Use Ironclad AI Playbooks

This article will walk you through how to use Ironclad Playbooks. If you want to learn more about Ironclad Playbooks and the benefits they provide, refer to Ironclad AI Playbooks Overview.

Create a Playbook

1. In Ironclad, click the Workflow Designer tab and select the workflow template you want to edit.
   
   BEST PRACTICE
   We recommend that you try Playbooks by starting with a standard business agreement workflow template that is often negotiated with a counterparty, such as a NDA or Vendor Agreements.
2. On the Document step, locate the panel on the left and click the Playbooks tab.
3. Click the plus sign or Playbook button to create a playbook.
4. Select the AI Clause Type from the dropdown. If your clause or term is not on the list of AI-powered clauses, you can skip this configuration step and add preferred and fallback positions for the clause. Advanced playbook features like automatic clause detection in documents or clause approvers are not available for Playbooks that are not powered by AI.  
   
   TIP
   You can train a new custom AI clause to use with Playbooks before creating a Playbook.
   
5. [Optional] Edit the Name and Description as needed.
6. [Optional: Advanced Playbook Rule] Set a Trigger. By default, Ironclad Playbooks will appear for every use and use case unless a Trigger is configured. Using a Workflow Designer Condition as a Trigger for a Playbook clause or specific-Playbook position, end users using a Playbook will only be able to view or use a Playbook based on the specific rules set by the Administrator.
   1. Playbook Triggers can be configured at two levels to provide the most control and flexibility required by Legal teams so you can maximize the ROI on any agreement at scale:
      1. Triggers can be configured at the top-clause level. This is a great option to control contract negotiation options if workflow ever includes multiple document types (e.g. Only show ‘Governing Law’ on NDAs) or when you want to restrict redlines based on specific Contract Values to reduce the overhead of lower-valued agreements (e.g. Show Playbook options when Total Contract Value > $50K).

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      2. Triggers can also be configured at a specific-clause position level. This is a great option if you need specific terms to only appear based on the workflow’s launch form values or when it meets certain conditions. For example, using the ‘Governing Law’ example, Legal teams can set a specific clause position to appear based on geographic relevance. No longer will you need to show “England and Wales” fallback options to North American sales team members.

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7. Set the Presence Rule. This setting allows Playbooks to act as a contact review and negotiation compliance checklist. By specifying if a clause is required, restrict (or not allowed) or optional, Playbooks can help assist with contract reviews and negotiations potentially reducing business risks when delegating contract negotiations to business teams. There are three options:
   • None: Use this option if you want to provide your end users pre-approved, preferred or fallback templated language to use in agreements. If this clause does not appear in a document or is successfully found in a contract, it will not require an additional approver or block a workflow from moving forward.
   • Clause is required and will need approval to be excluded: If the clause is not found in the document, Ironclad will ask the end user to confirm the clause is included in the document. The end user can: 1) Highlight and tag the relevant clause in the document text or 2) Request an exception to notify and require an additional approval to continue with omitting this clause in the document. Until the clause text is tagged in the document, the user will not be able to use the ‘Insert Language’ button for easy redlining or edits.
   • Clause is not accepted in documents and will need approval to be included: This option restricts the use of this clause or term to be used in documents. The end user will be encouraged to remove the restricted language in the document or request an exception. For example, you may not want to have a ‘Non-Solicitation’ clause in NDA agreements without requiring an additional approver from a relevant stakeholder. This setting allows contract reviewers to understand when terms are not permitted by default.

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8. Define Playbook Positions for each clause. Provide approved, templated language for each clause so end users can self-manage contract negotiations with limited business risk. Specify preferred or fallback terms that will assist with managing conditional approvers and improve reporting and insight capabilities when analyzing clauses used in documents or business liabilities.
9. Add Positions to provide preferred clause terms and provisions to use during contract negotiations:
   1. Set a Title for the Clause Position that describes this position to your end users as well as to for tracking position usage in reporting and insights.
   2. [Optional] Set a Trigger using a Workflow Designer condition if required. For example, this position can be triggered only for specific use cases like when negotiating on Counterparty Paper or based on geographic needs.
   3. Add Reviewer Notes. Reviewer Notes are internal-only, end user instructions for Administrators to help their end user to successfully identify or provide clarity when or how to use a specific Playbook position during negotiations.
   4. Default language is the templated position text to use in the document when making redlines. Limited text formatting options are available. Generally, we recommend that all end users format and polish the document in the main document editor (vs. Playbooks) for consistency and to reduce any potential formatting errors when copy/pasting text in documents.
   5. Additional Settings: Mark as preferred position. A preferred position is the default and standard terms or provisions to use for this clause. Playbooks has expanded the ability to mark multiple positions as ‘preferred’ or what used to be referred to as standard positions for reporting and to improve the end user experience. This allows for greater flexibility and controls when using Playbooks and better supports customers that have multiple preferred positions due to geographic needs or risk tolerance.
      
      TIP
      Fallback positions will be automatically detected when document text matches a Playbook position not marked as ‘Mark as preferred position’. If document text does not match any Playbook position, it will be labeled and categorized as ‘Non-standard language’ (formerly known as ‘custom’ language used).
   6. Additional Settings: Require approval to use language. Provides more conditional approver controls when using specific Playbook positions. You have complete control and transparency into which positions require additional approvers. When in doubt, review which positions are listed under the ‘PRE-APPROVED’ or ‘NEEDS APPROVAL’ summary in the main Playbook configuration.

