Category: Uncategorized

Nov 09, 2022 by Craig Woolard

What is Automation Hero?

Automation Hero is a next-gen automation platform with powerful built-in intelligence that helps organizations navigate the growth of unstructured data, and journey into their digital transformations. 

Designed by data enterprise experts who understand the fast-paced growth of data and the challenges businesses face to keep up with it, Automation Hero provides a low-code environment and a human-in-the-loop experience that unites AI with the human workforce. 

The Hero Platform_ offers a robust integration framework that will support almost any pre-existing, legacy system — which makes it a highly-flexible automation powerhouse for processing any document task with above-human accuracy. 

With Automation Hero’s end-to-end intelligent document processing platform, there’s no limit to what you can automate.

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What is intelligent document processing?

At the center of The Hero Platform_ is Automation Hero’s best-in-class Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) technology. 

“IDP” refers to document AI algorithms that augment processing workflows related to documents. However, document AI technologies — such as IDP — automate a much deeper “stack” of document-related tasks than was previously possible. 

Unlike traditional robotic process automation (RPA) — which only automates simple, repetitive screen tasks — one step at a time — IDP automates the whole workflow using a full stack of AI models to intelligently classify, extract and process large volumes of data from any digitally stored written communication — regardless of source, file-type, or language.

In essence, IDP offers next-gen AI technology for next-level automation.

Instead of a series of simple point-and-click screen automations that imitate repetitive human-performed tasks, IDP combines state-of-the-art AI algorithms — such as computer vision, handwriting recognition, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) to provide a powerful suite of document understanding capabilities.

Why Automation Hero is better than other IDP vendors

Unlike other IDP solutions, Automation Hero has native intelligence built from the ground up as a core feature of the platform’s design. Rather than tacked on as an afterthought from third-party AI vendors — as you will find in traditional automation platforms — we set out to build a world-class IDP platform for end-to-end document understanding from the very beginning.

Automation Hero’s AI/cognitive capabilities are built in-house at the core of The Hero Platform_ by enterprise data experts who understand the fast-paced growth of unstructured data. 

Plus, Automation Hero offers a human-in-the-loop environment with a no/low-code interface. This feature allows users to correct errors before they occur and fine-tunes the training of AI algorithms used in capture, extraction, and document classification — it also closes the gap between people and your automation. 

Our no/low code skill builder dynamically manages all aspects of the automation — allowing users to implement dedicated approval or audit interfaces in-between tasks based on business rules set by the customer.

Our IDP technology leads the market to deliver the best business processes at the enterprise level.

Understanding the global challenges of unstructured data

The IDC Global DataSphere analyzes global data trends and reports on the quantity of data created worldwide. It also looks at how much of that data is stored across various storage media. In 2020, IDC researchers determined that the world created more than 64 zettabytes of data.

Since that time, this global uptick in data growth has skyrocketed so quickly, the amount of data we produce over the next five years is already projected to outpace our global capacity to store it​​ — meaning we are saving less of the data we create each year.

Global data forecast until 2025

By 2025, data-sphere experts have forecasted worldwide data will exceed 175 zettabytes — and this trend is growing so fast — our global storage capacity, physically, cannot keep up with the payload. In this current reality, it raises an important question: how much of this information should we store and save as “data”? 

Since the cloud increasingly determines the way we store, consume, and engage with data, the rate enterprises are producing data is double that of consumers. While not all data created is mission critical, nor need to be saved, how do enterprises determine what data has value?

Moreover, as financial institutions establish their digital resiliency, how do they know what data is business critical?

The truth is — in five years — most data will be lost.

The evolution of Document Processing and its Value

Why? Because the bulk of data belonging to organizations is “unstructured.”

Research by Big Data experts estimates unstructured data accounts for a whopping 90% of all new enterprise data. This trend is quickly growing between 55-65% every year — a rate three times faster than the growth of structured documents — and yet only 18% of organizations are taking advantage of it.

The other 82% are not even utilizing their most valuable resource. 

With the bulk of new unstructured customer information coming from emails, text messages, social media posts, PDFs, and even handwritten scanned documents — not having a method to mine valuable data will limit the organization’s ability to adapt rapidly to changed conditions. 

And in highly regulated organizations where latent, unmined value remains untapped inside older, heritage document processes — such as banking institutions — it poses a real barrier to digital transformation.

So what can we do about it?

Use case: how IDP fits in with an underwriting review process

Whenever information is missing or unrecognizable in a borrower’s income, employment, or tax documentation, the “friction” in the loan application process causes delays. Too many delays in the underwriting process undermine underwriters’ abilities to mitigate the risks and to react quickly. Underwriters must adapt to uncertainties, but they need a complete picture of all associated risks.

This is where Automation Hero can help.

Financial institutions can immediately start using Automation Hero’s built-in intelligent document processing to build an automated underwriting infrastructure that speeds up tasks at every step in the process. For example, our IDP technology can make historical data readily available for underwriting review and accessible to all third-party digital workflow services and even end users in different departments. 

For processes still stuck under a mountain of unstructured documents — such as the underwriting review process — our API can serve as an IDP “fabric” connecting all of your open-banking workflow services together with your business process automation systems and internal data systems. And once you have created your automation, it can be offered via an application programming interface (API) as a service that other departments or even other banks can use. 

With Automation Hero as the IDP fabric integrating multiple APIs into a unique business process — you will have an infrastructure that open-banking APIs, FinTechs, and other third parties can use. Rather than competing with FinTechs, this has the potential to add revenue streams and expand customer reach. 

