AI agents: Far from magic, with eyes set on the future

“ Por very different sectors, dimensions and models of operation, practically all companies in Portugal and worldwide are based on the same four pillars: operations, administrative area, finance and human resources. And these pillars share more than their importance to business. They share processes, many of them transversal and, above all, repetitive. 

On a daily basis, these processes consume hours. Many hours. Uploading data, sending standardized emails, issuing payment guides, invoices or receipts are routine tasks, of modest intrinsic value, but without which no business works.

There is a paradox here that deserves attention: it is from these repetitive activities that information is born that feeds the reports with which managers make strategic decisions. In other words, less valuable work supports decisions with the greatest impact.

It is therefore natural for many decision-makers to question how to reduce time spent on low added value tasks and channel it into what truly requires human intelligence, such as interpreting data, anticipating scenarios and proposing answers to the challenges that the numbers reveal. The answer fits in two words: automation and intelligent agents.

© Tiago Costa Lima  

Automation: logic, effective and simplifying 

“If this, then that.” The logic of automation began in the 2000s and was never more present. Thanks to Machine Learning, it has reached a degree of sophistication that still surprises many managers.

From the recognition of text and numbering to the articulation with email, document creation, extraction of information to databases, reporting to Social Security, wage processing and sending remuneration receipts, all this is automation that decomplicates the daily lives of companies. 

The result? Administrative and financial simplification, adjusted to the rules of each organisation and in full legal compliance. And above all, time. Time that frees resources and attention to critical data analysis. But it's possible to go further, thanks to Generating Artificial Intelligence.  

Smart Agents: Available and Eyes in the Future  

What does tomorrow hold? In a macroeconomic context where international crises, government measures and the evolution of legislation dictate much of the challenges that companies face, many leaders would like to have a financial advisor, human resources or operations, independent, critical and reliable, able to anticipate scenarios and support decisions with business data.

Without magic and illusions, this consultant can be the company's own financial director, supported by intelligent agents who work in the management software with Generative AI. These agents don't replace human judgment, they reinforce it. They are allies of those who produce reports and of those who decide based on them, whether the financial director, the director of human resources or the director of operations.

With the naturality of a conversation, each decision maker can ask the questions he needs about the future performance of his area and obtain predictions based on real, weighted and scrutinyable data. In the end, the leaders of each area win and win, above all, those who lead the business, who see in them allies with a reinforced capacity.

According to McKinsey, in the financial functions where AI was consistently adopted, professionals spend 20 to 30% less time in data processing, time they devote to supporting business strategy.

This is the real potential of intelligent agents: far from magic, at the service of those who have eyes set on the future.”