Infor Ties Industry AI to Embedded Engineers for Process Automation

Infor develops software around the specific processes its customers use in their industries. Samuelson said the company’s approach combines industry-specific agents, deep vertical expertise and an open architecture. “We had to understand the specific processes that define each of these industries and allow folks to create value,” he said. “Having that depth of industry, understanding processes and how these things work together, and then being open from a technology perspective has given us the ingredients that when AI came along, we could put it on top of all of that to really deliver outcomes that drive value.”

Samuelson and Somasundaram spoke with theCUBE’s Christophe Bertrand and Alison Kosik. TheCUBE is SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. Infor Velocity Week was sponsored by Infor, and theCUBE is a paid media partner for the event, according to a disclosure. The executives discussed process automation, observability for automated decisions and the use of forward-deployed engineers to accelerate return on investment.

Somasundaram said Infor Industry AI is not a single product. It is an architecture embedded across the company’s applications, built on the Infor OS foundation and open to a customer’s wider data, he said. The approach is aimed at industry-specific needs that off-the-shelf AI may not address. According to Infor’s new global research, two in three businesses said off-the-shelf AI does not adequately address their industry’s needs.

Somasundaram used automotive and parts suppliers as an example of why precision matters. “If you are an automotive supplier [or] parts supplier, material shortage is not an option,” he said. “You better deliver the material right at the production line at the right time you promised.”

Trust is another hurdle as AI agents take on more decisions, according to Somasundaram. Infor’s approach begins with a human reviewing agent recommendations, then adds observability, auditability and access controls that treat each agent like another citizen of the enterprise, he said. “If something is being automated, you’re delegating the work to the agent,” Somasundaram said. “When the work gets done, you need a complete trace of how the decisions were made and how the work got done.”

Infor also pairs customers with forward-deployed engineers, whom Samuelson described as industry experts who stay on to drive each use case until it delivers value. That support is shrinking the time required for process automation to move from prototype to production. “Now it’s taking a customer literally one to two, or at worst, three weeks, even for something that isn’t already a use case,” Samuelson said. “We can prototype so quickly for the customer. That speed will just continue to multiply.”

The interview was part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Infor Velocity Week. TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Infor Velocity Week. Neither Infor, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE, according to the disclosure.