New Workday Report: Unmanaged Contracts Result in Significant Financial Losses and Undiscovered Business Value

Rhea-AI Summary

Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) has released "The Contract Intelligence Index Report" revealing critical insights about contract management challenges in organizations. The study found that 76% of employees don't fully understand contract ownership, leading to significant financial losses and missed opportunities.

Key findings highlight that 50% of legal and 49% of enterprise employees report financial losses from unintended auto-renewals, with sales and marketing departments most affected at 60%. The research also exposed an 18% gap between legal professionals' and employees' perspectives on contract approval processes, with contracts scattered across shared drives (70% legal, 50% non-legal) and CRM systems (62% legal, 53% non-legal).

Additionally, 41% of respondents believe contract processes are too slow, particularly impacting innovation in R&D and engineering departments (79%).

Positive

• Research provides valuable insights into contract management inefficiencies that can be addressed
• Company demonstrates leadership in identifying and solving critical business process issues
• Positions Workday's AI-powered contract management solutions as key solutions to these challenges

Negative

• Report reveals significant operational inefficiencies in current business practices
• Highlights potential revenue losses and legal risks in current contract management processes

News Market Reaction

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On the day this news was published, WDAY declined 0.12%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.

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Workday Research Reveals 76% of Employees Don't Know Who Owns Contracts, Resulting in Lost Revenue and Missed Opportunities 

PLEASANTON, Calif., July 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, today released "The Contract Intelligence Index Report." This research uncovers a widespread problem: many companies don't clearly define who is responsible for their contracts. This lack of clarity results in significant financial losses, inefficient operations, and unmanaged risks for businesses worldwide.

Contracts are vital for understanding revenue and obligations. However, if no one clearly owns the contracts, their full value is often lost. The report highlights a major issue impacting profitability: a staggering 76% of employees don't fully understand who is responsible for contracts. This confusion often comes from not knowing whether the vendor relationship manager, legal team or procurement department is ultimately in charge. Without clear ownership, contracts remain static documents, preventing organizations from using the valuable information these contracts contain to drive business growth. Until companies move beyond basic administration to true contract intelligence, companies will continue to simply manage documents instead of strategically using contracts to achieve business results.

Key Findings from The Contract Intelligence Index Report include:

• Untapped Revenue, Unforeseen Costs: Lack of insight into customer renewals, upsell, and cross-sell opportunities can hurt revenue growth. Half of all legal (50%) and enterprise employee (49%) respondents say they've lost money from unintended auto-renewals – with sales and marketing departments hit hardest (60%). When organizations unknowingly have unused services or miss upsell opportunities, it can directly impact revenue growth, operational efficiency, and market share.
• Legal Blind Spots, Mounting Risk: If legal teams aren't fully involved in the business, there can be gaps in how contracts are handled. While 85% of legal professionals say they're part of contract approvals, only 67% of other employees agree. This 18% difference suggests that a third of employees might be bypassing legal, creating significant risks and legal exposure from overlooked regulatory requirements, inconsistent language, and unfavorable or unenforceable terms.
• Data Disconnect, Fragmented Future: Buried across shared drives, systems, and communications, scattered information prevents different departments from sharing analysis and insights. The report found that contracts are primarily spread across shared drives (70% for legal, 50% for non-legal) and CRM systems (62% for legal, 53% for non-legal), as well as individual desktops, in email accounts, and even paper records. This fragmentation not only slows down processes, but also undermines the value of having holistic contract visibility, enforceability, and opportunity identification.
• Slow Processes, Stifled Innovation: Slow contract approvals, lengthy legal reviews, and time spent on legal disputes can disrupt the speed of business. More than two in five (41%) respondents – including legal professionals – believe contract processes are too slow. This hinders innovation and productivity across departments like R&D and engineering (79%).

"Contracts are packed with critical business information that's often buried across hundreds of pages," said Jerry Ting, Vice President, Head of Agentic AI and Evisort, Workday. "With the rise of AI agents, we can finally turn contracts into living, intelligent assets. Our research shows how legal teams can unlock hidden insights to become a strategic engine that accelerates business decisions, protects the enterprise, and ultimately leads the way to greater efficiency and profitability."

For additional information:

• Download "The Contract Intelligence Index Report."
• Learn more about Workday Contract Intelligence Agent and Workday Contract Negotiation Agent here.
• Discover how Workday helps surface clear and actionable insights from complex legal and business documents with Workday Contract Intelligence and Workday Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), powered by Evisort AI.

About The Contract Intelligence Index Report
This data comes from the study "Contract Intelligence Index Report," a survey commissioned by Workday and fielded by Provoke Insights in March 2025. The study encompassed 1,250 U.S.-based legal and non-legal enterprise employees across a variety of industries representing organizations across North America; Asia-Pacific (APAC); and Europe.

About Workday
Workday is the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. The Workday platform is built with AI at the core to help customers elevate people, supercharge work, and move their business forever forward. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 60% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.

© 2025 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding Workday's plans, beliefs, and expectations. These forward-looking statements are based only on currently available information and our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. If the risks materialize, assumptions prove incorrect, or we experience unexpected changes in circumstances, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not rely on any forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our most recent report on Form 10-Q or Form 10-K and other reports that we have filed and will file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document, our website, or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Workday's discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Workday services should make their purchase decisions based upon services, features, and functions that are currently available.

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SOURCE Workday Inc.

FAQ

What are the key findings of Workday's Contract Intelligence Index Report 2025?

The report revealed that 76% of employees don't understand contract ownership, 50% of legal professionals report losses from auto-renewals, and 41% believe contract processes are too slow.

How does poor contract management affect business performance according to WDAY's research?

According to the research, it leads to revenue losses from missed renewals, creates legal blind spots with 18% gap in approval processes, and causes inefficiencies due to scattered contract storage across multiple systems.

What percentage of companies face financial losses due to unintended auto-renewals?

50% of legal and 49% of enterprise employees report financial losses from unintended auto-renewals, with sales and marketing departments most affected at 60%.

Where are contracts primarily stored according to Workday's 2025 report?

Contracts are mainly stored across shared drives (70% legal, 50% non-legal) and CRM systems (62% legal, 53% non-legal), as well as individual desktops, email accounts, and paper records.

How does contract management inefficiency impact innovation according to WDAY's study?

The study found that slow contract processes hinder innovation and productivity, particularly affecting R&D and engineering departments at a rate of 79%.