Find out what makes an ERP truly AI-first, and how to assess your readiness.

Every ERP vendor is talking about AI, throwing around buzzwords like “agentic” and promising it will “change the future of work.”

But what they are not saying is that, because AI “thinks” differently than humans, AI is poised to disrupt how we think about work.

This has big implications, which you need to understand before you decide on a new, AI-powered ERP.

How AI “Thinks” Differently

According to former Google Product Executive, Deep Nishar, and former Harvard Business School Dean, Nitin Nohria, in their Harvard Business Review article “How Gen AI Could Disrupt SaaS — and Change the Companies That Use It,” our human work tasks have traditionally been “workflow-based,” meaning that someone with training follows a sequential, rigid process. With AI, those tasks evolve into “systems of work” — dynamic, context-aware processes that enable untrained users to complete complex tasks.

This is revolutionary.

For example, consider the task of expense entry. Though it is relatively straightforward, it requires someone who knows how to operate your company’s accounting software to follow a sequence of steps (open this window, enter this data, post it to the ledger, etc.). The format is rigid, meaning that if they want to input additional data, they or a consultant will have to program and map a new data field into the process… you see what we mean.

Of course, automation software can handle expense entry, but it is also workflow-based: it relies on pre-programmed, sequential, and rigid computer logic to complete tasks.

AI is different. In an AI-driven “system of work,” the AI would not always start at step one and continue sequentially through a process. Nishar and Nohria quote Harvard’s Clay Christensen to explain that “it starts with the job to be done… and then infers the requisite actions” to take.

In the case of entering an expense, AI would assess the task’s goal, analyze the context, and perform a fluid flurry of activity. It would dynamically change its approach and actions based on what it has learned through prior expense entries it has performed and what this specific expense entry process requires.

Of course, many AI-driven expense-entry processes still rely on structured workflows, but advanced AI can flexibly modify those workflows to adapt and change its processes as needed.

(Lost? We hear you. Do not worry, we will have some helpful graphics in a moment to help explain this better. And we will talk about delicious cookies.)

Buckle In, Because This Is Where AI Gets Really Weird

AI “thinking” can be difficult to conceptualize. So, let’s walk through the thinking processes of humans versus AI.

Here is the setup: You are in the office break room making a coffee. Jan in HR offers you a cookie.

To decide if you accept the cookie, you, as a human, will think in workflows:

(You know it is accurate.)

Instead of following sequential workflows like that, AI thinks dynamically:

According to Nishar and Nohria, AI would continually refine its process to incorporate updated company data (referred to as “signals”) and adjust its decision-making for each task by analyzing relevant historical outcomes.

In our image, those extra data points and recursive swirls show the AI taking additional signals into account (like your current blood sugar level or, if you accept the cookie, how long you would have to chat with Jan in HR about her strange fascination with orchids), and how it may revisit decisions before coming to a conclusion.

In short, AI may take all sorts of actions that we cannot. Its decisions may take data into account that we cannot process as quickly, and it will instantly recognize patterns in that data that we cannot. However, according to the 2024 Nature magazine article“How Does ChatGPT ‘Think?’,” how AI recognizes patterns, or why it chooses to focus on the patterns it focuses on, is still a bit of a mystery.

What we do know is that all this allows the AI to complete unfamiliar, data-heavy tasks with (usually) a higher degree of accuracy than a human, and in a fraction of the time.

The Risks vs. the Benefits of AI

In our modern Era of Volatility, business leaders are searching for opportunities to streamline work while saving time and reducing labor costs. AI sounds like the right answer. But before you jump into an AI-powered ERP, you need to assess whether your company is ready to adapt to the way AI tools work.

Since AI relies on a vast amount of data to make its decisions (potentially billions of data points, according to the Nature article), leaders need to grant their AI tools access to every bit of available data. But that brings up the issue of data privacy… and that leads us to a paradox:

Every decision maker welcomes AI’s help in making complex, timely decisions. Zero decision makers want to feed proprietary data into a tool like ChatGPT and risk exposing their private company data to the world.

