- QKS Group designates CobbleStone Software as the Most Valuable Pioneer (MVP) for its AI-first approach to clause intelligence and workflow orchestration in Contract Lifecycle Management.
PUNE, India, Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- QKS Group, a global research and advisory firm, has announced the release of its latest whitepaper, "QKS AI Maturity Matrix for CLM Clause Intelligence & Workflow Orchestration". The report introduces the QKS AI Maturity Matrix for CLM Clause Intelligence & Workflow Orchestration, a first-of-its-kind evaluation framework designed to help enterprises distinguish between AI marketing narratives and real operational maturity in CLM platforms.
As part of this research, CobbleStone Software has been recognized as the Most Valuable Pioneer (MVP) for its leadership in embedding AI directly into contract intelligence, negotiation workflows, and governed execution.
As enterprises increasingly manage growing contract volumes, regulatory complexity, and cross-functional dependencies, traditional CLM systems and rule-based automation are proving insufficient. In response, QKS Group developed the QKS AI Maturity Matrix to assess how deeply AI is productized within real contract workflows, moving beyond feature checklists toward execution impact.
The framework evaluates CLM vendors across two core dimensions:
- AI-First Productization, measuring how deeply AI is embedded into clause intelligence, negotiation support, risk enforcement, and workflow execution; and
- AI Vision & Roadmap, assessing architectural maturity, governance, explainability, and long-term scalability.
"The rapid rise of AI claims in the CLM market has created a widening gap between perceived innovation and actual execution maturity," said Abhishek Dubey, Principal Analyst at QKS Group. "Many platforms can analyze contracts, but far fewer can operationalize intelligence in ways that govern how contracts are negotiated, approved, and enforced. The QKS AI Maturity Matrix cuts through this noise by evaluating AI based on execution impact, not surface-level capabilities."
AI Maturity in CLM: From Insight to Execution
The whitepaper reframes AI adoption in CLM as a progression from document-centric automation to decision-centric contract orchestration. It emphasizes that real AI maturity emerges only when clause intelligence directly influences workflow behavior- driving approvals, enforcing policy, and guiding negotiation paths with consistency and auditability.
Key AI capabilities evaluated in the report include:
- Clause-level intelligence across internal templates, third-party paper, and legacy contracts
- AI-assisted negotiation, redlining, and playbook enforcement
- Risk-aware and compliance-driven workflow orchestration
- Governed use of generative and conversational AI within contract workflows
- Measurable operational outcomes such as reduced cycle time and lower legal dependency
Within this context, CobbleStone Software was positioned as the Most Valuable Pioneer for its ability to embed AI across both clause intelligence and workflow execution, rather than treating AI as an overlay or advisory feature.
According to Sanjeevi C R, Associate Vice President- Enterprise Research at QKS Group, "Enterprise CLM is undergoing a structural shift, where AI is expected to operate as a dependable execution layer rather than a passive analytics capability. CobbleStone's recognition reflects its ability to embed clause intelligence directly into contract workflows with clear governance and accountability. The platform demonstrates how AI can support consistency across drafting, negotiation, approvals, and post-signature governance without disrupting established legal controls. This balance between automation and oversight is critical for enterprise-scale adoption. CobbleStone's approach aligns strongly with how organizations are preparing for policy-driven, AI-enabled contract operations. As enterprises mature their AI strategies, platforms that combine intelligence with execution readiness will increasingly define the market."
According to Abhishek Dubey, Principal Analyst at QKS Group, "CobbleStone's positioning as the Most Valuable Pioneer reflects its ability to move AI beyond contract analysis into governed execution. The platform demonstrates how clause intelligence can be directly operationalized within negotiation and approval workflows, rather than remaining an advisory layer. This level of AI-first productization enables enterprises to reduce manual legal dependency while maintaining control, auditability, and compliance. CobbleStone's approach aligns closely with how enterprises execute contracts at scale, which is a key marker of AI maturity in CLM."
"We're proud to be named the Most Valuable Pioneer by QKS Group," said Mark Nastasi, CEO & Founder of CobbleStone Software.
"This recognition reflects our commitment to embedding AI directly into contract workflows so organizations can draft, negotiate, collaborate, approve, and govern with greater speed, consistency, convenience, and compliance."
The report is designed to support legal, procurement, contract operations, and technology leaders as they evaluate CLM platforms in an increasingly crowded AI landscape. By grounding analysis in clause intelligence, workflow orchestration, and governance readiness, the research helps buyers align AI ambition with real operational capability.
Access the Report: To download the full whitepaper and explore the QKS AI Maturity Matrix, visit: https://www.cobblestonesoftware.com/qks-ai-maturity-2026
About CobbleStone Software
CobbleStone Software is a celebrated leader in contract management software solutions whose flagship CLM software solution - CobbleStone Contract Insight - expedites contract management, vendor management, eProcurement, and eSourcing processes while offering an agentic AI-powered experience, seamless integrations, ease-of-use, and high scalability. CobbleStone provides more intelligent contracts with VISDOM agentic artificial intelligence, chatbot, machine learning, highly configurable email alerts, intelligent contract workflow automation, highly robust security options, streamlined authoring of contract templates with dynamic clauses, IntelliSign electronic signatures, and more.
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About QKS Group
QKS Group is a global analyst and advisory firm helping enterprises, technology vendors, and investors make trusted, data-driven decisions. Our portfolio spans the flagship SPARK Matrix evaluation framework, SPARK Plus analyst advisory platform, QKS Intelligence for market and competitive tracking, and QKS Community for CXO leaders and practitioners. All offerings are powered by a Human-Intelligence-driven framework and QKS's closed-loop research methodology - integrating expert-led insights, quantitative modeling, and continuous validation to deliver credible, outcome-focused intelligence.
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