If you’ve spent any amount of time exploring intelligent automation, you know the journey is rarely linear. Often, organizations face challenges like new shiny tools, shifting business needs, budget constraints, and other detours. But if there’s one tool that’s consistently proven itself as a foundation for intelligent automation journey progress and even an accelerator, it’s Intelligent Document Processing (IDP).

Why Intelligent Document Processing IDP Accelerates Intelligent Automation Journeys

At a high level, Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) sits at the intersection of AI, machine learning, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), enabling organizations to reimagine how they manage unstructured data at scale.

It extracts, classifies, and routes data from documents, whether they’re structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. But what makes it so powerful is its ability to learn and adapt. Thanks to AI, machine learning, and natural language processing, IDP can handle everything from invoices and contracts to emails and handwritten forms. Even further, it offers benefits like:

Key Benefits of IDP
• Increased Workflow Accuracy: IDP ensures up to 90% accuracy in processing unstructured data
• Enhanced Compliance: Automates redaction, encryption, and access control to meet stringent data privacy standards like GDPR and HIPAA.
• Scalability Across Industries: Designed to scale with the needs of businesses, from SMBs to large enterprises handling millions of documents annually.

But IDP really delivers its full potential when it becomes the foundation for broader intelligent automation. With IDP in place, you can connect systems, streamline workflows, and make data-driven decisions faster than ever. And since you have these capabilities locked down, you’ll be able to more seamlessly incorporate new intelligent automation technologies down the road.

IDP’s Real-World Transformations

According to Analytics Insights, IDC estimates that by 2025, 80% of enterprise data will be unstructured, yet only 18% of businesses currently use tools like IDP to process it effectively. Organizations adopting IDP can reduce manual data processing time by up to 40% and operational costs by up to 30%.

You can see this impact in action through the stories of Naviant customers who’ve made IDP their foundation, like:

• A county clerk’s office, where a 10-person team was manually coding over 100,000 documents each year. By implementing IDP, they achieved more than 80% straight-through processing, integrated with OnBase, and leveraged on-prem LLMs to meet privacy requirements. In the end, they reclaimed hours of manual work, and their team was freed up to focus on higher-value tasks.
• Another example extends to healthcare payers. Prior authorization processes are notoriously complex, with mountains of paperwork and strict compliance requirements. By pairing IDP with AI, one organization reduced processing time by 30% and appeals by 35%. The key was a human-in-the-loop approach, where IDP handled the routine work and surfaced exceptions for expert review. This continuous learning loop made the system smarter over time, delivering better outcomes for both staff and patients.
• And lastly, a large logistics company implemented Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) to streamline the handling of key operational documents such as shipping manifests, bills of lading, and customs paperwork. By integrating IDP technology, the company was able to significantly reduce document processing time while dramatically boosting data accuracy. This automation not only accelerated delivery timelines but also led to significant cost savings, as the organization minimized labor-intensive manual tasks, resulting in millions of dollars in annual savings.

Human-Centered Automation: Augmenting People, Not Replacing Them

One of the most exciting shifts in intelligent automation is the move toward human-centered design.

As you’ve likely emphasized to your staff in your change management efforts, the goal of the intelligent automation journey isn’t to replace people, it’s to empower them to let go of the tedious, manual work they used to dread, and take on more value-added, interesting work that uses their uniquely human skills. IDP plays a crucial role here, surfacing relevant data and summarizing context so your staff don’t have to, and in the process, helping them make better decisions.

But human-centered automation also extends to scenarios where humans and technology collaborate. Think about those moments when a process is too complex for full automation. IDP can handle the heavy lifting, but it also knows when to tap a human for input. This partnership between people and technology leads to smarter, more resilient workflows.

Building the Future: IDP as a Strategic Investment

If you’re mapping out your automation journey, ask yourself: Where are people still bogged down by repetitive tasks? Have you built a roadmap that leverages IDP’s strengths? The organizations that invest in IDP today are setting themselves up for long-term success, with the flexibility to adapt as new technologies emerge along their intelligent automation journeys.

Want to learn more about IDP? Drop a question or comment in the chat below, we’d love to hear from you.