Conga: The Impact of Market Disruption on Contracts

Geoff Webb, VP of Product and Portfolio Marketing at Conga, leads cross functional teams and go-to-market strategy. His focus is on helping organisations understand how Conga’s solutions can simplify complex processes, connect silos and turn challenges like market volatility and regulatory change into opportunities for growth. 

Conga is a leader at the forefront of AI-powered innovation in CPQ, CLM and Document Automation. It helps businesses simplify and automate the complex processes that sit between their customers, suppliers and partners. 

The firm's goal is to help customers break down informational silos and deliver much deeper intelligence across revenue generation and risk management. By standardising and connecting these processes between procurement, legal, sales operations and IT, Conga empowers teams to move faster, respond to market changes with confidence and ultimately drive growth and resilience. 

Speaking to Procurement Magazine, Geoff says he believes market disruptions such as tariffs and supply chain volatility are forcing procurement teams to treat contract management as a strategic, dynamic function rather than static back-office work.

He asserts that organisations need forensic-level control over contractual obligations to navigate rapid changes and regulatory scrutiny.

How are ongoing market disruption reshaping the way procurement teams should think about contract management?

Market disruptions like tariffs and supply chain volatility have created a new level of uncertainty for procurement teams who can no longer afford to treat contracts as static documents.

Contracts really do define the DNA of the business, spelling out commitments, risks and opportunities – and contract management can no longer be treated as just a back-office function.

Instead, the way we manage contracts of every type must be a living process that can inform and shape strategic decisions for the entire business. 

With supply chains disrupted, tariffs moving so quickly and a new level of scrutiny from the DOJ, organisations must have a forensic level of control over their contractual obligations and how they operate.  

You’ve said procurement is “sitting on a goldmine of insight” within contracts. What risks and opportunities can contract data reveal that are often overlooked?

Contracts capture more than just terms and conditions; they’re a record of your company’s operating environment.

They also often contain risks, which can include compliance exposure in certain regions, inflexible commitments that don’t align with shifting regulations and dependence on suppliers who may also be vulnerable.

Yet these risks are often difficult to identify and manage when they are locked away in static document repositories. In terms of opportunities, contract data can equally be a lever for growth – offering organisations the ability to drive pricing flexibility, or to renegotiate on better footing for the future.

Most companies have thousands of these agreements and so the challenge lies in reviewing them, understanding what’s captured in the contracts and surfacing patterns across them that identify risk and opportunity.

With the emerging power of AI and analytics to automate reading, reviewing and summarising these contract libraries, that goldmine is finally accessible at scale and fast enough to respond to market and compliance shifts. 

What role can AI and automation play in transforming contracts from static records into active tools for managing risk, compliance and cost savings?

AI and automation allow organisations to leverage contracts as active assets.

Traditionally, companies would need an army of lawyers to comb through thousands of agreements, something that no business can afford. Now, AI can read, summarise and analyse that body of contracts in minutes. It can accelerate redlining, clause recommendations and risk identification.

Beyond this, AI doesn’t just describe what’s in the contracts – it can prescribe actions and changes that reduce risk, help ensure compliance and unlock cost savings across the enterprise.  

What steps should procurement leaders investing in new contract intelligence tools take to ensure smooth adoption and measurable business impact?

The biggest mistake I’ve seen made is to overwhelm teams with a patchwork of new tools, especially when it comes to AI. Rather, embed AI and automation into the platforms they already use. Second, build trust in the outputs.

Procurement leaders should prioritise solutions with transparency and observability, so teams understand why an AI is recommending a certain action. Finally, tie contract intelligence directly to business outcomes.

This means integration with ERP, CRM and supply chain systems so leaders can measure impact in terms of reduced cycle times, cost avoidance or improved compliance. When teams see that these tools make their jobs easier and deliver real results, they will naturally get on board.