SaaS: why involve legal as early as product development

In many SaaS companies, legal is involved too late. It is only associated with contracting, once the product has been developed. However, it is a strategic error.

Each new feature raises issues of compliance, accountability, and contracting. Waiting until the end of development to deal with them exposes them to blockages, delays and sometimes significant financial losses.

The current reflex: correct after the fact

The usual logic is to develop the functionality and then ask the legal team to update the contracts or make the necessary adjustments.

Problem: when technical choices have already been made, some options are impossible to correct. You end up at:

• hastily change your terms and conditions to catch up with risky decisions,
• manage customer disputes that were not anticipated,
• renounce a feature because it does not comply with the applicable legal framework.

This operation creates a waste of time, money and credibility.

The legal team as a player in product design

The most effective approach is to involve the legal side from the start of development. This completely changes the dynamic and allows:

• To identify risks: each new feature involves challenges (confidentiality, data processing, intellectual property, regulatory compliance). A lawyer can detect them immediately.
• To anticipate contractual impacts: any product evolution implies an update of the contract. Planning this step in advance allows you to prepare the ground, rather than acting urgently.
• To adapt technical choices: certain legal constraints directly influence the architecture of a feature. If they are integrated early, they guide development instead of blocking it after the fact.

Concrete example: integrating AI into a SaaS

It is one of the most current cases. Many SaaS companieswant to add artificial intelligence features to their solution.

But without legal involvement from the start, the risks are immediate:

• You use customer data to train a model without contractual authorization.
• You do not provide clear information for your customers about the use of their data.
• You are deploying a feature whose use is legally questionable.

As a result, the feature is unusable and you've wasted your development budget.

Conversely, if the legal is integrated early, you define:

• to what extent customer data can be used,
• what information should be provided,
• how your contractual terms should evolve to frame the new functionality.

You save time, security and credibility with your customers.

Legal law as a driver of innovation

Integrating legal matters at an early stage is not a constraint: it is an accelerator.

• You develop solid functionalities that are already compliant and ready to be contractualized.
• You avoid the costly back and forth between technique and compliance.
• You reassure your customers by being serious.

In a market where trust is a key factor, this approach becomes a competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Legal advice should not be a simple fix once the product is finished. In SaaS, every feature impacts your contracts, compliance, and responsibilities.

Waiting for the end of development to involve the legal system means taking the risk of having to urgently correct, or worse, throwing months of work in the trash.

The approach is a win for all parties. It's the only way to develop features that are solid, usable, and ready to be brought to market safely.