There’s not much use clamoring to provide Gen AI experiences when many processes are still paper-based.
Are you bound to paper in 2025?
A survey from Q4 2024, published in Market Momentum Index; AI and Unstructured Data Management, took accounts from 500 US-based organizations. The study explored AI readiness and the impact of unstructured data across 32 questions.
It’s an insightful read with many fascinating data points – some that confirm suspensions and others that are more eye-opening. But one in particular caught our attention:
In the year 2025, 45% of businesses are still paper-based
The reality that almost half of businesses are paper-reliant isn’t entirely shocking. Every business likely has some level of paper flowing in or out of their organization, whether that’s via mailroom, human resources, or accounting.
These paper-based problems can typically be solved with simple automation solutions like intelligent capture, robotic process automation (RPA), and automated workflow – and present a very high return on a relatively small investment (compared to AI systems).
But despite the payoff of taking care of the paper-based processes in the backyard, many decision-makers are looking way beyond the horizon to AI experiences in an attempt to enhance efficiency and value.
89% of organizations hope that AI will help them offer greater customer services, expand revenue, and efficiency.
– Source
The trick about AI is that its success is entirely dependent on the quality of data it has access to. If even a moderate amount of data is paperbound, those AI initiatives can only ever be moderately successful – and that’s a big risk given the cost and implementation time of AI projects. In other words, organizations hoping to offer AI as a means of better services, revenue, and efficiency will not be able to do so with an abundance of paper.
Digitization is basic but essential
So, with paper still high on the list of public enemies in 2025, how can organizations reduce the burden spent micromanaging paperbound data while ensuring data readiness for advanced AI use? Get digital.
The good news is that AI augmentations that rolled out in 2023/2024 have already significantly improved the capabilities of those aforementioned “basic” automations (RPA, workflow automation, capture), packing more value into tools you might already be familiar with.
Specifically, the latest software updates for intelligent capture, also called intelligent document processing (IDP), enable immediate separation and classification of documents with very little setup time and a streamlined approach for managing exceptions. In simpler terms, the rapid digitization of paper-based data has never, ever been easier, with AI and machine learning eliminating the need for manual separation and classification – including separator sheets/barcodes and classification points.
Capitalize on intelligent capture
If you’re really itching for some of that AI in 2025, make sure your papers are in order first by enabling a digital ecosystem of clean data to fuel bigger AI endeavors. Intelligent document capture is the single most cost-effective way to take advantage of AI today – not months or years from now.
Even if you have an existing configuration of capture technology running optical character recognition (OCR) software, the improvements to capture brought in IDP equals significantly less work spent on training and validating capture results over OCR.
And lastly, if you haven’t updated your capture system in a bit, now might be the right time to inquire about updating your solution with the latest capabilities to ensure you’re making the most out of your solution. Otherwise, you can ask a trusted implementation partner about starting a capture project for rapid digitization this year.
