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How Legal Ops Can Cut Cycle Times with AI Intake Agents in 30 Days

Legal intake—not legal judgment—is where most cycle time hides. This post shows Legal Ops leaders how to deploy an AI intake and triage agent, powered by a living knowledge layer, to accelerate NDAs,…

Jarryd Strydom

September 17, 2025
McKinsey estimates knowledge workers spend nearly a fifth of their time searching for information. For in‑house legal, that time shows up as intake thrash—unclear asks, missing context, and status-chasing. The fastest way to win back those hours isn’t more headcount or another monolithic tool. It’s an AI intake agent that knows your playbooks and routes work with precision.
The Bottleneck Is Intake, Not Legal Judgment
Most delays don’t come from deep legal analysis. They come from:
  • Requests that arrive as Slack DMs, email forwards, or half-filled forms.
  • Missing essentials (counterparty, template version, commercial owner, risk posture).
  • Untracked handoffs between legal, sales, procurement, and security.
When intake is fuzzy, everything downstream slows. A clear, consistent front door—with automated triage—shrinks cycle time before a lawyer ever reads a clause.
On Sandstone, intake is backed by a living knowledge layer: playbooks, positions, and approval paths that the AI can reference in real time. Every request strengthens that layer, so the system gets faster and more precise over time.

What an AI Intake Agent Actually Does

Think of the agent as a purpose-built teammate that sits at your legal front door and applies your rules automatically:
  • Gathers context: Asks the requester for the exact fields your playbook requires (e.g., counterparty, value, region, data flows).
  • Classifies risk: Applies your positions to tag requests as low/standard/high risk and selects the right workflow (NDA fast lane, paper swap, redline required).
  • Orchestrates steps: Kicks off approvals, pulls the right template, and pre-populates metadata for your CLM or doc system.
  • Escalates edge cases: Flags exceptions with a brief memo and suggested positions, so attorneys review, not reconstruct.
  • Updates stakeholders: Posts status back in Slack/Teams and logs the request in your system of record.
The magic isn’t generic AI; it’s your layered knowledge—clauses, fallback positions, decision trees—applied consistently at the point of intake.

Start Modular: CLM-Lite Before Full CLM

Big-bang CLM rollouts promise end‑to‑end transformation and deliver quarters of change management. A modular path delivers impact fast:
  • Use CLM‑Lite patterns for high‑volume work (e.g., NDAs, vendor DPAs, low‑risk MSAs).
  • Keep your current templates and storage; let the agent handle intake, triage, and routing.
  • Integrate lightly with tools you already use (Slack, email, ticketing, e‑signature). Natural integration beats forced process changes.
This challenger approach avoids the monolith trap. You reduce cycle time now, learn from real usage, and later connect deeper into CLM where it truly pays off.
A 30‑Day Launch Plan You Can Run Now
Week 1 — Define the fast lanes
  • Pick one workflow: Mutual NDA or standard vendor privacy review.
  • Draft a one‑page playbook: required fields, approved templates, risk thresholds, fallback positions, approver matrix.
Week 2 — Wire up intake
  • Turn on a single front door: a Slack shortcut or web form the agent can read.
  • Configure smart prompts: the agent asks for what’s missing and validates inputs (e.g., legal name vs. trade name).
Week 3 — Automate routing
  • Connect to e‑signature and your document repository or CLM.
  • Set SLAs: e.g., low‑risk NDAs auto‑send within 60 minutes; exceptions escalate with context.
Week 4 — Pilot and refine
  • Run the pilot with one revenue team and one procurement manager.
  • Close the loop weekly: capture exceptions, tune positions, and retire redundant steps.
On Sandstone, this looks like layering your playbook as structured knowledge, letting the agent run the workflow, and capturing every decision so the foundation compacts—stronger with each request.
Metrics That Prove It’s Working
Track a small, defensible set of KPIs:
  • First‑response time: from request to confirmed triage.
  • Cycle time by risk tier: low vs. standard vs. exception.
  • Deflection rate: % resolved with no attorney touch.
  • Rework rate: % of requests sent back for missing info (should drop quickly).
  • Stakeholder satisfaction: quick pulse ratings in Slack/Teams.
When intake becomes precise and predictable, you’ll see fewer status pings, cleaner handoffs, and measurable time back for complex work.

Actionable Next Step

Stand up an NDA fast lane in two weeks. Write the one‑page playbook, turn on a single intake channel, and let an AI agent collect context, select the template, and send for e‑signature. Measure first‑response and cycle time from day one. If the pilot doesn’t cut low‑risk NDA time by at least half, revisit the playbook fields and fallback positions.

The Bedrock of Trust and Growth

Legal’s value compounds when knowledge does. By turning playbooks and positions into a living operating system, you transform intake from chaos to choreography. The result is speed without shortcuts, alignment without meetings, and trust that scales across the business.
That’s Sandstone’s design philosophy: strength through layers, crafted precision, and natural integration into how your teams already work. Start with intake. Let every request harden your legal foundation. The rest of your stack—and your stakeholders—will feel the difference.

About Jarryd Strydom

Jarryd Strydom is a contributor to the Sandstone blog.