Why not just use Google Drive, Copilot or Cowork?
It's a fair question. Most companies already keep contracts in a shared drive, and an AI assistant will find a clause and summarise it when someone asks.
Contracts go wrong in the weeks when nobody asks. A notice deadline passes, an appendix was never filed, a price adjustment wasn't invoiced. That part needs a system that runs by itself.
A shared drive
Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint
Storing files, sharing them and keeping version history.
It doesn't know what's inside a file. The structure is only as good as the last person who saved something, and no folder tells you a deadline is coming.
A general AI assistant
Copilot, Cowork and similar
Reading a document on request, summarising it, answering a one-off question.
It answers when asked and forgets afterwards. There is no confirmed record to calculate from, no owner, and no reminder unless someone thinks to ask.
NeedToKnow
Reads from your drive, stores the result as data
AI is used for the reading. The result is confirmed by a person and stored in a database. Deadlines are calculated by fixed rules, and the reminders go out whether anyone asks or not.
Side by side
| Stores the signed files | Yes | Uses your storage | Yes, or delete after parse |
| Finds a clause when you ask | Text search | Yes | Yes, with the page |
| Keeps every term as a structured field | No | No | Yes |
| A person confirms each extracted value | No | No | Yes |
| Calculates notice and option deadlines | No | If asked | Yes, from confirmed fields |
| Tells the owner without being asked | No | No | Yes |
| A weekly summary of what's due | No | No | Every Monday |
| Flags missing appendices and referenced documents | No | If asked | Yes |
| Data room with one-click zip | Folders | No | Yes, with a stable index |
| Log of who opened what | Partly, on admin plans | No | Every view and change |
We automate the boring part.
Reading a contract is the easy bit. The work is everything around it, for as long as the contract runs. With a folder and an assistant, each of these steps depends on someone remembering. Here, each one is done by the system.
- 01Fetch the signed file when it lands in the folder
- 02File it in the right place, next to its appendices
- 03Record the dates and terms as fields
- 04Check that every referenced document is on file
- 05Work out notice, option and price adjustment dates
- 06Tell the owner in time, and every Monday until it is handled
- 07Log who looked at what
- 08Hand over everything as one zip when asked
Keep the drive you have.
NeedToKnow reads from Google Drive. Your files stay where they are, and your team keeps saving them the way they do today. Uploads and email work too.