The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in legal operations is transforming how organisations manage contracts, with businesses, government institutions and corporate legal departments turning to digital solutions to improve efficiency, reduce risk and strengthen compliance oversight.

Among professionals contributing to the trend is a United States-based Nigerian lawyer and legal engineer, Sandra Odigbo, whose work has involved the implementation of contract lifecycle management systems and AI-enabled contracting solutions for more than 100 organisations.

The legal technology specialist, who serves as a consultant and legal engineer at Consilio, has spent the past year supporting organisations seeking to replace manual contracting processes with technology-driven systems designed to improve efficiency and reduce operational risks.

Her work has helped businesses that are investing in digital tools to manage growing volumes of contracts and regulatory obligations.

Unlike traditional legal practice, where lawyers primarily focus on drafting agreements and providing legal advice, legal engineering combines legal expertise with technology implementation and process optimisation.

Speaking on her role, Odigbo said she plays an important role in understanding how organisations create, negotiate, approve and manage contracts and then design systems capable of improving those processes through automation and artificial intelligence.

She explained, “Contracts are at the centre of almost every business relationship. The challenge for many organisations is not the absence of contracts but the ability to manage them efficiently and derive value from the information they contain.

“Large businesses often manage thousands of agreements involving vendors, customers, employees and strategic partners, making oversight difficult when processes remain manual.”

Through her work on contract lifecycle management projects, Odigbo has helped organisations implement digital platforms that centralise contractual information, automate approval workflows and improve visibility into contractual obligations.

Her responsibilities include gathering business requirements, conducting workflow assessments, identifying process inefficiencies and configuring technology solutions that align with organisational objectives.

Before moving into legal technology, Odigbo built a career in legal advisory and corporate practice, handling commercial matters, contract reviews and business advisory services.

She later expanded her expertise through project management and business process improvement roles, experiences that helped shape her transition into technology-enabled legal operations.

Speaking further on the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in legal operations, Odigbo stressed that this represents an opportunity to improve efficiency while strengthening governance and compliance frameworks.

She added that her work with AI-enabled contracting tools includes supporting systems that assist organisations with contract review, clause extraction, obligation tracking and information retrieval.

She explained that while artificial intelligence is changing how organisations approach legal operations, human expertise remains essential in ensuring that technology is deployed effectively and responsibly.

“Technology works best when it complements professional judgement. The goal is not to replace legal expertise but to enhance it by reducing repetitive tasks and improving access to information,” she said.