AI agents for clarifying product data with suppliers

With many questions open, finding an empty field is only the beginning. Someone still has to remember whom they contacted, whether the reply concerns the same item, and what needs clarification. An agent project can connect that correspondence to the catalog, replacing a separate gap list and repeated searches through the inbox.

Which dimensions do we need?

Suppose a store has verified the link between a supplier’s item code and a specific product in its catalog. The product record needs dimensions after assembly. The supplier’s file contains only carton dimensions.

An agent can show the employee those values beside the missing field and draft a question tied to the correct item code. The employee reviews it before sending. The question could read:

Please provide the assembled product dimensions for the specified item code, including the units of measurement. The file we received contains carton dimensions; we need the dimensions of the assembled product itself.

In this example, the supplier’s first reply gives the packaging dimensions again. The agent can show the employee that the assembled size remains unanswered and prepare a follow-up that makes the distinction clear. The catalog employee keeps the question open and sends the reviewed message.

A later reply explicitly supplies the assembled dimensions and units for that item. The agent uses it to propose an update to the product record. The catalog owner sees the values alongside a link to the reply and can approve them, without copying the information from email or working out again which record it belongs to.

Keep the answer with the product

A colleague taking over an open question should be able to see the latest request and supplier explanation beside the product record. Otherwise, they may ask for information that has already arrived or treat an earlier attachment as sufficient. An agent can gather the history beside the missing field while keeping the original messages available to read.

That also helps when a supplier later corrects the information. The employee sees the new detail beside the previous one and checks whether the catalog needs changing. The proposed scope ends with an update ready for approval. Employees continue to send questions externally and publish the data.

This example starts with a known product. If the team first has to establish which supplier code corresponds to an internal item, see the article on matching supplier products to your catalog. Without that connection, a correct answer could end up on the wrong product record.

Check what your PIM already handles

A product information management system, or PIM, holds a company’s product data. If suppliers can complete information in one place, explore that option first. Akeneo Supplier Data Manager communicates required, important, and optional attributes through validation, descriptions, and guidelines. It can also extract information available in supplied material. These features help make the team’s expectations clearer to suppliers.

If a supplier uses the form and enters the correct information immediately, an additional agent may be unnecessary. For a small number of gaps, a clear list of questions with someone responsible for follow-up may also be enough. First check whether a more precise field description, such as “assembled dimensions” rather than “dimensions,” resolves the recurring misunderstanding.

An agent project is more useful when replies still arrive across emails and attachments, leaving employees to read them, compare them with the request, and ask for clarification.

Connect supplier questions to catalog work

A proposed Syntalith project would cover one type of missing information and the sources used by the catalog team. An AI agent connects product records to correspondence, drafts supplier questions, and gathers explanations with the right items. It then prepares proposed updates from the replies, with sources for review.

Your team identifies how products are matched, which information is needed, and who approves changes. A first conversation can start with the last question a supplier answered while the product record still remained incomplete. What needed clarification, and where was the final answer recorded? That helps compare connecting email to the catalog with improving the existing form or portal. See Syntalith’s pricing page for service pricing information.