Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) has been around for decades. I recently spoke to David Malan, Sales Director UK and Ireland at DocuWare, about this technology. We spoke about how it has evolved from simple capture solutions to a product that captures data and then automates the processes that the data is used for. Intelligently evolving and learning as more use cases are discovered.
Malan sees IDP as applicable across a wide range of industries and functions. DocuWare provides solutions across B2C, Logistics processes, and General Finance.
The technology is evolving fast, both within itself with the development of AI and through new integrations. Those include other solutions such as ERP and ChatGPT. Malan noted, “If I take a look at some Microsoft solutions that are available with integration with OpenAI, it really opens up the world as to what is possible.”
This type of functionality became available within the DocuWare product suite with the launch of DocuWare IDP, its AI-powered Intelligent Document Processing engine. The solution brought unprecedented improvements and accuracy in how data is extracted, interpreted and classified from even the most complex documents.
AI offers the potential future where document type is no longer a factor. Malan commented, “Document type, I want to say, is irrelevant. The more unstructured it becomes, and the more it learns how to understand this unstructured content that’s being fed into it, the more possibilities it will have to understand more than just documents and content in general.”
The evolution may also change the definition of a document. Already, number plates are interpreted with ANPR. Optical Character Recognition may also become just Optical Recognition as AI evolves to understand handwriting, images, and other visual cues.
Transforming Businesses
The evolution of IDP is also helping to transform business operations. Malan revealed how different companies see IDP as a solution that extracts, validates, identifies missing data and then processes it. Different companies adopt these solutions at different rates. He explains the challenges faced, including compliance and how DocuWare addresses these challenges.
Malan explained the DocuWare approach, adding, “We always try to look at an implementation from the problem side, rather than the technology side. To make sure that specific tick boxes are ticked and the customer is getting what they expect.”
We discussed how organisations can identify when IDP is the right fit for their Business to invest in. It is not always just about the volume of documents, though that is a factor. He explains how a CIO can identify the right use case to work on.
He also addresses the concern about what AI automation does to organisational knowledge and how he has seen it actually improve that, rather than reduce it.
To hear what else David Malan had to say, listen to the podcast.
Where can I get it?
You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the player below. Alternatively, click on any of the podcast services below and go to the Enterprise Times podcast page.
