When the ERP is old and has no API
The management software that's been running for twenty years doesn't get replaced. It gets worked around.
The most common case
Many long-established companies run a sector-specific ERP that does exactly what they need. It's paid for, the team knows it inside out and it works. The only thing it doesn't do is let information out: it was built in an era when nobody thought about connecting anything to anything.
The usual move from technology vendors is to propose switching systems. We don't. Replacing the ERP of a running company is a months-long project with real risk of stopping operations, and it's almost never what's actually needed.
STEP BY STEP
How it gets solved
First step: the API that already exists. Many veteran systems expose more than their documentation suggests. Before writing anything off as impossible, we audit it. Sometimes there are undocumented endpoints, and sometimes the vendor enables them if the client asks.
Second step: scheduled exports. If there's no API but information can be pulled periodically, reading those files gets automated. It's not real time, but for most processes it's more than enough.
Third step: the Kognitivo Agent. When there's no technical path at all, an agent steps in that operates the application just like a person would: it logs in, navigates, looks things up and fills in forms. It doesn't need anyone's permission because it doesn't force anything: it uses the program the way it's used every day.
Supervised mode, always
Nothing gets sent, confirmed or logged into a client's system without a person signing off. This isn't a technical limitation, it's a design decision: when an agent writes into the system where a company's accounting or contracts live, human validation is what makes the project acceptable.
AN ORDINARY DAY
From two hours to thirty seconds
A document arrives by email. It gets captured, read, and its data extracted and compared against what's already on record. If everything matches, it's queued up to post. If there's a discrepancy, it's flagged and someone is notified.
A person reviews it in thirty seconds and signs off. What used to be two hours of typing is now thirty seconds of checking.
WHAT WE KEEP AND WHAT WE ADD
The ERP doesn't get touched. It gets worked around.
Still the ERP's
The master data, internal processes, accounting, permissions and the way the team works.
What we add
Information going in and out without anyone typing it twice, documents that get read and validated on their own, and a system that flags when something doesn't add up instead of finding out weeks later.
Is your ERP missing an API?
In a discovery call we audit what your system actually exposes and which step of the ladder we start on.
Sam Laniakea
Using a different system? Tell us and we'll tell you on a call if it's possible.