Generative AI’s killer enterprise app just might be ERP

“Gen AI will free finance and operations employees from cumbersome tasks such as narrative reporting, customer collection emails, and account summarization,” Herbert writes in a blog post. “Instead of monotonously and manually performing these tasks themselves, employees will act as human reviewers of the AI-generated work.”

Freed from these tasks, employees will have more time to work on other tasks, leading to increased productivity, she says. At the same time, gen AI will make bill collections faster and cheaper, leading to increased profits, the report adds.

Because the use of gen AI in ERP systems is still in its infancy, IT leaders are still figuring out how to calculate the ROI, Herbert adds. However, companies are moving forward with gen AI projects for ERP — a big topic at the SAP Sapphire conference in early June — with some building their own AIs, others working with AI developers, and many using a combination of internal development and outside assistance, she says. For most companies, “it’s kind of foolish to try to do it yourself,” she says.