Revolutionizing Business Reporting: How AI & ML are Transforming ERP and CRM Insights
Regardless of whether you call it “machine learning”, “natural language querying”, or plain old “AI”, artificial intelligence has become less of a promise and more of a reality. And that reality – when applied to applications like ERP and CRM – comes down to addressing two key weaknesses of traditional reporting; 1) their inflexible process of selection criteria, and, 2) a non-anticipatory approach to problem solving.
Prior to AI, every report request typically started wit
h a screen-full of “selection criteria”. Whether to specify a date range (e.g., sales date), database components (e.g., selected part numbers), or numeric ranges (e.g., quantity ordered), every report required that users wade their way thru numerous selections – some relevant, many not.
Also, in pre-AI days, if you wanted something out of a report, the responsibility was 100% yours to know not only what you wanted, but also the correct format/syntax for requesting it. The reporting technology itself offered no advice, no assistance. The intelligence required not only to run a report – but get the most value out of that report – was completely up to you.
DataSelf’s “AI / ML” Report Generation Process
DataSelf’s “AI & ML” report generation option is designed with three goals in mind.
The first goal is to simplify the selection process, by replacing a traditionally lengthy and rigid list of selection criteria with a conversational (or “plain English”) user interface. Thus if a person wishes to see the total sales per inventory item for the previous year, all they need to enter into the AI/ML user interface is:
Total sales by item last year
And, if users wish to see these totals broken out by month, they’d simply add in:
By month
The second goal of DataSelf’s AI/ML option is to enable the AI/ML interface to pro-actively suggest additional analyses for the current request that would provide additional insight. For example, using the previous “total sales” request, the AI/ML option offers the following additional analytical options:
- By salesperson
- Invoice date is 2030
- Invoice date’s month is ‘x’
Lastly, as an ad-hoc reporting tool, AI/ML has to be fast – and present results not in hours or minutes, but in seconds. By leveraging the power inherent in such AI (and BI) tools as Tableau and Microsoft Power BI, the AI/ML option in DataSelf returns results in an average of under ten seconds.
For more information about the AI/ML reporting option, check out this two-minute video demo of DataSelf AI & ML reporting.