This is a real fear. Research from Forbes Advisor (quoted in Harvard Business Review) indicates that 80% of Americans think AI will allow criminals to use their personal data maliciously — and it is all too easy to imagine how criminals could use your company’s sensitive data for nefarious purposes, too. What a compliance nightmare.

In response, it can be tempting to avoid using AI altogether. However, as a 2023 Gartner study (quoted in HBR) revealed, 79% of corporate strategists stated that leveraging AI, automation, and analytics would be crucial to their future success.

So, how do you capture the benefits while avoiding the risks? Use an AI-first ERP.

What to Look for in an AI-First ERP

As we mentioned earlier, all the ERP vendors are touting their AI capabilities. But not all AI-enabled ERPs are created equal. Some vendors focus solely on AI for financial activities, while others add limited AI capabilities to seemingly random areas of the ERP.

It is rare to find an ERP that applies its AI capabilities across the entire solution — an “AI-first ERP.”

This type of ERP provides a secure and protected AI experience, enabling you to safely and easily explore the revolutionary benefits of incorporating AI thinking into your decision-making processes.

Here at Accounting Business Solutions, we specialize in one specific AI-first ERP: Acumatica Cloud ERP. But we always encourage business leaders to be fully informed about their complete range of options.

If you are in the market for any AI-enabled ERP, we recommend that you make sure your chosen solution:

• Maintains full data privacy

Your ERP must keep your data fully isolated from public LLMs, while also maintaining encryption and compliance. Get this as a guarantee from your vendor or partner.

• Assists with system security & uptime

AI is not just for decision-making. Yours should also help reduce your IT burden by monitoring itself for performance issues and potential update incompatibilities.

• Leverages cross-platform datasets

Since AI’s biggest benefit is its ability to crunch massive datasets to uncover hidden patterns, make sure yours has as much data as possible to work with. It should be able to securely access multiple areas of your finances and operations — not just your financial transactions.

Final Considerations: Are You Ready for AI-First ERP?

While AI is astonishingly powerful, it will require some work on your end to set it up. Before you jump into AI-first ERP, you will want to assess your readiness in two critical areas:

1. Your data. As they say, “garbage in, garbage out.” In order to get the most from your AI-first ERP, you will want to clean your data so it is ready for your AI to access. An expert ERP consultant will automatically recommend this as part of your ERP migration process.
2. Your in-house AI skills. AI is rapidly advancing and, before you know it, you will be itching to create your own custom AI-driven capabilities. If you do not have an AI expert on your staff, you will want your ERP to feature built-in AI design capabilities, like Acumatica’s AI Studio

Of course, there is more to consider. (There always is, right?) If you are interested in AI-first ERP, but not sure if you are ready for AI, our AI Readiness Evaluation Checklist can help.

It offers an assessment of your company’s AI readiness across five key areas: Data Integration, Automation, User Adoption, Scalability, and Security, providing you with the insight you need to fully grow and expand your AI-driven opportunities.

Get Your AI Readiness Evaluation Checklist Here

 

Accounting Business Solutions is a respected accounting and business management software solution provider. We provide experienced sales, consulting, implementation, training and support services for small to medium-sized companies located in south central and southeast Texas. Our portfolio of solutions includes cloud based, hosted and on-premise options.

 

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Sources

Harvard Business Review. “How Gen AI Could Disrupt SaaS — and Change the Companies That Use It” article. 2025. https://hbr.org/2025/05/how-gen-ai-could-disrupt-saas-and-change-the-companies-that-use-it

Nature. “How Does ChatGPT ‘Think?’ Psychology and Neuroscience Crack Open AI Large Language Models” article.  2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01314-y

Harvard Business Review. “Why People Resist Embracing AI” article. 2025. https://hbr.org/2025/01/why-people-resist-embracing-ai