Intermarché, a leading French retail group, faced a critical operational challenge with significant legal and financial implications. New regulations mandated the review and update of more than 3,000 supplier contracts within a compressed four-month timeframe.  Each contract required meticulous analysis, including the extraction of specific clauses pertaining to liability, delivery, payment terms, and penalties. These clauses then needed to be rigorously compared against the new regulations to identify any non-compliant elements.  Further complicating matters, the process required generating and sending customized emails to suppliers, tracking their responses, managing updates, and ensuring all contracts were properly resigned.

Intermarché's existing manual process for contract review was simply not equipped to handle this volume and complexity within the given timeframe.  The legal team was stretched thin, and relying solely on traditional methods risked costly errors, potential legal exposure, and missed deadlines.  Intermarché's leadership recognized that a transformative solution was required, one that could leverage the power of AI to automate key aspects of the process, accelerate compliance, and enhance overall efficiency. They sought a partner with deep AI expertise who could not only define a vision but also provide practical, hands-on guidance to achieve it.

dakAI was engaged by Intermarché to develop a strategic Point of View (PoV) that would serve as a blueprint for an AI-powered solution.  Our approach, deeply rooted in understanding the client's specific context and desired outcomes, followed a structured, four-phase methodology.

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Phase 1 - Diagnostic and opportunity assessment

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• Deep Immersion: dakAI consultants initiated a rapid, intensive diagnostic phase, working closely with Intermarché's legal team to gain a granular understanding of their contract review process. This wasn't a superficial overview; it was a deep dive into the intricacies of their daily operations.

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• Process Decomposition: We meticulously deconstructed the entire contract review workflow, mapping each step, identifying the actors involved, the tools utilized, and the time required for each task. This resulted in a comprehensive process map that illuminated the critical pain points.

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• Bottleneck Identification: Through collaborative workshops and data analysis, we pinpointed the most time-consuming and resource-intensive tasks. This revealed that manual clause extraction, compliance verification, email drafting, and communication tracking were major bottlenecks, consuming a disproportionate amount of the legal team's time and effort.

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• Quantifiable Impact: We didn't just identify problems; we quantified their impact. We assessed the volume of contracts, the complexity of the legal clauses, and the variability in contract formats to build a data-backed understanding of the challenge's magnitude.

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Phase 2 -Solution vision and design

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• Conceptual Design:  Leveraging our deep AI expertise, we envisioned a tailored solution centered around four core AI-powered agents:
  • Intelligent Data Reader (OCR & NLP):  This agent would automate the digitization of contracts using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and employ Natural Language Processing (NLP) to identify, extract, and categorize key clauses and data points with high accuracy.
  • Compliance Verification Engine: This agent would automatically compare extracted clauses against the new regulations, flag non-compliant elements, and suggest precise modifications based on pre-defined rules and machine learning models, significantly accelerating the compliance review process.
  • Automated Communication Generator: This agent would dynamically generate personalized emails to suppliers, incorporating extracted contract details and specific instructions for necessary updates, streamlining communication and reducing manual drafting.
  • Communication Tracking and Workflow Manager:  This agent would orchestrate the entire communication flow, managing email dispatch, tracking supplier responses, sending automated reminders, and providing a real-time dashboard for complete visibility.

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• Technology Selection: We meticulously evaluated leading-edge technologies in OCR, NLP, and machine learning, recommending a robust and scalable technology stack aligned with Intermarché's existing IT infrastructure and long-term technology strategy.

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• Integration Strategy:  We developed a pragmatic integration plan to ensure seamless connectivity between the proposed AI solution and Intermarché's existing CRM, document management systems, and e-signature platform, maximizing efficiency and data flow.

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Phase 3 - Roadmap and implementation plan

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• Phased Rollout:  dakAI proposed a phased implementation roadmap, prioritizing an initial pilot project focused on a subset of high-priority contracts. This approach would allow for rapid testing, validation, and refinement of the solution before full-scale deployment.
• Resource Allocation: We provided clear guidance on the resources required for each phase, including internal team involvement, dakAI support, and any necessary technology investments.
• Training and Change Management:  Recognizing that successful AI adoption hinges on user adoption, we outlined a comprehensive training program for Intermarché's legal team, ensuring they were equipped to effectively utilize the new AI-powered tools.

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Phase 4 - Defining measurable success

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• Data-Driven Validation:  To ensure the solution delivered tangible value, we defined three critical KPIs:
  1. Contract Review Cycle Time Reduction:  Tracking the time taken to complete the entire contract review process, from initial analysis to final signature. (Target: 50-70% reduction)
  2. Compliance Accuracy Rate:  Measuring the percentage of contracts correctly identified and updated for compliance. (Target: 95-99% accuracy)
  3. Manual Effort Reduction:  Quantifying the reduction in time spent by the legal team on manual tasks. (Target: 60-80% reduction)