Infor launches AI suite to boost industry-specific process automation
Infor has announced the launch of a suite of AI-driven solutions targeting operational workflows in manufacturing, distribution, and service industries with a focus on industry-specific needs and process automation.
The suite, which includes Infor Industry AI Agents and a new migration offer called Infor Leap, is built on Amazon Web Services and leverages Amazon Bedrock for access to advanced large language models. These new tools aim to provide contextual and role-based intelligence for organisations operating across a diverse range of micro-verticals, from dairy and textiles to electric vehicle manufacturing and healthcare.
Industry-specific agents
Infor Industry AI Agents are designed as role-based digital assistants to work alongside human teams, managing and automating essential workflows. These agents make use of industry-tailored process catalogues and value maps for eight sectors and their micro-verticals, allowing them to understand sector-specific processes, terminology, compliance factors, and key performance indicators.
The company states that these agents can deliver faster deployment, lower risk, and increased return on investment by addressing pain points and compliance requirements that are unique to each industry. The agents use real-time data from across a customer's enterprise, including both Infor and non-Infor systems, to provide logical recommendations tailored for each user persona, supporting tasks ranging from procurement to financial analysis.
"Infor's Industry AI Agents have the potential to significantly enhance ERP functionality-delivering faster access to information, quicker issue resolution, and improved customer satisfaction," said Shen Lu, CIO, Gellert Global. "By automating repetitive tasks, these agents enable employees to focus on higher-value work that drives organisation growth and competitive advantage. Although we are still in the early stages of testing and Infor's development is ongoing, the potential we've seen makes us excited about a promising future ahead."
Agentic orchestration and process mining
Powers for these AI agents come from the Infor Agentic Orchestrator, part of the Infor Industry Cloud Platform. This orchestrator uses a combination of Amazon Bedrock, LangChain for multi-step orchestration, and built-in governance for security, auditability, and explainability. The orchestrator enables customers to deploy anything from single-task to process-level agents, supporting complex, multi-step workflows while ensuring transparency and oversight at each stage.
Enhancements to Infor's process mining tools are also part of the new suite. These updates, driven by AI, aim to help organisations identify process issues quickly and provide clear, contextual summaries through generative AI tools. Additional features include customisable dashboards and enhanced filtering to allow deeper analysis of process performance.
"What I value most about Infor Process Mining is how quickly it delivers insights for our Process Improvement team," said Randy Yoho, IT Manager, State Electric Supply. "Instead of waiting weeks, we now identify critical process issues in just a day or two, cutting the time by 86%. That means we act faster which has already resulted in customers receiving shipments faster from five days to two and speeding up customer payment from seven days to three."
Cloud migration offer
Infor's Leap offer is being positioned to address the barriers associated with migrating enterprise resource planning systems to the cloud, an area where organisations frequently face setbacks related to time delays and cost overruns. Infor Leap provides a fixed-fee pricing model, commitments to on-time delivery, and adapts implementation strategies to each client, intending to reduce time-to-value and give customers more confidence in their investment decisions.
The offering also features a "love it or leave it" opt-out clause, and is based on Infor's data-centric implementation methodologies and pre-configured industry best practices.
Customer and analyst perspectives
"Infor's Industry AI Agents and GenAI Assistant have the potential to redefine how we operate. By streamlining processes, reducing manual effort, and delivering instant access to real-time insights, they can empower every level of our organisation, from the shop floor to leadership, pushing us to work smarter," said Jennifer Terry, Information Systems Manager, Xpress Boats. "What excites us most is not just the efficiency these tools unlock today, but the way they're helping us think bigger and reimagine the future of our operations."
"Our new suite of solutions allows customers to harness the power of AI with purpose and precision," said Kevin Samuelson, CEO, Infor. "When deployed strategically, AI can help organisations thrive and prosper amid the growing number of challenges across industries. But it's crucial to do it right: companies that implement generic AI tools without industry-specific context will lose valuable time and money they often can't afford."
"The AI age is ushering in new ERP products that leverage AI technology to enhance and augment the functionality," said Mickey North Rizza, IDC, Group Vice President, Enterprise Software. "Be it AI-enabled workflows with assistants and advisors or agentic AI, such as Infor Industry AI Agents, ERP systems are advancing quickly. With new capabilities that augment business processes with more intelligence, to bringing in more data to the front end of the decision-making, to becoming more autonomous in actions, AI is empowering ERP systems as a better optimised technology resource for the organisation."
According to a recent study by Forrester, cited by Infor, 74% of high-performance IT leaders consider modernisation of ERP systems a critical priority for achieving greater agility and resilience in their operations.
