SAP Employs AI to Advance Business Process Management

An ERP application has always been an attempt to wrap code around a business process that enables both automation and standardization. Organizations that embrace packaged ERP applications would then write a lot of code to fill in the workflow gaps between business processes. But as ERP applications move into the cloud, providers of ERP applications are starting to significantly increase the number of business processes that can be automated by applying both machine and deep learning algorithms. Case in point is the latest release of SAP S/4 HANA Cloud, which among other new capabilities can now automatically extract payment information from PDF documents. Previously, that task inside most organizations was either performed manually or via a separate application that needed to be developed or acquired.