The Best AI Tools for Due Diligence in 2024
Due diligence is the process of thoroughly investigating a potential investment, acquisition, partnership, or other transaction before making a decision. It has always been a critical part of business and legal work, but it is also time-consuming, detail-heavy, and vulnerable to missed issues when handled manually.
AI is changing that. Today’s AI-powered due diligence tools can review large volumes of documents, extract key terms, flag anomalies, and help teams move faster without sacrificing depth. For legal teams, investors, and business leaders, the right AI tools can improve speed, consistency, and risk detection across the review process.
Why AI Is Transforming Due Diligence
Modern due diligence often involves far more information than a human team can review efficiently on its own. Financial statements, contracts, internal reports, regulatory filings, emails, and news coverage can quickly overwhelm traditional workflows.
AI helps by addressing some of the biggest due diligence challenges:
- Data volume and speed: AI can process large document sets far faster than manual review, helping teams shorten timelines and identify key issues earlier.
- Pattern recognition and anomaly detection: AI can surface inconsistencies, unusual terms, and potential red flags that may be easy to overlook.
- Risk assessment: AI can help categorize and prioritize areas of concern by analyzing historical and current data.
- Automation of repetitive tasks: Document review, data extraction, and initial issue spotting can be automated, leaving professionals more time for analysis and judgment.
- Improved consistency: AI can reduce manual errors in document handling and help standardize review across large datasets.
The Best AI Tools for Due Diligence
Below are some of the leading AI tools commonly used in due diligence workflows, especially in legal, financial, and compliance-heavy transactions.
1. Kira Systems (now part of Litera)
Kira Systems is a well-known AI platform for contract review and analysis. It uses machine learning to identify and extract key provisions from legal documents, making it especially useful in contract-heavy due diligence.
What it does:
- Extracts and analyzes clauses, terms, and data points across large sets of contracts
- Can be trained to recognize custom provisions relevant to specific review needs
- Helps teams review documents such as leases, loan agreements, vendor contracts, and other transaction-critical materials
Why it is useful:
Kira can significantly speed up contract review in M&A, financing, and compliance projects. It helps teams work more consistently and spot non-standard terms or potential risks across a large document set.
Best fit:
- M&A due diligence
- Real estate transactions
- Loan portfolio review
- Compliance reviews involving large contract volumes
Pros:
- Strong contract analysis capabilities
- Customizable for specific data points
- Built for legal workflows
- Integrates with other legal technology tools
Cons:
- Focused mainly on contract review
- May require training for new users
- Can be a significant investment
2. ThoughtRiver
ThoughtRiver is an AI contract review platform focused on identifying risks and opportunities in legal agreements. It is designed to help teams understand the meaning and risk profile of clauses more quickly.
What it does:
- Reviews contracts against predefined clause libraries and legal standards
- Flags deviations from expected terms
- Assigns risk scores to clauses and highlights areas that may require legal attention
Why it is useful:
In due diligence, ThoughtRiver helps teams quickly identify problematic clauses, compliance issues, and contractual terms that could affect deal structure or valuation. It is especially helpful for fast initial screening.
Best fit:
- M&A
- Financial due diligence
- Third-party risk review
- Rapid contract risk assessment
Pros:
- Focuses on actionable risk identification
- Useful for initial screening
- Intuitive for clause-level review
- Can be adapted to specific legal frameworks
Cons:
- Less focused on granular data extraction than some alternatives
- Better suited to contract risk than broader financial or operational analysis
3. Casetext (CoCounsel)
Casetext, through CoCounsel, is a general legal AI assistant that can support due diligence work through research, summarization, and document analysis. It is not a dedicated due diligence platform, but it can be useful across several related tasks.
What it does:
- Summarizes long legal texts and filings
- Supports legal research and drafting
- Analyzes case law, statutes, and regulations
- Helps review litigation-related or regulatory materials connected to a target company
Why it is useful:
Due diligence often requires understanding litigation exposure, regulatory obligations, and broader legal risk. CoCounsel can help legal teams process those materials faster and identify relevant issues for follow-up.
Best fit:
- Legal research for litigation risk
- Regulatory compliance review
- Summarizing legal filings and opinions
- Broader legal due diligence support
Pros:
- Strong general legal AI capabilities
- Useful for research and summarization
- Handles a wide range of legal text tasks
- Continually evolving
Cons:
- Not a specialized due diligence platform
- Requires careful prompting for targeted tasks
- Less suited to financial or operational analysis
4. AuditBoard
AuditBoard is a platform for audit, risk, and compliance management. While it is often used for internal audit work, it can also support external due diligence, especially when the review includes controls, risk processes, and compliance frameworks.
What it does:
- Manages audit plans and findings
- Tracks internal controls and compliance issues
- Helps assess the strength of a company’s risk management and control environment
Why it is useful:
For due diligence, AuditBoard can help evaluate internal audit reports, control weaknesses, and compliance gaps that may not be obvious from financial statements alone. It is especially relevant when the target company’s operational integrity matters as much as its financial performance.
