Contract Lifecycle Management Systems and 2025 Regulatory Change

Cobblestone Software’s Mark Nastasi writes that contract lifecycle management will continue to be a significant compliance tool in 2025 as organizations face an increasingly complex and fast-changing regulatory environment. 

Tariff reforms, new data privacy laws, and AI regulations are reshaping contract drafting and maintenance, requiring organizations to revisit their vendor agreements. Environmental, social, and governance mandates, particularly those enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, add another layer of scrutiny, calling for robust sustainability tracking within supplier contracts. 

While these changes necessitate adaptable, transparent, and enforceable contract management, modern contract lifecycle management systems offer a path to operational agility and legal resilience. This means selecting a CLM system with in-system legal reviews, intelligent clause libraries, third-party risk vetting, and audit trails and reporting. In addition, choosing a platform that centralizes contract data and provides real-time insights is crucial for staying aligned with evolving mandates. 

The future will be shaped by the integration of generative AI, tools for global clause governance, and expanded contract lifecycle management use across departments. As regulations change, organizations that embed CLM into daily operations will be best positioned to adapt, minimize risk, and build trust with regulators and stakeholders. Adaptation won’t be just a technology upgrade for legal ops. It will be a structural shift in how compliance is managed.