01
Approve by rule
Example: A purchase request under the agreed limit, within budget, from an approved supplier
Approach: Approved automatically, logged with the rule version, and sampled in a periodic review
Business Process Automation
Business process automation services for approvals, handoffs and data entry
Requests wait in inboxes, approvals happen in email threads and the same data is typed into three systems. Agnotic Technologies builds business process automation around your real process: forms, rules, approvals, integrations and an audit trail, with people deciding where judgment is needed.
Process mappingApproval workflowsSystem integrationsAudit trail
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What are business process automation services?
Business process automation services design and build software that runs a repeatable business process from request to record: it captures the request in a form, applies your rules, routes approvals to the right people, moves data between systems through their APIs and keeps an audit trail of every step. Agnotic Technologies delivers it as a build for your company, not a subscription: we map the process with the people who run it, automate the steps that follow clear rules, leave judgment calls with a named approver, and hand over the code, documentation and dashboards that show where work is waiting.
Where to start
Which business processes should we automate first?
Start with a process that runs often, follows rules you can write down and causes waiting or rework people already complain about, and that touches no more systems than a first release can integrate. This is how we score candidates with you.
| Criterion | Good first candidate | Better left for later |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | Runs many times a week | Runs a few times a year |
| Rules | Steps and decisions can be written down | Each case needs expert judgment |
| Inputs | Arrives as a form, email or file in a known layout | Arrives in formats nobody has collected |
| Systems | One or two systems with APIs | Several old systems with no interface |
| Pain | Waiting, rework or errors people already raise | Works fine and only feels dated |
| Ownership | One process owner who can decide | Shared by teams that disagree on the steps |
Common first candidates are purchase requests, invoice approvals, customer onboarding, employee onboarding and offboarding, and order entry.
Approval levels
Which approvals can we automate first without losing control?
Automate approvals that follow a written rule and carry low risk, such as a purchase under an agreed limit from an approved supplier, and keep a named person on anything above the limit or outside policy. Your finance or operations owner sets each level.
02
Single approver
Example: A request above the automatic limit, or from a new supplier
Approach: Routed to the budget owner with the data needed to decide on one screen
03
Two-step approval
Example: Spend above a higher threshold, or a contract change
Approach: Manager then finance, and nobody can approve their own request
04
Exception review
Example: A request outside policy or missing documents
Approach: Sent to the process owner with the reason it failed the rules
Choosing a provider
How do we choose a business process automation company?
Choose a company that maps your process before it proposes a tool, shows how exceptions and approvals will work, and leaves you owning the code and the rules. These are the questions we suggest asking any provider, us included.
Do they start from your process?
Ask for a process map in discovery, not a product demo in the first meeting.
How do they handle exceptions?
Most of the work is in the cases that break the rules. Ask to see how they are routed and resolved.
Who owns the code and the rules?
You should be able to read, change and move the automation without the provider.
How do they integrate?
APIs first. Screen automation only where a system offers no interface, and with monitoring.
What is logged?
Every step, decision and override, with who, what and when, for audits and disputes.
What happens after launch?
Monitoring, alerting on failed runs and a way to request changes as the process changes.
One request, end to end
How does one request move through an automated workflow?
A purchase request as the example. Other processes follow the same pattern.
Request
The requester fills in a form, or sends an email that is read into one.
Check
Rules check completeness, budget, supplier status and policy.
Route
The request goes to the approval level its amount and type require.
Act
Once approved, the purchase order or record is created in the ERP through its API.
Notify
The requester, approvers and the supplier hear what happened, and when.
Record
Every step lands in the audit trail and the process dashboard.
What do we build into a process automation?
The parts of approval workflow automation and system handoffs we build and hand over.
Forms and intake
Web forms and email intake that collect what each step needs, once.
Decision tables
Rules your process owner can read and change, versioned like code.
Approval workflows
Levels, delegation, reminders and escalation, with no self-approval.
System integrations
ERP, CRM, HR and accounting systems connected through their APIs.
Document reading
AI that reads invoices, orders and forms into fields for a person to confirm.
Notifications
Email, chat and in-app messages at the steps people need to know about.
Audit trail
Who did what, when and with which outcome, for every request.
Process dashboards
Where requests are waiting, how long each step takes and which rules fail most.
Where it runs
Processes we automate most
Repeatable processes with clear owners and real waiting time.
Purchase to pay
Purchase requests, approvals, purchase orders and invoice matching.
Order to cash
Order entry, credit checks, acknowledgments and invoicing.
Employee onboarding and offboarding
Accounts, equipment and access granted and removed on time.
Customer onboarding
Forms, document checks and account setup across systems.
IT and facilities requests
Requests routed, approved and tracked to completion.
Quality and compliance records
Reviews, sign-offs and evidence kept with each record.
Facts and sources
Standards behind controlled automation
The process notation and control standards we design approvals and audit trails around, each linked to its source.
The Object Management Group describes Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) as the de facto standard for business process diagrams: meant for the people who design and manage processes, yet precise enough for the diagrams to be translated into software process components.
Source: OMG, Business Process Model and Notation 2.0.2NIST SP 800-53 control AC-5, Separation of Duties, asks organizations to identify and document the duties that need separating and to define system access authorizations that support it, for example by dividing business functions among different individuals or roles.
Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, control AC-5NIST SP 800-53 control AU-3 says audit records should establish what type of event occurred, when and where it occurred, its source, its outcome and the identity of the individuals or entities involved.
Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, control AU-3
Standards
Which standards do we model and build processes with?
BPMN 2.0DMNNIST SP 800-53 AC-5NIST SP 800-53 AU-3OpenAPIOpenID Connect
Engagement
How does a process automation engagement run?
We automate one process end to end before starting the next.
1.
Scoping call and process map
We map the current process with the people who run it, including the exceptions.
Scope2.
First automated process
A fixed-scope first release: forms, rules, approvals, integrations and the audit trail for one process.
Build3.
Measure and extend
We watch where requests wait, tune the rules and move to the next process, with support after launch.
ScaleFrequently Asked Questions
No. RPA drives other applications' screens like a person would. We automate through APIs and data first, and use screen automation only where a system offers no interface, because screen changes break it.
No. The automation sits around the systems you have and connects to them through their APIs. The point is to stop people copying data between them.
AI can read documents, fill in fields and flag unusual requests. Approvals follow your written rules or go to a named person, and every decision is logged.
Your team, us or both. You own the code and the rules, and we can support, monitor and change them under a support agreement.
We do not publish prices. The number of steps and exceptions, approval levels, systems to integrate and documents to read decide the size, and we agree a fixed first release on the scoping call.