The Return of the Clerk: Agentic AI in Enterprise Apps

Oh to get a procurement order stamped with ink, to mail it, maybe even to page a clerk who took a too-long lunch!   

Whether or not you get nostalgic for days gone by, we can all agree that running an enterprise today is a different can of beans than once befell us.  

To stand a chance at competing on the global stage today, companies must orchestrate finance, supply chain, HR, customer service, and more, at breakneck speed and without error. For that frenzy of tasks, we turn to our enterprise apps, our ERPs and related systems, like Oracle and Workday.

Unfortunately, despite the promises of modern applications and third-party providers alike, complexity in your system engenders complexity in your management. To execute a single workflow, information must pass through multiple apps. This leads to a “SaaS Mess” so frustrating that one wonders if chasing down that clerk was really such a drag after all.  

What’s great about these systems is when they work, they help your whole organization level up. What’s hard about them, though, is that to execute a single change, you need to be sure that quite a lot of things won’t break. 

Enterprise-wide systems are weighed down by the sluggishness of manual oversight, rigid processes, and, worst of all, our tendency to solve problems after they blow up, instead of before. But a world where true digital transformation comes on time, on budget, and without fires hither and thither, isn’t as far off as you think. 

Why Traditional Application Management Falls Short 

You’ve got to give it to ‘em!–companies that rely on manual enterprise application management can’t be accused of taking the easy way out. It is no walk in the park. But why?  

The thing that makes traditional, manual management so difficult is that there are bottlenecks at every stage of the enterprise app lifecycle: 

• Deployment is plagued by lengthy timelines, data migration headaches, and testing bottlenecks. 
• Operation is hampered by integration failures, delayed updates, and shortcomings on compliance. 
• Optimization is often neglected altogether, with organizations lacking the bandwidth for continuous improvement, leading to underutilized features and missed ROI. 

We know that a huge majority of enterprise initiatives fail to meet business goals. The culprit? Unsurprisingly, it’s the use of manual processes when automated would speed things up.

Enter Agentic AI: The New Digital Workforce 

Agentic AI is a fundamental shift. Might even be the first time we don’t catch ourselves missing the good old days. Miles ahead of static automation, and lightyears ahead of manual, agentic AI deploys self-directed, digital teammates that can interpret a novel situation and take action for you.  

Imagine a 24/7 digital workforce that handles enterprise app testing, compliance, and user support. A bit of human oversight to check the work, but bold automation for maximum efficiency and minimal headache. 

Soon, this paradigm will no longer be the path less travelled. By 2028, a third of enterprise applications will be embedded with agentic AI, with 15% of all decisions in enterprises will be made autonomously. 

Transforming the Enterprise Application Lifecycle

Agentic AI delivers value across every phase of Enterprise Applications: 

• Implement: Automates configuration, validates data migration, and predicts risks-accelerating go-live and reducing errors. 
• Operate: Enables real-time monitoring, self-healing integrations, predictive maintenance, and continuous compliance. 
• Optimize: Continuously analyzes performance, fine-tunes workflows, and delivers intelligent user training-unlocking ongoing efficiency gains. 

Immediate benefits include up to 85% reduction in testing time, proactive risk mitigation, and 30–50% lower costs for deployment and operational. 

A Note on AI-nxiety

With automation to this degree, and at this scale, comes new questions we must face. We need to consider trust, compliance, transparency, accountability, and impact on your people. For the best of both worlds in the Agentic Age, we can’t equivocate on these: 

• Keep a human in the loop for oversight and accountability. 
• Adopt gradual integration for stability and control. 
• Train AI on industry-specific data. 
• Prioritize robust testing, validation, and compliance frameworks. 
• People first: Empower teams and build trust by investing in change management. 

The Bottom Line 

Agentic AI is big, and it’s redefining what’s possible in enterprise application management. 

It delivers unprecedented agility, resilience, and ROI. With responsible adoption, enterprises can unlock the full potential of their systems and lead the next era of digital innovation. And it’s nice to know the clerk’ll be back, even if he’s a robot this time round. 

Ready to experience the future of ERP? Discover how Opkey’s agentic AI platform can transform your ERP lifecycle today.