5:09Manufacturing · Finance
AP Vendor Email Assistant
Reads vendor emails, checks the sender's access and finds the answer in finance systems, then replies, drafts for AP review or escalates in Teams.
- Workato
- Microsoft Teams
- Large language model
AI Agent · Cross-industry · Accounts payable
AP Vendor Email Assistant
Answer routine vendor payment questions with the facts from your finance systems.
Validated POC
Built on Workato with demo connectors for SAP S/4HANA, Ariba, BTP and BlackLine, and tested in Microsoft Teams.
Outcome
Reads vendor emails about invoices and payments, looks up the status in finance systems and drafts a reply for an AP specialist to send.
- Intended user
- Accounts payable and shared-services finance teams.
- Status
- Validated POC
- Inputs
- Vendor emails to the AP mailbox
- Invoice and payment status from ERP and procurement systems
- Reconciliation status
Workflow
Today, and with the agent.
Current workflow
- AP staff read every vendor email
- Each answer needs lookups in several systems
- Routine status questions crowd out exceptions
Assisted workflow
- Emails arrive classified, with status already looked up
- Specialists approve or edit a drafted reply
- Exceptions and bank-detail requests go straight to a person
Capabilities
What the agent does.
- Classifies each email by request type
- Looks up invoice, PO and payment status
- Drafts a reply with the relevant facts
- Posts the draft to Microsoft Teams for review
What it does not do
- Release, hold or change payments
- Change vendor bank details
- Send replies without AP approval
Architecture
How information moves.
Inputs are read with scoped access. The agent prepares the work. A person decides before anything is written back.
Inputs
Vendor emails to the AP mailbox
Agent
Classifies each email by request type
Human decision
Reply approval
Systems
Workato, SAP S/4HANA
Human oversight
Where a person decides.
These decision points are part of the design, not an optional setting.
Reply approval
AP specialist
No reply reaches a vendor without a person approving it.
Bank-detail or payment request
AP lead
Requests that could indicate fraud are always handled by a person.
Security, evaluation and deployment
Security controls
- Read-only finance system access
- Fraud-sensitive requests excluded from automation
- All drafts and approvals logged
Evaluation measures
- Drafts sent without edits
- Time to first response
- Correct routing of exceptions
Deployment options
- Client Workato workspace
- Managed service
Technologies
Built with, and connects to.
Tested means used in the proof of concept. Designed for means the connection is designed but not yet tested with live data.
Platforms
- SAP S/4HANADesigned for
- SAP AribaDesigned for
- SAP BTPDesigned for
- BlackLineDesigned for
Integration
- WorkatoTested
- Microsoft TeamsTested
Demo
See AP Vendor Email Assistant work.
From the POC Library
5:09FAQ
Common questions.
Have the SAP connections been tested with real data?
The proof of concept used demo connectors. Connection to your SAP and BlackLine environments is part of a pilot.
Do we need Workato?
The proof of concept runs on Workato. We can assess other integration platforms during scoping.
Request an Agent Pilot
Pilot AP Vendor Email Assistant on your workflow.
Tell us about your systems and timeline. We will scope a pilot with agreed measures and the human decision points above.
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