Mang-Git Ng, the CEO of Anvil, is leading the way in building software for documents in a data-first world. Organizations that don’t keep up with this transition risk losing their competitive edge and becoming obsolete. Traditionally, companies relied on scale and Six Sigma operational methods based on document-first technologies like PDFs, fax, and email. However, these technologies are becoming outdated in today’s fast-paced internet age.
In the past, companies focused on breaking down processes into separate tasks that could be easily completed by individuals, such as quoting, claims, underwriting, and agent contracting in the insurance industry, or recruiting, hiring, benefits administration, and training in HR. The use of paperwork, particularly PDFs, as communication glue has allowed organizations to move faster. However, the reliance on PDFs has now become a hindrance in the digital era, as AI agents are taking over operational processes that were previously managed by humans.
The shift to a data-first world is changing the way work is completed, moving away from the PDF as the primary vehicle for data transfer. While technologies like OCR and RPA are being used to extract data from PDFs, their adoption is limited due to the inflexibility of the file format. Large corporations are eager to adopt these technologies to increase operational efficiency, but the high cost hinders wider adoption. Companies must focus on transitioning from the past to the future and embracing new technologies to remain competitive.
To succeed in the transition to a data-first world, companies must focus on backward compatibility and finding ways to bring laggards along. While some view the transition as a forward progression from physical paper to PDFs to data extraction, an alternative approach is to create solutions that allow data to be represented on PDFs for those still reliant on physical documents, while also enabling direct data transmission for those who can consume data without intermediaries. Tooling solutions like OCR, RPA, and e-signatures are available, but their document-first focus hampers progress in the data-first transition.
A platform that provides all the necessary tools to digitize document processes, from data collection to signed documents, can help companies communicate in a data-first manner and reduce reliance on documents as the primary communication medium. By focusing on the transition to a data-first world and investing in commercially viable technologies, organizations can maintain or increase their competitive advantage in the present landscape. This allows companies to compete effectively and thrive in an ever-evolving technological environment.
