An AI agent for supplier onboarding documents

Start with the work of keeping track

Before purchasing can review a new supplier's documents, someone has to reconstruct the submission. Has the supplier answered? Does this attachment replace the earlier one? Has anyone checked the file that arrived without a request number? That work can recur every time another email comes in.

An agent built for this task would read agreed sources, such as the onboarding inbox and a document folder, and connect incoming material to the registration request. For each item on your internal checklist, the reviewer would see the file received, its version, and the message it came from. They could see what is still outstanding and open the evidence without searching through the email thread again.

Your company supplies the checklist. The person responsible for onboarding decides what this request needs and approves those requirements. The agent uses that list to review the submission. It should not add requirements because it has seen similar documents in other suppliers' files.

The file arrived. It covers a different company.

Suppose a supplier sends a statement required by your internal checklist. The registration request names the company you are onboarding and gives its registration number. The attachment, however, names an affiliated company with a similar name and a different registration number. Someone needs to establish whether the supplier sent the right document.

The useful output puts the supplier name and registration number from the request beside the details found in the attachment, with a link to the page where they appear. The purchasing employee can see why the item is still open. Receiving a statement does not establish that it satisfies this request.

The agent can draft a request for a statement covering the company named in the registration request. The employee reviews and sends it. If the supplier replies that its affiliate's document should be sufficient, the agent passes the explanation and attachment to the person authorized to decide. That reviewer has the correspondence at hand and can judge whether the material meets the company's requirements.

Check the period separately when your checklist specifies one. If you need a statement for the current year, last year's document needs clarification even if the company name matches. When the document gives no period at all, the agent should flag the missing detail and draft a question for the supplier. The same applies if the company name or registration number is missing.

ERP field names need care here, too. The legal entity selected for a registration may be the buyer's company that will use the supplier. The supplier's own identity is a separate detail. Microsoft's Dynamics 365 onboarding documentation makes this distinction. The agent needs the supplier name and identifier from the request when checking the attachment.

Keep the correction with the original request

When the supplier sends a replacement, the reviewer needs to know which version they are looking at and be able to open the previous one. If the supplier simply resends the same file, it should appear in the history of the existing request. A second email should not create a second onboarding case.

Requirements can change while a request is open. When the process owner approves a revised checklist, the agent should flag the affected items for another look and retain the rest of the review. The employee can then see what changed without starting over.

A complete set of attachments is ready for its contents to be evaluated. Once that review is finished, the designated approver decides whether to approve the request. In the scope described here, the agent does not approve suppliers or activate their vendor records.

Check what your ERP already does

A supplier who can complete a clear form in one place may need less follow-up. Required fields can collect specific information, while a configured workflow sends the request to the employee responsible for the next step. Microsoft describes this approach in Dynamics 365: a configured registration form, review and approval routing, and a way to request more information and have the supplier resubmit. Vendor account creation follows approval with the appropriate setup (Dynamics 365 vendor onboarding).

If a missing form field or incorrect routing causes the hold-up, start with the system's configuration. If suppliers need a better place to submit and track information, consider the options in Custom Supplier Portal vs. SaaS. An agent has a more specific job when documents still arrive in several places and someone needs to read their contents to match them to the right request.

Ask to see it work on one of your cases

Use a redacted onboarding case the agent has not seen before. Ask the employee who normally handles registration to work from its output: what is missing, who needs to answer, and which document supports that conclusion? They should be able to open the source, identify the version, and correct an attachment linked to the wrong item.

Include a document for an affiliated company or an earlier period, then submit the correction. Also check what happens when the same file arrives again or the approved checklist changes. If the agent accepts the wrong supplier's document as a match, investigate the cause and try a different case after the fix, before putting it into everyday use. The practical question is whether the reviewer can move the request forward without reading the entire email history again.

Syntalith offers AI agent development for businesses. For supplier onboarding, a project could connect incoming documents to the ERP request and prepare the review for the employee handling registration. Together, we would identify the sources the agent can use, the checklist it should follow, and who receives questions it cannot resolve. That also establishes whether the work calls for an agent or can be handled by improving the existing workflow.

For an initial conversation, describe one registration that required repeated follow-up and where the correspondence ended up. A redacted example and your current checklist are helpful if you have them. You do not need a technical specification to start. Service information is also available on the pricing page.