It also allows banks to intelligently automate the underwriting process while commercializing their infrastructures into the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space where banks provide the core services to FinTechs and open-finance third parties.

How open APIs work

An underwriting case study with RCBC

When underwriters receive loan applications from individuals and businesses, Automation Hero’s built-in intelligence applies custom OCR and IDP technologies that instantly analyze, classify, extract, and sort documents into the appropriate categories. The data extracted from these documents are entered automatically into the fields for the appropriate financial software — speeding up KYC and other tedious, manual data processes.

At RCBC — one of the most trusted commercial banks in the Philippines — delays in the underwriting process severely impacted the client experience. Since data was entered manually across departments, duplicate entries were a regular part of the ongoing re-work. 

With Automation Hero, RCBC optimized its data migration capabilities and increased its underwriting production by 3x. Automation Hero’s big data background enables it to power this data movement use case while also providing the foundation for our cutting-edge AI capabilities that can expand this digital workflow transformation to incorporate previously unreachable unstructured data.

How to get started with intelligent document processing

When introducing any new technology into a highly regulated organization with heritage processes such as financial service institutions, it makes sense to introduce IDP technology on a limited basis so you can test how it works, first. 

We offer a few suggestions to get started:

• Talk to us — We’re data experts! Tell us about your use case.
• Get a personalized demo — Schedule a demonstration and our Heroes will get in touch.

In the meantime, start planning how you might use Automation Hero’s built-in intelligence to address multiple use cases across your entire company. Our Human-in-the-loop attended automation provides security for employees to approve any automation that also trains your AI model.

Just imagine training your AI model with the wisdom of your company’s top experts!

In this Fireside Chat, two industry experts lead an in-depth discussion on the current IDP landscape and the evolution of intelligent document processing beyond traditional OCR.

Oct 26, 2022 by Craig Woolard

If you are exploring the best automation technologies for unstructured data, here is a summary of the discussion between these two thought leaders. The fireside chat begins with some background on optical character recognition (OCR) and the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and then they each weigh in on the future of intelligent automation, unstructured data, and the technologies that will get us there. Finally, Stefan Groschupf and the GigaOm analyst discuss essential IDP benchmarks.

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Who are the industry insiders?

Stefan Groschupf, CEO, Automation Hero

When he started his previous company, Datameer, Stefan Groschupf saw first-hand the challenges financial institutions confronted as they navigated “unstructured” data. As founder and CEO of Automation Hero, Stefan focuses his data analytics experience on processing the diversity of data hiding in unstructured documents faster than ever using the most advanced and complete IDP platform.

Saurabh Sharma, Lead Analyst, GigaOm

Saurabh Sharma, the lead analyst with GigaOm, has over 15 years in software development, consulting, and product go-to-market strategy. GigaOm is a top analyst firm democratizing access to strategic engineering-led technology research. GigaOm enables innovation at the speed of the market by helping business leaders grasp technologies, upskill teams, and provide strategic sales training and advisory services.

How intelligent document processing goes beyond OCR

Stefan and Saurahb discuss how machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning evolved into intelligent document processing. Both conclude and agree that OCR and RPA are decades-old technologies and are fundamentally limited. Saurabh explains how OCR’s accuracy is limited with the following:

“Even with the best quality scanners and document quality…you might get 50 to 60 percent accuracy with OCR. But if you look at the last five years, a lot of automation leaders are not interested because they’ll spend more time trying to solve those errors and doing the rest of the processing, manually.”

Saurabh continues, noting how the value of automation diminishes, “…and that’s when some vendors started experimenting with intelligent OCR, which is nothing but a bunch of python code with OCR, so accuracy increased by five to 10 percent…still not good enough.”

How intelligent document processing goes beyond RPA

On some of the limitations affecting traditional RPA, Saurabh says, “there was a lot of hype around RPA and how it would automate everything, and then we realized RPA is only for structured data and structured processes…RPA hit the wall when faced with semi-structured and unstructured data.”

Commenting on the “hype” surrounding traditional RPA, Saurabh explains how data extraction accuracy goes up to 60-70% when it’s combined with intelligent OCR, but notes how this combo eventually hits a wall:

“If you have automated processes, or if you are an enterprise architect or a CIO, you understand that that 60 to 70 percent accuracy is not good enough…If you want to go to the next level…that number goes down to 30-40 percent, so that does not deliver strategic benefits.”

As the rapid growth and the complexity of unstructured data hiding in documents continues to increase globally, Saurabh shares his insight with us on current RPA solutions combined with IDP:

“With the combination of RPA and IDP…you can look at 70 to 80 percent straight-through processing with 95 plus or minus ‘X’ percent accuracy. That’s the end game!”

Since 80% of global enterprise data is unstructured, Stefan and the independent analyst both agree organizations need more than OCR and legacy RPA to navigate the current complexities of real diverse data:

“We need an easy-to-use technology that hides the complexity but is ready to do automatic underwriting, automatic claims processing, and automatic contract management and allows us to integrate that into our IT systems seamlessly.”

 The competitive IDP landscape

After deep diving into the significant differences in accuracy between OCR, RPA, and IDP, Saurabh and Stefan discuss the current landscape of intelligent document processing. On the topic of competitive IDP vendors, Saurabh says:

“I will be a bit frank — there are about one hundred vendors who claim that they have IDP…most of them, I would say, 80 percent offer intelligent OCR, and even worse than that…so there are only ten to twenty serious players who really offer IDP…so the way we see what is next going forward would be how much semi-structured and unstructured processing you can support.”

