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GUIDE

AI ERP: how to put AI to work on the ERP you already run

An AI ERP is an ERP where AI does part of the work people used to do in it: answering questions, entering transactions, and flagging what needs a decision. There are three ways to get one. Buy a new ERP sold as AI-native, turn on the AI your current vendor ships, or put AI on top of the ERP you already run. This guide covers what each route costs you and when each one makes sense.

Updated . Written by Structify, which builds AI applications on top of existing ERPs. Other vendors are described from their own sites as of this date.

What is an AI ERP?

An AI ERP is an ERP system with AI doing work inside it: answering questions about orders, stock and jobs in plain language, drafting or entering transactions, and flagging exceptions for a person to approve. The term covers new ERPs built around AI, AI features added by an existing vendor, and AI applications built on top of an ERP a company already runs.

Do you have to replace your ERP to use AI?

No. Most useful AI work reads and writes the records already in the ERP, so it can be connected to the system you run today, including older on-premise ones. Structify has connected AI to Sage 50, Sage 300, Sage 300 CRE, Sage UKI, SYSPRO and Guardian without a migration. The first connection took three weeks of engineering; it is now an install.

What can AI do in an ERP today?

THREE ROUTES

Three ways to get AI into your ERP.

They are not exclusive. Plenty of companies use their vendor's AI for work that lives inside the ERP and build on top for work that crosses systems.

  • Replace it with an AI-native ERP

    Newer cloud ERPs are designed with AI in the core of the product. This route makes sense when you are already due to replace the ERP. It costs a full migration: data, integrations, reports and retraining, before the AI does anything for you.

  • Turn on your vendor's AI

    The large vendors now ship AI inside their products: Epicor has Prism and Grow AI, Microsoft has Copilot in Dynamics 365, and SAP has Joule. This fits work that happens entirely inside that one system. Check which versions and editions it covers before you plan around it.

  • Build on the ERP you already run

    Connect the ERP to the systems around it, such as the quality system, the prints and the spreadsheets, and build AI applications on top. This fits when the work crosses systems, when the ERP is older or on-premise, or when you want to own what gets built.

BEFORE YOU BUY

Six questions to ask any AI ERP vendor.

  • Does it support our version?

    Ask about the exact version and deployment you run, on-premise or cloud. Many AI features start on the newest cloud release.

  • Can it write, or only read?

    Answering questions is useful. Entering transactions is more useful and riskier. Ask what it can change and who approves the change.

  • Do permissions follow our roles?

    A salesperson checking stock should not see vendor pricing because an AI answered the question. Access should follow the roles you already set.

  • Is every answer and change logged?

    When a number gets challenged, you need to see who asked, what was answered and what changed in the system of record.

  • Does it reach the systems outside the ERP?

    Quoting, quality and scheduling depend on prints, spreadsheets and other systems. AI that only sees the ERP only solves the ERP's part.

  • Who owns what gets built?

    If you change vendors, find out whether the cleaned-up data, the business logic and the applications stay with you.

HOW STRUCTIFY DOES IT

AI on top of the ERP, built by an engineer on-site.

Structify takes the third route. It does not sell ERP systems.

  1. 01

    An engineer embeds

    A forward-deployed engineer works on-site and learns how the business actually runs, from the people doing the work.

  2. 02

    The systems get connected

    The ERP, MES, quality system, prints and spreadsheets are connected into one data map, in a warehouse you own.

  3. 03

    A 30-day blueprint

    You get a ranked list of where AI pays off in your business, with the systems each application touches.

  4. 04

    Applications in the next 60

    Applications such as quoting, order entry and control plans are built on the foundation, with permissions and audit logs, as code you own.

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