Implementing Conversational AI Into ERP Software

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are pivotal in the digital transformation of organizations, offering an integrated platform to digitalize processes across various business functions, such as finance, supply chain, and human resources. Despite their expansive capabilities, these systems often present usability challenges due to their complexity and vastness. The integration of Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a novel opportunity to enhance user interaction with ERP systems, streamlining processes and improving accessibility through natural language interfaces. Conversational AI refers to technology that enables machines to engage in human-like dialogue, understanding and responding to user queries in natural language. However, embedding Conversational AI into ERP systems is not without challenges due to the vast and intricate landscape of ERP systems, which are comprised of hundreds of thousands of business processes, involve hundreds of millions of lines of code and cater to diverse industry-specific requirements. This paper explores the critical research question: How to systematically develop Conversational AI in ERP systems? The paper conducts the business requirements and proposes a comprehensive solution framework. This framework is implemented and evaluated using real-world ERP use cases, demonstrating its potential to significantly enhance ERP user engagement and operational efficiency, while setting the stage for future innovations in enterprise software usability.