Regardless of their size and scale, businesses can achieve growth and success through digital transformation. A report released by the UK government shows that adopting digital technologies helped UK-based businesses boost revenues by 4.4% and reduce costs by 4.3%. Whether digital capabilities were represented by enabling online bookings or digitising office functions like payroll, enterprises capture lifetime value through digital transformation.
In a previous post, we highlighted examples of digital tools entrepreneurs can use for task management and planning. Among the digital planners that help business owners stay organised and productive are Notion, which has highly customisable templates for managing tasks and databases, and Asana, which streamlines project management through integration with other business software like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
Beyond task prioritisation and management, another essential business function that can be enhanced through digital transformation is documentation. Below, we have a closer look at the benefits of documenting business processes, as well as how the emerging technology of artificial intelligence can make documentation more productive and impactful.
Benefits of business documentation
Also known as document management, documentation involves outlining and keeping records of all business-related documents, such as project proposals, reports, and contracts. This proactive approach is undertaken by all companies and organisations as a backbone for business continuity, communication, and compliance. For instance, proper documentation of processes and policies can help companies adhere to business regulations and thus minimise legal risks.
If businesses work with investors and partners, effective documentation contributes to transparency and accountability to ultimately build trust among stakeholders. Even when a business undergoes organisational changes due to new executives or a shift in company culture, having all the essential processes can facilitate a smooth transition with little to no disruptions.
In today’s digital age, it’s crucial for businesses to establish effective documentation with the help of electronic documentation management systems. Considering an estimated 328.77 million terabytes were created daily in 2023, digitising this aspect can help businesses move away from paper-based processes that cost time and money and are prone to errors. In the next section, we outline how the specific technology of artificial intelligence (AI) can be integrated into electronic documentation processes.
AI applications in document management processes
Fast-track research
Effective document management starts with sufficient research and knowledge of documentation requirements, whether it’s the standards specific to the industry your business operates in or conditions set by regulatory authorities. While research can be time-consuming, generative AI tools — the most notable example being ChatGPT — can help consolidate information from various sources within seconds for a detailed summary of the requirements you need to comply with.
However, it’s worth noting that the quality of AI-generated content depends on how detailed and context-rich the user’s prompts and queries are. As such, it helps for businesses to not solely rely on AI tools for documentation research and instead use it to fast-track the process. It can cut down on research time but not replace the entire process, so businesses must still verify sources and cross-check references to ensure validity of documentation information.
Improve editing and proofreading efficiency
As previously mentioned, digitised document management can help companies and their employees save time and energy in compiling, storing, and updating essential records. However, there can be human errors when formatting documents like contracts, such as typographical errors and inaccurate word use. Such errors can create legal risks for businesses, thus requiring careful editing and proofreading.
Fortunately, businesses can utilise AI proofreading software Definely to automate hundreds of proofreading tasks within seconds. Whether it’s a contract with a new business partner or a renewal with trusted suppliers and vendors, Definely goes beyond mere spellchecks to detect definition issues, which is especially important for ensuring accuracy of legal terms. The AI-powered legal software can also catch cross-reference and formatting issues for more standardised documents across all levels of the organisation.
Streamline collaborative workflows
Setting up documentation systems isn’t a one-man job, and instead requires active collaboration across all departments that create and refer to business documents — whether it’s the human resources professionals who manage employee policies or accounting teams that report assets and revenues. As such, businesses typically conduct meetings and video conferences to maintain the integrity and reliability of data in the entire company.
Instead of simply taking notes during important calls and meetings, businesses can deploy AI tools to keep data organised and share information more effectively. For example, video conferencing platform Zoom recently released Zoom Docs, an AI-first collaborative docs solution. Zoom Docs can generate content and templates based on real-time meeting transcripts, while also facilitating productive co-editing of business documents through content summary, translation, and custom or pre-set commands.
Ensure data security
Lastly, effective documentation doesn’t begin and end with generating and collecting essential documents like meeting minutes, quarterly reports, and legal contracts. Since such documents are crucial to various business operations, they must be easily accessible to employees while still being kept private and confidential in line with cybersecurity principles. In this case, cloud computing solutions serve as valuable data storage and security solutions, as these are typically scalable, encrypted, and synchronised across multiple networks and devices for quick on-demand access.
Additionally, users can leverage generative AI capabilities to gain insight into security risks and equip companies with the ability to manage and respond to potential cybersecurity threats. Case in point, Cohesity’s generative AI solution, Cohesity Gaia, uses NVIDIA NIM to quickly search through various sets of data and documents and uncover insights during data storage, backup, and recovery. In other words, legal and enterprise teams can efficiently identify compliance risks and reduce the risk of sensitive data breaches on the cloud.
In summary, document management is an essential process all businesses must undertake to ensure stakeholder trust, regulatory compliance, and operational consistency. And as documentation becomes more digitised, companies and organisations can integrate AI tools to improve productivity and accuracy across fundamental documentation processes. These include researching documentation requirements, editing and proofreading documents, collaborating across departments, and ensuring data security and integrity.