Saurahb offers another valuable point on the capabilities of current IDP vendors and the truth about accuracy ratings, citing his own research from the GigaOm IDP Radar report:

“The other thing I see is everyone tells us that it’s a ‘template-free’ approach, but that’s not the case. In most cases, if the document layout changes or the logo moves somewhere else, the product fails to understand…so, I think there’s a lot of not-so-good marketing happening around accuracy rates like 99.9 percent for cursive and handwriting. That’s not going to be possible.”

Finally, Saurabh makes a powerful statement about the current IDP market when he says:

“…and Stefan, to your point, that 80 percent [of global data] is unstructured, I think it’s now more than 80 percent actually…if vendors are not going to solve that problem, I don’t think they can make progress on automation.

The future: GigaOm weighs in

On the future of intelligent document processing, Stefan agrees with the independent analyst’s assessment that global unstructured data has already surpassed 80% growth, saying:

 “The next generation is growing up with FaceTime and WhatsApp…so the customer experience and expectations are going this way…it will only grow more as we continue to interact with our customers digitally.”

On the landscape of intelligent document processing going forward, the duo share exciting insights on what the future will hold. Their conclusion? Even though OCR is an architectural component of intelligent document processing, it will be the vendors who rethink how they implement OCR into the IDP stack that will bring the most value to the growing challenges of unstructured data.

How Automation Hero’s IDP achieves over 90% accuracy

Finally, the two discuss the competitive landscape outlined in Saurahb’s GigaOm Benchmark report, and highlight Automation Hero’s custom context-aware OCR post-processing AI model, which delivered 281% more accurate handwriting recognition than even the leading competitor according to GigaOm’s independent evaluation! Stefan then explained how Automation Hero uses layers of neural networks by treating the output of OCR extractions as signal inputs to intelligent document processing. 

For example, Stefan explains how one neural network pre-trained on languages is layered on top of another network that uses domain knowledge alongside machine learning, deep learning, and natural language AI models to add additional layers to the IDP stack. 
Regarding the Hero Platform_’s better performance metrics, Stefan says:

“Eventually, you begin stacking up these next-level intelligent document understanding capabilities, which is what you have with an end-to-end IDP platform like Automation Hero. If you look under the hood, we are training all sorts of things with two things in mind. Number one, how can we get you the highest accuracy? The highest accuracy means the highest automation rate with the highest straight-through processing rate. Number two, how can we deliver the highest accuracy using the smallest amount of data possible? Automation Hero is at the point where we can achieve 80-90 percent accuracy with as little as 50 sample documents!”

On the future landscape of IDP, Saurabh offers his insight:

“If you look at the hype of RPA, it has plateaued now. IDP is going through that time, and you will see serious adoption. Over a period of time, I think we will see a convergence…AI will become automation.”

Take your next step into digital transformation

Get Saurabh Sharma’s GigaOm IDP Radar report now and learn everything your organization needs to navigate the current IDP landscape and achieve true digital transformation.

Jun 13, 2022 by Automation Hero

Technological advancement and an influx of Millennial and Gen Z consumers with high expectations for digital services are completely transforming the financial services industry. On one hand, consumers are experiencing the convenience of digital services in every area of their lives and want the same conveniences from the finance sector. At the same time, large legacy institutions are implementing more innovative technology to keep up with demand and compete with new, tech-first startups rapidly taking over the market.

Intelligent automation tools are already well known for improving efficiency and cutting costs, but they play a role in customer satisfaction as well. As the growing popularity of new fintech startups show, cutting-edge technology is synonymous with market buzz and customer growth.

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What do customers want from financial services now?

The financial services landscape looks very different now than it did in the last decade, let alone a whole generation ago. Looking at trends in banking, lending, and other personal finance sectors, it’s clear that consumers want these:

More convenience

Across the board of financial services, from banking to lending and beyond, consumers are opting primarily for convenient, online transactions through the web or mobile apps. 

A survey by Insider Intelligence found a significant 78% of Millennials never want to go to a physical bank branch if they can avoid it. With Millennials and Gen Z consumers now becoming banks’ largest consumer groups, it makes sense that foot traffic at banks has decreased by 10% to 20% in recent years.

Faster processing times

A new generation of tech-first insurance providers are making headlines with their quick approval times. Bank customers want their money transfers to go through instantly. In every sector of the financial services industry, customers seek faster approval times and processes to keep up with the pace of their lives.

More transparency

Since technology hasn’t enabled instantaneous processes just yet, many customers want to know the real-time status of applications or transactions they’re waiting on — without needing to make a phone call. Customers appreciate being able to log on to an app to see the status of a bank transfer, whether or not an insurance application has been approved, and where a claim is in the review process.

Intelligent automation tools to the rescue

Digital convenience, fast transactions, and real-time data transparency aren’t possible without streamlining back-end processes with AI. The latest generations of intelligent automation tools completely transform workflows with these features:

Streamlined data capture with OCR

AI can eliminate data entry by reading, categorizing, and extracting information from documents with minimal or no human review. This can reduce new customer intake, claim review, and other document-based processes to just minutes, or even seconds, compared to the slow speed of manual review.

OCR (optical character recognition) is the technology that can read text within documents the same way humans do. However, unlike humans, OCR can recognize characters, numbers, letters, and words — in any font or language.

As you might expect, the most significant impact of OCR is on manual data entry tasks. OCR speeds up this essential business process and makes it convenient to turn words from scanned PDFs or images into text that can be edited or copied without manual retyping.

Even with the limitations of legacy OCR technology, it can help organizations streamline the digitalization of structured documents. According to performance benchmarks, Automation Hero’s patent-pending Context-aware OCR is 68% more accurate than ABBY’s Flexicapture and delivers 281% greater accuracy in terms of handwriting recognition.

Natural language processing (NLP)

A field within AI called Natural Language Processing can actually analyze sentences to detect their intent. This makes it easy for AI to contextualize customer requests and automatically respond to them with pre-generated emails — faster than a human ever could. AI can even handle basic support requests, such as updating contact information or even canceling an insurance policy.

Automated data structuring

The vast majority of data that financial service providers collect from their customers is unstructured and unusable until it’s been properly processed. Common examples of unstructured data includes PDFs of financial records or scans of handwritten documents but also extends to email messages and social media posts. With the right training from users, AI can automatically extract useful information from these sources and categorize it. Data analysts can then use this to help develop customized products or inform sales and marketing strategy.

Intelligent document processing (IDP)

Intelligent document processing has emerged as a crucial element within the wider automation landscape. IDP was born out of the need for organizations to accurately extract data from documents. In essence, IDP leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to effectively handle and oversee document-centric business processes. Through the adoption of IDP, banking institutions can optimize heritage processes involving a large volume of documents to reduce manual effort, enhance precision, and reach their digital transformation goals.

A notable advantage of IDP is its seamless integration capability with other automation tools like robotic process automation (RPA). This compatibility with existing technologies enables companies to enhance their current automation strategies, leading to improved overall efficiency and expanded operational scope.

Conclusion

The future of financial services is to become technology-first. Already, companies are using intelligent automation tools, such as Automation Hero, to streamline their processes and improve profitability. Now, it’s imperative to use these tools to improve customer satisfaction and increase market share. Experience the benefits of these tools in your own company by getting started with Automation Hero today.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

Jun 10, 2022 by Automation Hero

With so much disruption in the supply chain and marketplace, many companies need to take drastic measures to remain profitable. The digital transformation of business and industry has always been an ideal, but now it’s becoming largely a necessity. A 2021 survey by McKinsey found that only 11% of executives think their current business models will remain viable through 2023. As a result, 64% of all execs surveyed say their companies must build more digital businesses. Many legacy solutions businesses rely on, like robotic process automation (RPA), won’t be enough to take businesses into this new era. It’s imperative to invest strategically in AI technology that enables intelligent process automation.

With so many options in the marketplace, it can be challenging to determine which artificial intelligence solutions will be most useful.

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Intelligent document processing: The future of business

Business automation has evolved dramatically since the creation of RPA. Last decade, the tech sector created a new class of intelligent document processing (IDP) technology powered by AI, to automate much of the work of reading, classifying, and extracting information from documents RPA couldn’t handle. This decade, a new class of intelligent process automation platforms provide all the benefits of RPA and IDP that came before it, with a focus on more connectivity and cohesion between various systems for more efficient workflows.

Intelligent process automation (IPA) actually encapsulates the goal of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: the convergence of different technologies and automated processes for unimaginable levels of interconnectivity and efficiency. This will dramatically elevate business value, and potentially transform society as we know it.

How to achieve true efficiency with IDP

A digital transformation requires a well thought-out strategy executed over a number of years. Achieving it just takes proper assessment of the products and services in the marketplace, and a willingness to address resistance in an organization. Here’s what to do:

1. Aim for fully digital operations.

Digitizing processes has two benefits: one, it makes processes easier and faster to complete and it turns processes into data workers can analyze and refine for even greater efficiency. Many companies are well on their way to fully digital operations, but still have some paper processes to eliminate. Make a schedule to implement new automations every quarter or at least a few times per year.

2. Collect data about business processes.

In every digitized process, decision makers should regularly analyze performance to look for opportunities to further streamline operations. This data can indicate what process to automate next, how well a solution is working, or ways to consolidate more processes. The more workflows connect across systems and departments, the closer an organization gets to an Industry 4.0 future.

3. Solicit buy-ins and train employees through every step of the process.

Automation isn’t possible without the support and participation of company leaders and employees. Those leading the digital transformation in their organization should be prepared to act as educators and advocates for the value of the work they’re doing, both for the organization and the people who work there. Leaders in various departments need to understand how new technology can benefit them, and workers need to understand how to use it effectively. For example, leaders can emphasize that employees are capable of focusing on more valuable work when they’re not wasting time with repetitive tasks, essentially encouraging workers to embrace automation solutions.

If possible, involve department heads and other stakeholders in the decision making process about what automation solutions to choose, since they will have more insight into their specific needs and paint points. Lead discussions about how an IPA platform will improve productivity or serve the needs of a department in the near future. With these stakeholders, develop realistic roll out schedules and comprehensive training programs so implementation is as easy as possible. 

The best way to pursue a digital transformation is with AI platforms that are incredibly easy to implement, use, and scale, with potential applications to virtually any business process. Learn more about what to look for an IPA platform in a call with Automation Hero’s experts.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.

• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

Jun 09, 2022 by Automation Hero

In 2020, the United Nations reported a “staggering rise” in natural disasters since the turn of the millennium — especially as a result of climate change. From 1980 to 1999, there were only 4,212 natural disasters recorded around the world. However, over the next two decades, this number climbed dramatically to a record 7,348 extreme weather events around the globe — killing 1.23 million people. What’s more, the number of natural disasters explicitly caused by climate change increased by 83% after 2000.

This increase spells trouble for the insurance industry, and it’s imperative companies find ways to not only minimize their costs but also allocate resources to process the increasing number of claims each year. Could intelligent document processing (IDP) be the key to offsetting the impact of higher claim volume?

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How does climate change impact insurance companies?

As the volume and severity of natural disasters increases, so do the costs of each disaster. A report by reinsurance company Munich Re found that natural disasters caused damages in excess of $210 billion in 2020. That’s more than the entire annual revenue of some P&C insurance providers.

Many companies are looking for ways to modify their business models to protect from increasing annual payouts, but this only addresses part of the problem. More disasters also increase the volume of claims to process, creating immediate issues with labor use, resource availability, and customer service. To address the bigger issues climate change creates for their industry, insurance companies need to quickly increase their efficiency.

How intelligent document processing can save catastrophe claims processing

No one can prevent natural disasters; we can only control how we respond. Claims adjusters are among the first people to be contacted in the event of property damage, so it’s incredibly important to respond compassionately — and efficiently. Unfortunately, many companies have not fully embraced the potentials of intelligent automation, contending with labor-intensive manual processes instead. As a result of this inefficiency, the high volume of claims after a natural disaster can dramatically increase costs and cause significant delays. Here’s how intelligent document processing platforms like Automation Hero help expedite claims processing, even in a disaster:

Automate data extraction from claims documents

Processing insurance claims is an incredibly document-heavy process, with many forms to review and file and a lot of information to verify. Intelligent document processing platforms use AI to automatically read, categorize, and capture data about policyholders, the damage they’ve incurred, costs, and more. This capability not only slashes document review times but also virtually eliminates data entry.

Streamline claims triaging

One of the biggest issues with manual processes is that high-risk claims don’t make it to the top of the pile for claims adjusters to resolve, leading to lost customers or even lawsuits. This is where the categorization capabilities of intelligent document processing platforms can help insurers more quickly and accurately prioritize incoming claims according to risk and urgency. AI can automate the claims triage by automatically reading email attachments so adjusters can focus on service or provide a valuable fail-safe to catch claims falling through the cracks of existing processes.

Respond more quickly to policyholders

Intelligent document processing platforms use AI to process common customer requests, so adjusters can focus on more complex issues. AI platforms like Automation Hero use email intent detection to prioritize the most sensitive customer requests. This focuses expert claims adjusters on the most urgent claims, rather than wasting their time on those that aren’t immediately vital to customers’ health and safety.

Scale to any disaster

As climate change causes higher volumes of natural disasters at unpredictable times, appropriate staff sizes can be incredibly difficult to maintain — either overhire and lose profits or underhire and increase risk. Outsourcing or hiring temporary contract claims processors creates major hassles and internal culture clashes for management teams and leads to customers being unsatisfied by less knowledgeable staff. AI, on the other hand, helps claims processing departments keep up with demand without dramatically altering the workforce.

The insurance industry has a long road ahead to figure out exactly how to respond to climate change. All of these intelligent automation capabilities dramatically reduce costs, so companies have more leftover to reinvest in strategies to minimize increasing risk. That’s why Automation Hero already has established a track record of increasing profits for insurance companies. Read our e-book to learn more about what our end-to-end solution can do for you.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.

• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

Jun 08, 2022 by Automation Hero

Property and casualty insurance providers are no strangers to emergencies, especially since the number of  claims filed each year are rising significantly. A 2021 report by LexisNexis on home insurance trends found that extreme weather events drove catastrophe losses up 40% from 2019. The cost of wind damage payouts increased by an even higher 63% in that same time period.

As global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, so does the frequency and severity of extreme weather events that cause property damage and bodily harm. As a result, the claims triages that get P&C insurance providers through busy seasons are becoming year-round, permanent fixtures. Without investment in AI and intelligent document processing (IDP) technology, these triages won’t be enough to keep up with processing catastrophe claims as climate chaos begins to impact our lives even more.

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The limits of catastrophe claims triage

Like triages at hospitals prioritize the most urgent emergencies, insurance triages are designed to route resources to the most important claims. For insurance companies still relying on heavily manual processes, the volume of claims from increasingly common extreme weather events could soon become completely overwhelming. Catastrophe claims triages break down because of the following:

Burdensome processes

Manually reviewing each first notice of loss (FNOL) and supporting documentation is incredibly time consuming. After a natural disaster and other emergencies with high damages, claims adjusters can spend entire days reviewing documents and organizing files, leaving no time to actually process claims.

Human error

The rush to close a high volume of claims, not to mention exhaustion and burnout, can make manual processes incredibly vulnerable to human error. Adjusters can easily miscategorize files or fail to properly prioritize claims, leaving distressed customers stuck — not to mention more likely to switch providers, dispute settlement offers, and take insurers to court.

Slow customer response times

Risk of compliance breaches and lawsuits increase dramatically when customers don’t receive prompt responses to their questions. Property damage can be as emotionally trying as it is expensive, so customers often need a personal touch from their insurance providers during these times. With claims adjusters so busy with draining, mundane document-related work, customer service can fall by the wayside.

How intelligent document processing levels up the catastrophe claims triage

For claims adjusters familiar with RPA and other legacy technology, it may seem impossible to automate document processing tasks — but that’s exactly what AI excels at. Automation Hero is leading a new generation of intelligent process automation platforms that streamline the most complex workflows in the insurance industry. The platform has a long track record of processing insurance claims, FNOLs, and other documents in a fraction of the time it takes human adjusters. Here’s how intelligent document processing helps P&C insurance providers:

Increases sorting accuracy

The advanced AI in intelligent document processing software can improve database accuracy by extracting information from multiple channels (email, texts, document scans) to sort them to the right databases, so teams get a jump start on processing claims. Administrative document tasks that could take human workers an entire day to complete can be done in moments.

Recognizes and extracts critical data

In addition to understanding what documents are, Automation Hero’s deep-learning AI can automatically extract essential information, such as the name of the policyholder, what’s been damaged, and how much it costs — without the need for any human review. Not only does Automation Hero cut down on the amount of reading each claim adjuster has to do but it can also process hundreds or even thousands of documents at once, helping teams handle unexpected claim volume after significant or unpredicted disasters.

Improves customer service

With AI handling so much mind-numbing work more quickly (and accurately), claims adjusters can do what matters: keep customers satisfied. They can focus on providing white-glove service to customers with the most expensive or complicated claims, reducing the likelihood of a lawsuit.

Intelligent document processing software can even recognize common customer requests in emails, such as asking for claim status updates or asking to change an address on file. Automation Hero can also automatically reply to requests or send them to a human based on the sender’s sentiment and tone. This capability speeds up response times so policyholders aren’t waiting on a human to get to their email and frees up claims adjusters to spend more time on complicated customer issues.

Automation Hero is optimized for the needs of insurance companies. With an advanced, deep-learning AI, it has already helped insurers like Kin, Baloise, and Markerstudy reduce their claims processing times, making it the perfect ally for scaling claims triages. Automation Hero has a proven track record of reducing costs for processing claims, reducing labor, and saving claims adjusters from burnout. Read our new e-book to see what else our AI can do for your insurance company.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

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Jun 03, 2022 by Automation Hero

The transformation underway in the industrial sector is unlike any we’ve ever seen before. The Third Industrial Revolution introduced the digitization of information, automated machinery, and other technological innovations. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is about connecting all this new technology for levels of seamless collaboration we can’t yet fully imagine.

So far, the new industrial revolution has unfolded in two separate but parallel tracks. On one hand, manufacturing floors are incorporating more automated machinery on their floors. This comes in the form of fully autonomous equipment that enables lights-out, or unmanned, manufacturing, as well as collaborative robots that improve productivity. All of them generate incredible amounts of performance data, such as units per hour or cycle times, that create transparency, set benchmarks, and reveal potential areas for improvement.

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On the other hand, artificial intelligence-powered intelligent document processing technology is transforming the business side of manufacturing. AI eliminates or streamlines manual document-related tasks such as data capture, entry, and classification so employees are free to focus on higher-level work. The automation of document processing also allows organizations to quickly scale up operations without creating labor issues.

In Industry 4.0, AI is bringing these two parallel tracks together in an emerging field called enterprise intelligent automation. Some intelligent document processing platforms on the market are already capable of this type of automation

What is enterprise intelligent automation?

Enterprise intelligent automation is what Industry 4.0 is all about. It’s the process of systematically replacing manual processes with automation, creating greater connectivity between every process, system, and person in an organization. This connection streamlines processes even more to improve every KPI.

Traditional automation improves productivity and efficiency by eliminating bottlenecks, errors, and other delays of manual processes. Enterprise intelligent automation takes this even further by bringing disparate automated processes together for seamless workflows across departments and business units — even between sellers and customers. Removing human error from workflows also improves accuracy, compliance, and even security from data leaks. All these benefits combine to improve job satisfaction. When workers are free to focus on the work only humans can do, their jobs are much more engaging.

How intelligent document processing connects business units with the production floor

Automation has already improved productivity on the factory floor and in corporate offices. When enterprise intelligent automation unites the two through AI and automation, productivity increases exponentially. This cohesion even enables new benefits, like these:

Real-time productivity monitoring

When a manufacturing company can measure productivity on both the production floor and their offices, they can get a clear picture of their overall efficiency. At the granular level, this information can even reveal where bottlenecks occur between the factory and office side of the business. A long lag time between a company receiving an order and the factory gearing up for production could indicate issues with communication processes and lead to their refinement.

Supply chain optimization

One of the biggest causes of delay in manufacturing is the time gap between the factory running out of a material and the accounting department approving an order. With intelligent document processing, AI can seamlessly connect inventory management programs with accounting programs so funds for product reorders are automatically earmarked as soon as a material starts to run low.

More accurate revenue and cash flow forecasts

Seamless connections between accounting and other departments dramatically improve budget visibility. Stakeholders can see projected sales revenue in real time and compare it to purchase commitments from other departments, reducing miscommunication about budget needs and cashflow. What’s more, this type of cohesion streamlines accounting operations, improving both efficiency and profitability.

In the same way the Third Industrial Revolution was about easing the burden of manual processes in work, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is about easing the burden of managing different automation systems. Every company is undergoing a digital transformation at some point, but it can be easy to get distracted by flashy capabilities offered by different solutions. Find a tool that helps you focus on the ultimate goal of enterprise intelligent automation: guiding your decisions for lasting organizational impact.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

May 23, 2022 by Automation Hero

With premiums already at record highs, insurance companies are under incredible pressure to increase profit, but they may not be able to achieve this through higher revenue. The best strategy is to control costs through improved efficiency and bring order to unruly systems and processes. Out of all the phases of policy initiation and management, underwriting is the most challenging to streamline because of its central role in mitigating risk, and the complex tasks involved in doing it effectively.

Risk aversion is one of the core principles of insurance. As a result, many companies stick with safe but slow and outdated legacy systems that involve time-consuming manual labor, rather than risk trying to implement a better solution that doesn’t deliver as promised. These systems often create disconnected customer databases that make underwriting processes even more challenging.

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Even worse, slow insurance application processes can cause customers to jump ship and switch to newer, technology-first insurers that provide ultra-fast approval times. The solution insurance providers need is automation technology powered by artificial intelligence to augment their processes and remain competitive. 

Intelligent document processing (IDP) is a new generation of automation technology that leverages AI to execute enterprise workflows more quickly. It’s what enables new “insure-tech” companies to process documents at high speeds. And legacy and traditional insurance providers don’t have to be left out of the digital revolution.

What is intelligent document processing (IDP)?

Intelligent document processing (IDP) has emerged as a critical part of an intelligent automation strategy. IDP technology was born out of the need for organizations to accurately extract data from documents. In essence, IDP leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to effectively handle and oversee document-centric business processes.

Through the adoption of IDP, insurance companies can optimize heritage document processes involving large volumes of documents to reduce manual effort, enhance precision, and reach their digital transformation goals.

A notable advantage of IDP is its seamless integration capability with other automation tools like robotic process automation (RPA). This compatibility with existing technologies enables companies to enhance their current automation strategies, leading to improved overall efficiency and expanded operational scope.

Optical character recognition (OCR)

Another advantage of IDP for insurers is its compatibility with OCR (optical character recognition). OCR is the technology that can read text within documents the same way humans do. However, unlike humans, OCR can recognize characters, numbers, letters, and words — in any font or language.

As you might expect, the most significant impact of OCR is on manual data entry tasks. OCR speeds up this essential business process and makes it convenient to turn words from scanned PDFs or images into text that can be edited or copied without manual retyping.

Even with the limitations of legacy OCR technology, it can help organizations streamline the digitalization of unstructured documents. According to performance benchmarks, Automation Hero’s patent-pending Context-aware OCR is 68% more accurate than ABBY’s Flexicapture and delivers 281% greater accuracy in terms of handwriting recognition.

The benefits of intelligent document processing in insurance underwriting

Research by Deloitte found that 74% of insurance companies expect to increase spending on AI in 2023, and almost as many plan to further invest in data analytics, cloud storage, and mobile technology. This smart investment allows companies to change their bottom lines. These are some of the benefits of intelligent document processing in insurance underwriting:

Improved risk assessment and pricing

Any company that collects data has more opportunities to use AI than ever before. This explosion of data has given underwriters more information to consider while creating policies, but they need AI to effectively use it all. Underwriters can pull information from virtually any database in their system without the need to go hunting through files. All they have to do is request data through the platform. With organized information at their fingertips, they can develop more comprehensive and accurate risk profiles and price premiums accordingly.

Faster approval times

Convenient access to data also dramatically improves processing times. Without AI, workers expend much energy on wasteful tasks involved in calculations, research, and other aspects of decision making. With AI, underwriters can quickly complete their risk assessment checklists, and efficiently reach conclusions, reducing approval times to a fraction of the manual process.

Deeply customized offerings

Intelligent document processing in insurance lets underwriters work with incredibly granular customer data. This empowers providers to create products that fit every kind of need or risk profile to minimize rejections. And since so much work in the underwriting process is done automatically, insurers can offer these custom products without slowing down processing times or increasing operating costs.

Make a bigger impact with end-to-end intelligent automation

AI-powered platforms enable incredible speed and accuracy for underwriting, but its capabilities can benefit every aspect of an insurance company. Users should look for platforms that specialize in document processing to solve problems in customer service, application review, claims processing, and even cross-selling.

Through intelligent document processing platforms like Automation Hero’s Hero Platform_, users can leverage AI to quickly process common customer requests, with functions that can detect the intent of emails and route them to the correct departments, extract data, organize attachments, and more. Intelligent document processing platforms also serve as a kind of connective fabric between all the CRM, ERP, accounting, database, and point solutions used across departments, helping underwriters access more information from disparate sources more quickly and with greater accuracy.

Underwriting has long been one of the most challenging parts of the insurance industry, but AI can dramatically streamline processing times and improve profit. As tech-first insurers become more popular, and legacy companies automate to keep up with them, intelligent automation will become the norm.

In fact, companies are already using platforms like Automation Hero, a versatile enterprise automation platform that leverages AI to streamline every document process — including underwriting. Explore the possibilities yourself with a free product demo.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

May 13, 2022 by Automation Hero

Supply chain teams have always operated under stressful conditions, but the crisis of the pandemic has taken an especially heavy toll — one many companies won’t recover from unless they address it directly. In 2021, the Harvard Business Review announced we were entering a new era of mental health awareness in the workplace, highlighting the importance of employers making structural changes to help employees maintain their wellbeing. Employer-provided counseling, mental health days, and other resources are going to become increasingly normalized, but we need to look at other ways to mitigate the ever-growing pressure for more productivity. In this new era, companies need to be sure their employees are working smarter, not just harder.

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We already know the impact intelligent document processing can have on efficiency but we don’t pay enough attention to its benefits for workers. In jobs that demand increasingly higher levels of output, managing repetitive, mundane tasks on top of high-level performance pressure can produce unnecessary stress and eventual burnout. Letting AI handle some of the manual labor that goes into office work can go a long way to break this cycle.

The limits of ERP systems

Much of the supply chain is managed with advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like Oracle and SAP, and over the years, this technology has enabled massive breakthroughs in productivity and efficiency. Unfortunately, these systems still leave gaps in automated workflows, even though they demand a lot of resources to manage and implement. Their high costs also make them unattainable for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Aside from demand, the biggest cause of stress for procurement and freight forwarding teams over the past few years has been the constant search for alternative suppliers and shipping routes as constraints pile up across the globe. Large ERP systems are amazing for creating and managing stable supply chain environments, but their inflexibility makes remapping workflows incredibly difficult, and it takes a lot of manpower to implement change. They also have limited document processing capabilities, which still leaves workers with a lot of paperwork to manage.

Intelligent document processing: The hero procurement and freight forward teams need

Intelligent document processing allows organizations to create complete end-to-end automation workflows across their entire enterprise with the power of advanced artificial intelligence. Automation Hero is a new AI platform built from the ground up to help users streamline mundane document processing, scale up to full enterprise automation, or just improve any process in between. How does this help procurement or freight forwarding teams?

Data extraction

With the supply chain moving at breakneck speeds, anything freight forwarding teams do to shave minutes from a process translates to massive time savings. Automation Hero’s advanced data extraction optical character recognition (OCR) can virtually eliminate the need for manual document review and data entry by extracting data from common documents like contracts, BOLs, and RFIs, as well as emails, forms, and any channel where communication occurs.

Supply chain visibility

Workflow automation needs data to function as intended. Paper documents are still incredibly common in supply chains — especially “in the field” on factory floors, warehouses, and border checkpoints. Using paper also creates bottlenecks and data blind spots throughout the supply chain. As long as workers scan and upload these documents in a timely manner, Automation Hero can extract their data and eliminate the blindspots, without procurement teams within organizations having to revamp all their processes.

Workflow insight and flexibility

Effective supply chain management is most akin to what software developers call exception handling, where programs have to respond to special conditions and process them accordingly. In today’s supply chain chaos, procurement and logistics teams are constantly forced to find new suppliers and make changes to routes. ERPs are simply not built for this.

Automation Hero, on the other hand, empowers a single worker to extract historical data from their systems and have the AI analyze it to quickly find alternative solutions to a problem. From there, users can update and redeploy workflows in a fraction of the time and resources it would take with an ERP. This helps small- and medium-sized companies operate with as much power as a large enterprise, without the need for as much manpower.

Intelligent process automation for a stronger supply chain

The supply chain has been a nightmare for the past two years, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to end any time soon. Really taking care of mental health will require more than counseling and other support resources. Managers need to alleviate as much of the conditions creating information overload and decision fatigue as possible. Intelligent document processing platforms, like Automation Hero, are just what the doctor ordered to help supply chain professionals sleep easier at night and navigate the new normal. Learn how we can help you manage supply chain chaos in our new e-book.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!

Mar 15, 2022 by Automation Hero

Accounts payable isn’t glamorous, but invoice approvals and payments are the bedrock to running a successful business. That’s why it needs to happen quickly and accurately. Yet, manual invoice approvals are incredibly time consuming and labor intensive — especially in high volumes.

Robotic process automation (RPA) began to lessen this burden when it entered the market in the early 2000s. The technology promised to create a “digital workforce” that could replace humans for much computer-based work, but failed to deliver much of it, especially in terms of document-based workflows.

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In the 2010s, intelligent document processing (IDP) was created to automate many of the tasks that RPA could not. Powered by artificial intelligence, IDP can read documents, extract information, and even contextualize it, reducing the burden on human workers to read and process an endless pile of invoices. Essentially, IDP reads an invoice, knows who sent it, and how much is being requested. According to a Business Insider report, just this simple automation has improved processing efficiency by 73% compared to manual handling. What’s more, IDP has helped some organizations reduce AP department costs by 81%.

Entering the intelligent process automation era

The 2020s have introduced another upgrade to automation. Dubbed intelligent process automation (IPA), this new generation of technology unifies the capabilities of RPA and IDP into one platform, or suite of tools, and leverages AI to further refine workflows and improve efficiency.

Essentially, intelligent process automation offers the potential to fully automate every business process, even extending into the way leadership makes decisions. On the granular level, the benefits of intelligent process automation can impact the way accounts payable departments operate.

Intelligent document processing for AP departments

The benefits of intelligent process automation affects nearly every aspect of AP department operations, from approving invoices to managing databases. Here are four of the most impactful capabilities:

1. More efficient invoice capture

Automated invoice processing can supercharge your invoice processing with intelligent document processing. Leveraging natural language processing and AI, IDP can automatically process invoices from every type of channel and extract the contents as structured data. This is great for organizations that accept invoices via email, as intelligent document processing can read the intent of messages, automatically download attached invoices, and process them without the need for a human to even open the email.

2. Faster approval speeds

Since intelligent document processing platforms can read and contextualize all the information in a document, they can understand who submitted each invoice, how much is being requested, and what service was rendered.

With access to a purchase order database or ERP system, platforms can even automatically verify the invoice is accurate and route it for payment — all in a matter of seconds rather than the minutes it would take a worker to manually process.

3. Limitless integrations

Another benefit of intelligent document processing is how seamlessly it can connect with other software through APIs. AP departments often leverage a number of tools for different tasks, and users must manually reformat or transfer data between them. IDP can create more unified workflows by automating this work so AP employees can focus on higher-level (and higher value) tasks. This could allow users to fully automate the invoice approval process, from capture to fund disbursement.

4. Easier auditing

Errors, audits, and process reviews are a fact of life in accounts payable. IDP tools can automatically log every step of each workflow for easy review. AI can even spot where potential bottlenecks or workflow breakdowns may happen. Manually auditing processes is also easier since so many can be managed through a unified invoice processing solution.

Invoicing processing has always been a critical operation for successful businesses, but it takes considerable resources. Fortunately, the benefits of intelligent document processing can transform accounts payable operations so organizations can achieve new heights of profitability.

Unlock the intelligence in your documents with our AI-driven automation today

Learn how we helped Markerstudy reduce its claims processing time by 40%. Additionally, learn how we reduced total claim processing time by 80% for another multinational insurance partner — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim.

• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!