AI & Automation
What is AI Agent?
An AI agent is an AI system that perceives its environment, makes decisions, and takes actions autonomously to achieve a defined goal — going beyond answering questions to actually executing multi-step tasks.
Explanation
In accounting automation, AI agents represent the next evolution beyond simple extraction. A basic AI tool extracts data from a document. An AI agent can receive an invoice, extract the data, look up the corresponding PO, check the three-way match, flag any discrepancies, draft an approval request, and post the entry to the ERP — all without human intervention at each step. The shift from AI tools to AI agents is significant for accounting teams because it means automation can handle full workflows, not just individual tasks. The practical result is that exception handling, escalation, and multi-system coordination can all be automated for the routine 80% of cases.
How Rima relates
Rima's Blueprints function as AI agents for accounting document workflows — autonomously processing documents through multi-step workflows and routing exceptions to the right person.
Read about AI agents for accountantsRelated Terms
Intelligent Automation
The combination of AI and process automation to handle complex, judgment-intensive tasks.
Blueprint Automation
A configurable automation for a specific document workflow, built by describing the process in plain language.
Workflow Automation
Using software to automatically execute a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual effort.
See it in action
Rima automates the manual document workflows accounting teams spend hours on every week.