency.

The Future of Smart Contracting With Kraig Conrad

In this episode, Kraig Conrad, Chief Executive Officer of NCMA (National Contract Management Association), explains the role of the NCMA as a neutral forum supporting contract management across the U.S. federal space and globally. He highlights its certifications, standards, and focus on professional development. The conversation also explores how the contract management profession has shifted from compliance-driven processes to outcome-based practices, supported by clear competencies and a common language. Kraig shares how organizations use the Contract Management Standard to improve performance, reduce risk, and identify skill gaps. He also discusses the growing impact of AI, including digital twins and automation, while emphasizing the need for cultural change. The discussion concludes with an invitation to the upcoming World Congress, a leading training event for contract management, procurement, and acquisition professionals.

Building Agile Legal Operations At Scale With Brian Powers

Everyone's talking about AI for contracts. Not everyone can actually make it work. Brian Powers, Co-Founder and CEO of Markups.ai, has a refreshingly honest take: AI is overhyped, adoption is elusive, and most teams trying to "add AI" to their contract workflows are going to struggle to show ROI. But when it's set up right — trained carefully on a client's specific workflow, integrated into the tools they already use — the results are real. We're talking up to 90% reduction in contract review time. Brian breaks down what makes contracts actually a strong use case for AI (rules-based, pattern-driven, predictable), why plugging into existing tools like Word, email, and your CLM matters more than a shiny standalone product, and what separates AI that sticks from AI that gets abandoned after the pilot. The honest truth? It's not easy. And it's too much work for most teams to figure out alone. This is a conversation worth having before you commit to your next AI vendor.

Building a Global Legal Operations Community With Anne Graue & Colin McCarthy

Legal operations is growing fast, but there's no standardized pathway for professionals entering the field. That's the gap Colin S. McCarthy and Anne Graue are working to close with Our Legal Community (OLC). On this episode, Colin and Anne share why they created OLC—a global community focused on certification, knowledge sharing, and career growth for legal ops professionals. They pair newcomers with experienced coaches who've built legal ops programs from the ground up, creating the certification standards the industry has been missing. We also talked about AI's role in legal teams, the future of in-house legal departments, and what makes OLC different from other networking groups. If you're in legal ops or thinking about starting a legal ops function, this one's worth your time.

Building Agile Legal Operations at Scale with Jessica Vander Ploeg

In this conversation, Jessica Vander Ploeg, Vice President of Legal Operations at Belron, shares her unconventional journey from interior design and market research to leading global legal teams. Now Vice President of Legal Operations at Belron, she explains how she oversees strategy, technology, and process enablement across multiple countries. The discussion dives into practical approaches to legal tech adoption, why Belron prioritizes point solutions over complete CLM systems, and how quick wins, integration planning, and change management drive impact. Looking ahead, Jessica reflects on the growing complexity of legal technology, the influence of AI, and why thoughtful, proactive planning is essential for the future of legal operations.

How AI Is Changing Contract Management with Nate Kostelnik

Improving Legal Operations with Data, Playbooks, and Smart Processes with Patricija Corey

In this talk, Patty Corey shares her path into legal operations and what she's learned along the way. She explains how focusing on good processes, precise data, and teamwork between legal and procurement teams can make contract management smoother. Patty talks about how to clean up data, choose the right metadata fields, and build helpful playbooks that help teams work faster and more accurately. She also discusses how AI tools can help once a strong foundation is in place. Throughout the conversation, Patty highlights a key message: technology alone can't solve every problem; successful legal operations start with transparent processes, good communication, and keeping data organized and up to date.

AI Meets CLM: Kyle Myers on Building the Future of Contract Intelligence

Meet Kyle Myers, Chief Product Officer at IntelAgree, one of today's leading AI-powered CLM platforms! Starting the conversation, Kyle shares his path from working at KPMG on automation and process improvement to joining IntelAgree soon after its founding in 2018. He explains how the company was built with a clear goal to make contract management faster, smarter, and easier through native AI. Kyle also discusses how early experiences with tools such as Kira inspired IntelAgree's mission to create a more affordable, accessible end-to-end CLM solution. He further shares an inside look at Saige Assist, IntelAgree's generative AI suite that helps draft, review, and negotiate contracts with ease.

Unlocking the Power of AI in Legacy Contract Migration with Samir Bhatia

In this episode, Samir Bhatia, CEO of Brightleaf Solutions, talks about his journey and how his company uses AI to improve contract management. Brightleaf first worked with law firms, but under Samir's leadership, the focus shifted to helping corporates manage large volumes of contracts. Their first big client was British Telecom, and since then, Brightleaf has built powerful AI software to extract important information from contracts, which is then carefully reviewed by people to ensure accuracy. The conversation covers the main challenges of legacy document migration, including bringing contracts together in one place, organizing them by type (such as NDAs and MSAs), linking related documents, and cleaning up data. Samir stresses the need to balance AI automation with human oversight and shares best practices such as creating a clear playbook, processing data in batches, and preparing it for CLM systems.

Taking A Phased Approach To CLM Implementation With Sarah Brower

In this episode, Sarah Brouwer, Senior Corporate Counsel at Trudell Medical International, joins Marc Doucette, CEO and Co-founder of Koho Consulting, to discuss the real-world challenges and strategies behind a successful contract lifecycle management transformation. Together, they share insights from Trudell’s multi-phase CLM rollout, including lessons in change management, phased implementation, and system adaptation. Marc draws on Koho’s hands-on experience to highlight what it really takes to move from static legacy tools to scalable enterprise CLM. They also explore how legal teams can rethink CLM as a long-term strategic investment rather than a one-time solution. The conversation wraps with a look at how AI is playing a growing role in document screening, data migration, and redlining, reshaping how legal ops teams work and deliver value across the business. Whether you're planning a CLM rollout or navigating one today, this episode offers a grounded perspective on what success looks like in complex organizations.