Last year, as much of the world grappled with pandemic supply-chain problems that caused product shortages and price hikes, one of Memme Onwudiwe's clients used artificial intelligence to navigate the storm. 

Memme Onwudiwe, co-founder of Evisort. Courtesy photo

The client, NetApp, a data management company based in Sunnyvale, California, suddenly found itself unable to get the hardware and other supplies it needed to fulfill orders. NetApp ultimately turned to Evisort, a contract management software co-founded by Onwudiwe. The technology allowed the company to search for key provisions across its supplier and customer contracts—including clauses that let them invoice for partial shipments. 

"Legal was able to say, 'Hey business team. I know you're wondering who we should prioritize delivering our limited supplies to,'" said Onwudiwe, who serves as Evisort's executive vice president of legal and business intelligence. "That's a conversation that legal is not used to having with business teams."