Doculabs' Insights #28
It's summertime. Is the living still easy for genAI? Four different viewpoints point to a difficult, but doable, path ahead. Plus, e-invoicing, process intelligence, and more.
Summertime and the living is easy.
Well, with apologies to Gershwin, while it’s summertime, the living isn’t quite easy – especially for AI, generative AI in particular. As the initial rush of excitement has inevitably waned, the harsh realities of beginning to implement genAI are coming into focus.
In today’s issue, we’ve included four items focused on different aspects of AI. One common theme unites them – a theme I’ve mentioned before – genAI has a looming information management problem. AI relies on accurate information. Too many companies continue to mismanage this essential business resource.
Not to get into detail here, but that’s . . . not good. Read the resources below (including our generative AI guidelines – click here for them) for a well-rounded look at the various information management challenges surrounding AI, including genAI.
Then get to work on identifying areas in your business where AI will have the most impact on your success.
Thanks for reading.
— The Doculabs Team
A Guide to E-Invoicing in Accounts Payable
Process Intelligence Will Transform Banking: Here’s How
Getting Food to the Big Box Retailer On Time – Optimizing Order Management
Microsoft's Annual Work Trend Index: AI Is Here, But It's a Band-Aid, Not a Transformation
New AIIM Study Shows Crucial Role of Information Management in AI Success
Moving Past GenAI’s Honeymoon Phase: Seven Hard Truths for CIOs to Get From Pilot to Scale
Data Trends 2024: Strategies for an AI-Ready Data Foundation
A Guide to E-Invoicing in Accounts Payable
Automating invoices has been a common, and successful, use case for intelligent automation implementations for decades. This is a comprehensive introduction to benefits and the challenges of e-invoicing, which include dealing with varied international standards, maintaining compliance with regulations, and integrating smoothly with current systems. More about e-invoicing here.
Process Intelligence Will Transform Banking: Here’s How
Banks, and other financial institutions, are in a race to improve their customer service. Process intelligence is already playing a key role; delivering results like:
50% reduction in waiting time of credit approval
34% reduction in wait time for customers
100 days saved in credit recovery
15% increase in automation rate
How? Celonis recommends change programs be delivered in three phases:
1. Assessment of potential value
2. Definition of a North Star, ideation, and prioritization
3. Monitoring and steering
Steer your way here to read more.
Getting Food to the Big Box Retailer On Time – Optimizing Order Management
The intricate dance between large retailers and their suppliers, particularly in the food manufacturing sector, has reached a critical juncture, many big box retailers wield significant influence, dictating not just the quantity and timing of food shipments but also imposing strict deadlines for delivery to stores. These dynamics place a substantial burden on manufacturers, who must navigate a complex landscape of demands while striving to meet the stringent requirements set forth by these retail giants. And the difference in effectiveness often comes down to the capabilities of the organizations’ order management systems. Keep reading.
Microsoft's Annual Work Trend Index: AI Is Here, But It's a Band-Aid, Not a Transformation
Reworked Editor-in-Chief Siobhan Fagan has an excellent take on this fourth annual report. The title, AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part, gives away one of the key results. Of the 75% of survey respondents who use generative AI at work, 78% of them use their own tools. She spotlights inconsistencies in companies who want AI-curious employees (the majority) with investment in employee training to use AI (a small percentage). There’s also tension between employee desire to use AI tools with concern that they’ll be replaced by AI tools. I’ll end by quoting her final lines:
The conclusion of the report is that “fortune favors the bold.” The implication is early adopters in the business world will gain a leading edge. At no point is it suggested businesses should fix the unrealistic workloads, communication overload and poor management practices driving employees to bring in unsanctioned tools in search of relief. While AI will clearly change how work gets done, I suspect companies that clear up their houses before exploring new ways of work will be the ones fortune will truly favor. Learn more here.
New AIIM Study Shows Crucial Role of Information Management in AI Success
Released a few months before Microsoft’s research, AIIM’s research also nods to the widespread interest in AI, and generative AI in particular. Most importantly, the research quickly identifies a major issue and challenge for effective AI implementations – the garbage in, garbage out problem inherent in information management.
Alyssa Blackburn of Avepoint (the report’s sponsor) makes this excellent point in her blog on the AIIM site:
The report's finding is clear: "Effective information management is the secret weapon for AI success. The insights provided by the AI and Information Management Report offer a roadmap for organizations looking to enhance their AI strategy. By investing in information management and adopting AI-powered data management solutions, organizations can overcome the challenges of implementing AI and reap the benefits of accurate and effective AI systems.
Already, 89% of executives acknowledge a high level of data quality is critical for success. As AI comes to full swing, with Gartner predicting 10% of all data generated will come from AI by 2025, organizations will need to focus even more on information management to ensure their data is of high quality and trustworthy." Read more.
We have two great - and USEFUL - genAI resources for you!
We have a free Generative AI Guide for policy. Download the free guidance and discover the 4 key elements and why they’re critical: 1. Ensuring Accuracy and Reliability 2. Establishing Ethical Boundaries 3. Protecting Data and Privacy 4. Transparency and Continuous Improvement DOWNLOAD our free Generative AI guide to find out.
You can also take a deep dive into how to use process mining with ServiceNow to identify generative AI opportunities for your business. You can watch the replay here and follow along with the transcript as well. See how to unleash generative AI.
Moving Past GenAI’s Honeymoon Phase: Seven Hard Truths for CIOs to Get From Pilot to Scale
This article explores seven truths (according to McKinsey) about scaling gen AI for the “Shaper” approach, in which companies develop a competitive advantage by connecting large language models (LLMs) to internal applications and data sources (see sidebar “Three approaches to using gen AI” for more).
Here’s number one: Eliminate the noise, and focus on the signal. Be honest about what pilots have worked. Cut down on experiments. Direct your efforts toward solving important business problems. Explore the other 6 in detail here.
Data Trends 2024: Strategies for an AI-Ready Data Foundation
Let’s wrap with a final bit of research from Snowflake. The key finding is that enterprises are taking steps to strengthen their data foundations – improving data governance, using more unstructured data, and adopting Python for AI programming. These moves to refine their data infrastructure suggest organizations understand that advanced AI requires a strong data platform underneath. Read the research here.
Have You Read It Yet?
“It” being our ebook (Unleash Process Mining and IDP to Create a Stellar Customer Experience), a collaboration with our partner ABBYY. Here’s what you’ll find inside.
Guessing about how to improve your workflows is a recipe for lost revenue and unhappy customers. This ebook shows how process intelligence equips you with the data-driven visibility to drive real change:
• Use process mining to map end-to-end customer journeys and uncover hidden bottlenecks
• Apply predictive analytics to forecast outcomes and model the impact of process improvements
• Leverage intelligent automation to simplify document-centric processes
Transform your operations from a tangled mess to a competitive edge.
Click here to discover how process intelligence and IDP can revolutionize your business.
EVENTS
Document Strategy Forum
May 20-22
Boston, MA
Calling all revolutionaries in the world of document and content management, customer communications, and customer experience; change is coming. Register and more info.
Just for Fun
While this is a great word, here’s to all of you not “spuddling”!
Image Credits
Invoices: Photo by FIN on Unsplash
Bandaid on Pavement: Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash
Canned Goods: Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash
Honeymoon: Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash