Companies often ask: “Is our ERP ready for AI?” The honest answer is that it depends less on the brand of the system and more on a few practical things. Below are twelve questions that you can go through with your technical director in an hour. They follow the order in which we recommend preparing: first the process, then data exchange, then the data themselves, and only then control over the agent.
Part 1. The process
- Which one process do we want to automate first? If the answer is “everything”, the project is not ready. Choose one process that takes noticeable time.
- Can we measure it? The number of operations per month, the minutes per operation and the error rate. Without a measurement, the result cannot be checked in numbers.
- Who owns the process? There must be a person who can answer questions and confirm the results.
Part 2. Data exchange
- Which systems does the process use, including spreadsheets and email? The list often turns out to be longer than expected.
- Through which interface can data be read from each system? A web service, access to a copy of the database, a file exchange. If there is none, this is an item of work, not a reason to stop.
- Is there a safe way to write the result back? It must be agreed with the person who owns the system.
Part 3. The data themselves
- Is it known which system is the master for each type of data? Customers, prices, contracts. If not, read about the single source of trusted data.
- Can duplicates and contradictions be found? Even a simple check often shows how much cleaning is needed.
- Are directories and formats consistent? Units, currencies, statuses, the spelling of counterparties.
Part 4. Control
- Which fields contain personal or financial data? They are hidden before a request goes to an AI model.
- Is a log of actions required, and can it be kept? It lets an auditor trace any decision later.
- Which operations must a person always confirm? Usually money, legal terms and anything that is expensive to correct. See how to keep a person in control.
How to read your answers
- Questions 1–3 unclear: start with defining the process. This is a short step and it saves months later.
- Questions 4–6 unclear: the next step is to set up data exchange.
- Questions 7–9 unclear: the data need to be brought to one standard first.
- Questions 10–12 unclear: these are decisions to make together with your security and legal people before launch.
Unclear answers are normal. They show where to begin, and they are exactly what the audit is for.
What next
The full readiness checklist with 15 points is available as a short PDF. If you would like the questions answered for your own systems, describe your process in the configurator: it shows a solution scheme and an estimate in about three minutes, and the first step of the work is the audit of systems and processes.