Best fit:
- Operational due diligence
- Financial control assessment
- Compliance review
- Review of internal risk management processes
Pros:
- Structured framework for control assessment
- Helpful for audit and compliance workflows
- Supports visibility into findings and issues
- Useful for operational risk review
Cons:
- More focused on internal controls than broad market analysis
- Less suited to contract-heavy or general research use cases
- May depend on existing audit processes at the target company
5. Ex Machina (now part of DFIN)
Ex Machina is an AI-powered data extraction and analysis tool used in financial and legal settings. Its strength is turning unstructured documents into structured data that can be reviewed more efficiently.
What it does:
- Extracts key data points from financial statements, legal agreements, and reports
- Organizes extracted data into usable formats such as spreadsheets or databases
- Helps teams work with large document sets more efficiently
Why it is useful:
Due diligence often requires collecting dates, figures, names, and terms from many different documents. Ex Machina helps automate that process, reducing manual effort and improving consistency in data gathering.
Best fit:
- Financial due diligence
- M&A document review
- Extracting structured data from unstructured records
- Large-scale document processing
Pros:
- Strong unstructured data extraction
- Works across multiple document types
- Produces structured outputs for analysis
- Helps improve accuracy in data collection
Cons:
- Primarily a data extraction tool
- Usually needs to be paired with other tools for deeper analysis
- May take time to configure for specialized needs
6. Seal Software (now part of DocuSign) / Conga CLM
Seal Software and Conga are best known for contract lifecycle management, but they also offer AI features that can be valuable during due diligence, especially when reviewing a target’s existing contract portfolio.
What it does:
- Reviews and analyzes existing contracts
- Identifies contract types, obligations, renewal dates, and key terms
- Helps organize and assess large contract repositories
Why it is useful:
In an acquisition or investment, it is important to understand a target company’s full contractual footprint. These tools can help surface commitments, expirations, liabilities, and unusual terms that may affect the deal.
Best fit:
- Contract portfolio review
- M&A due diligence
- Assessment of vendor and customer agreements
- Identifying contractual risks and obligations
Pros:
- Broad contract analysis capabilities
- Useful for large existing portfolios
- Can surface compliance issues and risk areas
- Includes CLM functionality
Cons:
- Primarily contract-focused
- Less comprehensive for financial or operational due diligence
- May be more useful for contract management than one-time review
How to Choose the Right AI Tool for Due Diligence
The best AI tools for due diligence depend on the type of review you are conducting and the volume of information involved. Consider the following:
- Scope of due diligence: Are you reviewing contracts, financial records, compliance processes, or all of the above?
- Data volume and complexity: Large, varied datasets require stronger extraction and review capabilities.
- Integration needs: Make sure the tool works with your existing document management, CRM, or legal tech stack.
- Customization: Look for tools that can be trained on your industry terms, clause types, or review criteria.
- Ease of use vs. advanced functionality: Some tools are easier to deploy, while others offer deeper control and customization.
- Budget and ROI: Compare cost against time saved, risk reduction, and the quality of the review process.
Pricing and Value Considerations
Pricing for AI due diligence tools varies widely. Some are sold on a subscription basis, while others use per-document, per-project, or usage-based pricing models.
When evaluating value, look beyond the sticker price:
- Efficiency gains: How much time does the tool save compared with manual review?
- Risk mitigation: What is the cost of missing a key issue during due diligence?
- Accuracy and reliability: Better extraction and analysis usually mean better decisions.
- Scalability: Can the tool handle larger projects as your needs grow?
Whenever possible, request a demo or trial to test the tool against your own due diligence workflow before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI for Due Diligence
Can AI completely replace human due diligence professionals?
No. AI is best used to support human judgment, not replace it. It can automate repetitive work and surface insights, but experienced professionals are still needed for interpretation, negotiation, and strategic decision-making.
How accurate are AI tools for due diligence?
Accuracy depends on the tool, the quality of its training data, and the task involved. Good tools can be highly effective, but they still require human oversight, especially when reviewing ambiguous or novel issues.
What types of data can AI analyze for due diligence?
AI can analyze contracts, financial statements, regulatory filings, internal documents, emails, news articles, and public records, depending on the tool’s design.
Is it difficult to implement AI tools for due diligence?
It depends on the platform. Some tools are cloud-based and easy to deploy, while others require more setup, customization, or integration. Vendor support and onboarding matter.
How do AI tools handle confidential information during due diligence?
Reputable vendors use security controls such as encryption, secure infrastructure, and access management. Always review the vendor’s security practices, certifications, and data handling policies before use.
Can AI tools help identify fraud or red flags?
Yes. AI is often effective at flagging anomalies, inconsistencies, and unusual patterns that may indicate fraud, compliance issues, or hidden risks.
Conclusion
AI is reshaping due diligence by making document review faster, more consistent, and more scalable. The best AI tools for due diligence can help legal teams, investors, and business leaders process large datasets, identify risks earlier, and focus their time on higher-value analysis.
No single tool covers every due diligence need. Some are best for contract review, others for legal research, data extraction, or audit and compliance work. The right choice depends on your workflow, document volume, and the type of risk you need to uncover.
As AI tools continue to improve, they are becoming an increasingly important part of modern due diligence workflows. For teams that want to move faster without losing rigor, they are well worth evaluating.