Applying Agentic AI in Finance and Accounting
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Key Takeaways
⇨ Tungsten Automation leverages AI to enhance business processes across its suite of solutions, particularly in finance and accounting, where AI is driving improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and automation of tasks.
⇨ The introduction of AI agents, which utilize Large Language Models (LLMs), marks a significant evolution beyond traditional chatbots by enabling autonomous task execution, adaptability, and the ability to work with real-time data, making them more effective for enterprise environments.
⇨ Organizations are encouraged to expand their knowledge of AI agents, explore their impact across various finance processes, and proactively scale AI initiatives and skill sets to fully realize the potential of AI and automation in their operations.
Like many automation companies in the enterprise business space, Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax) is aggressively applying AI across its full suite of solutions to help companies enhance their core business processes. According to SAPinsider’s latest AI and Automation Research Study, SAP customers are exploring AI and automation across a wide range of accounting processes, including financial reporting and analytics (63%), financial planning and analysis (55%), payment processing (47%), and financial close (42%). Updated insights from this key research will be released this March.
Tungsten’s Solution Categories
Tungsten Automation’s solutions are categorized into four primary areas: Intelligent Automation Platform, Finance & Accounting, Capture & Print, and Desktop Productivity.
Intelligent Automation Platform: The Foundation
At the core of Tungsten Automation’s offerings is its Intelligent Automation Platform, designed to streamline digital workflows. Key components include:
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- TotalAgility: Workflow orchestration software that combines low-code development, document intelligence, process orchestration, and system connectivity to optimize business processes.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Enables code-free automation of repetitive, multi-step tasks across various systems and data sources, reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency.
- SignDoc: E-signature software facilitating the verification of electronic signatures within document workflows for secure and efficient document management.
Finance & Accounting
In the Finance & Accounting sector, Tungsten Automation offers AI-enabled solutions to streamline internal business processes:
- AP Agility: Accounts payable software leveraging AI to streamline the processing of invoices and related financial documents.
- AP Essentials: Formerly ReadSoft Online, this invoice processing software automatically captures and validates invoice data from multiple formats, enhancing accuracy and speed.
- Invoice Portal: An online platform for electronic invoicing, facilitating seamless transactions between businesses and their partners.
Leveraging AI Agents as True Differentiators
Tungsten Automation’s focus on developing and utilizing AI agents is transforming business processes. In their whitepaper, “Automating with AI Agents,” authored by Tom Coppock, Senior Product Manager Director, Coppock explores the transformative potential of integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) with automation to create AI agents capable of executing tasks autonomously.
Breaking Through the Limitations of Traditional AI Chatbots
While AI chatbots like ChatGPT have enhanced personal productivity, their utility in enterprise settings is limited. Coppock notes that traditional models often lack access to real-time data and cannot interact with proprietary corporate information stored behind firewalls. Techniques such as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) mitigate these issues by incorporating up-to-date internet search results and business documents, grounding AI responses in current and relevant information.
The Evolution of AI Agents
AI agents represent a significant advancement beyond static chatbots by combining the predictive capabilities of LLMs with automation tools. This integration enables AI agents to perform tasks requiring long-term planning and adaptability within complex, dynamic environments. Unlike traditional automation, which can be rigid and error-prone when encountering unexpected inputs, AI agents offer a resilient, flexible, and intelligent approach to automation.
Key Features of AI Agents
Coppock highlights several defining features of AI agents:
- Autonomy: Operate independently, making decisions and executing tasks based on predefined or dynamically generated objectives without human intervention.
- Goal-Oriented: Designed with specific objectives, AI agents work efficiently towards achieving these goals.
- Interactivity: Interact with various workflow components, including data sources, RPA systems, other software APIs, and human users, to gather information, make decisions, and execute tasks.
Framework for AI Agent Management
To effectively deploy AI agents, Coppock emphasizes the need for a robust management framework encompassing:
- Inputs & Outputs: Define the documents, data, and user prompts that provide context to the AI agent’s workflow.
- Allowed Actions & Rules: Specify the actions, capabilities, and APIs the agent is permitted to use, along with the guardrails that direct its behavior.
- Agent Framework: The underlying structure supporting the creation and operation of AI agents.
- Workflow: Processes through which AI agents operate and are managed, including determining when automation is complete and if human intervention is necessary.
Creating AI Agents
Coppock asserts that development teams can build agents easily using low-code workflow and automation tools supported by platforms such as Tungsten’s TotalAgility offering. Built-in AI Copilots can assist in programming logic based on goals, inputs, and outputs. Once built, a single agent can support multiple automation objectives.
The real potential lies in combining multiple agents into a collaborative framework to solve issues across functional areas. Coppock advises teams to take a modular and reusable approach to designing agents, enabling flexible and scalable solutions for real-world business needs.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Based on these trends and capabilities now available to finance and accounting teams, we recommend:
- Expand Practical Knowledge of Agentic AI: This represents the future of AI. AI agents can automate workflows in ways not yet imagined. Platforms like Tungsten’s allow businesses to build and experiment with AI agents. Gain hands-on experience and start piloting projects to stay ahead.
- Explore the Impact Across Finance Processes: AI’s potential extends beyond financial reporting to areas such as treasury, cash, and invoice processing. Lessons from one area can inform and scale applications across others.
- Scale AI Initiatives and Skillsets: AI and automation are here to stay. Be proactive in climbing the learning curve. Establish centers of excellence, institutionalize AI knowledge, and collaborate with key partners to support pilot projects and ongoing learning.
To read the full whitepaper, click here.
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