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10. Decide whether or not you want to select an Approver. If you want Ironclad to notify a stakeholder if a non-standard term is found, add an approver. Open or unapproved clause approvals block workflows from advancing to the next workflow stage and work just like other approval experiences in Ironclad. Clause approvers can reassign approvals to another stakeholder, and administrators can override clause approvals to speed up the contract process.
    
    BEST PRACTICES

    1. Specify a user group. If a clause approver is required, in the Approver field, search for and select a user or group. This user or group will be required to approve all exceptions to non-standard terms for the workflows created using the workflow template. We suggest selecting a group instead of a specific user. This helps prevent delays in the contract process if someone is out-of-office.
    2. We recommend only adding an approver if it’s a critical clauses for negotiation due to extra approval time required. If a clause approver is not required, leave the Approver field empty. Due to compliance, Ironclad cannot permit exceptions for required or restricted clauses without an identified clause approver to inform. If you leave this field empty, you can not mark the clause as Required in step 9.

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    3. We recommend only adding an approver if it’s a critical clause for negotiation.
11. Click Save once your Playbook template is configured. You can modify or remove your Playbook at any time.
    
    TIP
    Prefer to control what your end users can see and how they experience Playbooks in contract negotiations? Set the display order preferences under the Playbook tab. Set by priority (our recommended option), or in the order you prefer.
12. Publish Playbooks to new workflows. To publish any changes to Playbooks, you will need to publish the workflow configuration. Changes to Playbooks and workflow configurations will only impact workflows created after the changes are published so you can work or test Playbook updates without impacting any business users or in-progress workflows.
13. Edit your permissions to configure who can review, create, or modify Playbooks.
    1. Click on your name located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Users & Groups > Groups.
    2. Click on the group you want to edit, and then click Edit Group.
    3. Configure the Playbook permission.

Use Playbooks in Workflows and Contract Reviews

1. In Ironclad, click the Dashboard tab.
2. Click Start Workflow and select the workflow template you want to create the workflow from. The workflow launches and allows you to enter the information needed to initiate the agreement.
3. Once your workflow is launched, AI Playbooks will automatically read, analyze, flag any non-standard terms or document changes required before the workflow is approved. AI Playbook provides workflow users two options to review document terms that require attention or review from the workflow page:
   • Click View to quickly review all flagged content that AI Playbooks has detected require review or changes before the agreement should be approved
   • Review the list of terms that require review or attention under the Playbook Usage detailed list with quick links to each term.
4. Only have a PDF document only? Playbooks can convert PDF documents into a DOCX document after the PDF file has been uploaded to the workflow. From there, you can start using Ironclad AI and AI Playbooks right way and not wait to receive a DOCX file from your counterparty.
5. From the workflow page, users can click on the View button to review all of the flagged document language that requires changes before the document should be approved per Playbook rules. End users can also review required document changes by scrolling down to review Playbook Usage and clicking on any clause to review required changes or additional approvals required.
6. Review the summary of document changes or actions required to finalize contract negotiations.
   TIP
   Using AI Assist, end users can apply all required redlines with a single click of a button. This further reduces the time and effort it takes to negotiate standard business contracts while reducing overall business risk using Playbooks and defining preferred terms.
7. Insert or swap pre-approved language from the Playbook. End users are suggested to modify the document with pre-approved language to resolve non-standard terms or skip requiring an additional clause approver (recommended).

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   TIP
   Use AI Assist to supercharge and assist with using Playbooks. Generative AI + AI Playbooks can reduce the time it takes to use Playbooks. You can redline a document while also making smaller, more nuanced redlines that standard AI Playbook functionality doesn’t support yet.
8. Remove restricted language from the document.

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9. Request Playbook exceptions and additional approvers.

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   What do Playbook approvers see when they are brought into a workflow to approve an exception? All Playbook approvers and exceptions are tracked on the Activity Feed. They are also listed on the Approval table with the specific clause and context required for their approval.
10. Not detected terms and clauses. At times, Ironclad AI cannot detect or have high confidence that a clause appears in a document. When this happens, we either request that the end user confirms or validates that Ironclad AI didn’t miss anything or helps train the AI clause service to better recognize business terms.  If this happens, Ironclad suggest that the end user highlights the relevant document text and add a clause tag to improve the AI service to better detect this language in the future or validate that the clause is indeed not included in the document. Ironclad AI will assist as much as possible with the contract negotiation process, but at times will need an end user to provide more feedback. This ensures that your workflow and Repository data are accurate.
    
    NOTE
    There are two general reasons why you may see a Missing Information prompt:

    1. The most common scenario for "Missing Information" to be displayed in a Playbook is that AI cannot detect the clause or paragraph in the document or deliver results with an accuracy score equal or greater than 90%. In such cases, human confirmation is necessary to address uncertainties beyond the AI's confident predictions. If this happens more than 1 or 2 times, we suggest that Customers train or create a custom AI clause to use.
    2. The term in question might be a sentence included in apart of a larger paragraph or span across multiple paragraphs. This limitation arises from the AI's approach of evaluating the entire paragraph before making clause suggestions.

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