In today’s fast-paced business environment, managing documents efficiently is crucial. AI offers a revolutionary way to convert unstructured data, like documents, into structured data that can be easily used within Salesforce.
This article will guide you through how Salesforce Admins can leverage AI to streamline document processing, improve accuracy, and save time.
Structured vs. Unstructured Data
As a Salesforce Admin, have you ever wished you could automatically extract critical data from documents and enter it into Salesforce fields without manual intervention? This dream is closer to reality than ever, thanks to AI.
Structured data, such as Salesforce field values, is well-organized and easily interpreted by machines. For example, the ACV field on an Acme record might show $10,000, which is straightforward for a machine to process.
On the other hand, unstructured data, like a PDF invoice stored in Salesforce, isn’t as easily accessible. To extract the invoice amount, someone has to manually read the document. This is where AI steps in, turning unstructured data into usable, structured data, making your job as an admin much easier.
Unstructured Data Processing Using AI
AI excels at unstructured data processing without any training. E.g., given a contract, AI can accurately identify the presence of a specific clause. Moreover, computer vision can convert images into AI-readable formats, extending AI’s capabilities beyond digital text. This makes it a strong competitor to traditional document OCR.
The accuracy of AI output depends on the input. For example, consider the two prompts below –
- Prompt 1: “What’s the invoice amount?”
- Prompt 2: “What’s the total amount due for the whole invoice? Provide output in numerical format to two decimal places. If the amount is unclear, output 0.”
The second prompt handles edge cases much better, demonstrating AI’s ability to refine and format its responses.
Salesforce Document Automation + AI = Magic!
AI is a strong candidate for processing unstructured document data into structured CRM data, making it a powerful tool in AI for CRM. Adding Salesforce automations to the mix creates a scalable data entry pipeline. Since each business deals with specific document types, combining a few prompts with a few flows can make document processes faster.
For example, the hotel industry deals with vendor invoices in various formats. AI can be used to extract invoice amounts into a Salesforce field. This would enable management to build reliable invoice reports without manual data entry or machine training.
Preparing for AI Document Processing Revolution
Adopting AI doesn’t need to be a massive task. Modern AI comes out-of-the-box if you know what you need. Here’s a series of simple questions to identify your most important needs:
Q1. Which important document do you receive from external parties?
For instance, customer contracts or vendor invoices might be crucial for your operations.
Q2. What’s the most important information in that document?
Focus on data points like invoice amounts, contract terms, or customer details that are essential for your business processes.
Q3. How would this info benefit the process?
Invoice amounts can help auto-classify customers and checking for specific contract terms can automate a part of legal review.
Now, if we can just define the right prompt and figure out how to use that prompt within a flow-based Salesforce workflow automation, we’d have already made a leap towards our POC. Luckily, we have just the right free tools that you can try out to further this goal.
Free Salesforce AI Tools for Document Processing
Luckily, there are now several native and AppExchange AI tools that make it much easier to process documents and build intelligent workflows around document extraction, automation, and AI-driven business processes.
Salesforce Document AI
Salesforce Document AI is Salesforce’s latest native intelligent document processing solution built into the Data Cloud and Agentforce ecosystem. It can extract structured data from documents to automate Flows and record creation. However, the platform is still heavily dependent on the broader Salesforce AI stack, often requiring additional AI services, licensing, and configurations. It also focuses mainly on extraction rather than the complete document lifecycle, leaving gaps around document management, external storage integrations, sharing, and user-friendly upload experiences.
Prompt Builder and Agentforce
Prompt Builder and Agentforce help organizations create AI-powered workflows and automate actions using Salesforce data and prompts. They are powerful for orchestration and conversational AI experiences, but they are not purpose-built document AI platforms. Organizations still need external extraction tools or integrations to process unstructured documents effectively, which can increase implementation complexity.
MuleSoft Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)
MuleSoft IDP enables organizations to extract, classify, and structure data from documents while automating workflows across Salesforce and external systems. It supports AI-powered processing for invoices, onboarding forms, contracts, and other unstructured documents. However, the platform remains highly API-centric and developer-oriented. Setting up and maintaining document workflows often requires integration expertise, custom orchestration, and ongoing API management, making it less ideal for teams looking for a simpler, admin-friendly document AI experience directly within Salesforce.
CloudFiles Document AI (AppExchange)
Apart from native Salesforce AI tools, there are also AppExchange solutions that make it easier to quickly test and validate real-world document AI use cases without heavy setup or development effort. CloudFiles Document AI offers multiple ready-to-use AppExchange test drives that allow teams to experiment with AI-powered document workflows directly inside Salesforce. These include invoice and purchase order extraction, KYC verification, line-item extraction, AI-powered document mapping, SharePoint metadata updates, intelligent PDF splitting, and Prompt Builder, where users can upload files and interact with them using prompts.
Unlike standalone extraction tools, CloudFiles also combines document AI with document management, external storage integrations like SharePoint and Google Drive, Salesforce Flows, upload widgets, document sharing, and workflow automation within a single platform – making it easier to move from quick POCs to scalable document processes inside Salesforce.
By carefully managing these factors, you can integrate AI into your Salesforce document processing workflows effectively, ensuring data remains secure, accurate, and valuable.
You can experiment using the available test drives in this section:
- AI Playground: You can upload a document and ask questions to it in a chat-like format. Use this for prompt engineering in the context of your specific docs.
- KYC Upload Checker: You can upload sample passports and driving licenses in a record and check how AI automatically fills Salesforce fields. Review the underlying flow to fit this into your own requirements.
While CloudFiles excels in the document AI space, you can also use this app to modernize and automate your entire document stack.
Summary
Leveraging AI to convert unstructured document data into structured Salesforce data can significantly enhance workflow efficiency, but it’s crucial to consider best practices and limitations. Prioritize data privacy and security by understanding where and how your data is stored when using AI tools. Be aware of each tool’s limitations, as it may not be a one-size-fits-all solution and may require customization.
Start with a proof of concept (POC) using free tools like CloudFiles’ Document AI Test Drive to experiment in a controlled environment, refining your approach based on real-world results. By carefully managing these factors, you can integrate AI into your Salesforce document processing workflows effectively, ensuring data remains secure, accurate, and valuable.
