Different Documents, Don't Confuse Approvals: Here's How AI Determines the Process

How Does AI Determine Who Should Approve?

AI Automationcan help determine the approval flow based on document type, value, department, risk level, and internal company rules. This way, documents don't have to go through the same approver.

• NDAcan be directed to the relevant Legal and PIC.

• Vendor contractcan involve Procurement, Legal, and Finance.

• High value contractsmay require Director approval.

• High risk documentscan be automatically directed to a senior reviewer.

• Approvals can have SLAs, for example24 hours for reminder And 48 hours for escalation.

With AI Automation, the rule can be applied automatically after the document is received.

Why Does Document Type Determine Approval Path?

In legal workflows, one common issue is that all documents are treated the same. A simple NDA certainly requires different approvals than a Rp 1 billion collaboration contract.

With AI Automation, the process can be made rule-based so that routing is more consistent.

Example of the flow:

Document Upload → Classification → Data Extraction → Rule Check → Determine Approver → Approval → Repository

1. Identify Document Type

The first stage is to determine the document category.

For example:

• NDA

• Vendor Contract

• Customer Agreement

• Employment Agreement

• Addendum

• Compliance Document

The system can read the contents and metadata of a document to determine its category.

If the document is identified asVendor Contract, workflow can directly use the special approval matrix for vendor contracts.

2. Use Values ​​as Parameters

The type of document alone is sometimes not enough.

For example, a company has a rule:

• ≤ Rp. 50 million → Manager

• Rp50–250 million → Manager + Finance

• Rp250 million → Manager + Finance + Director

With AI Automation, the contract value can be used as a routing parameter.

For example, a vendor contract worthRp. 300 millionautomatically enter the additional approval pathway because it exceeds the threshold of IDR 250 million.

3. Add Risk Flag

Contract value is not the only indicator.

The system can also check whether conditions such as:

• Liability does not match the template.

• Payment term changed from 30 to 60 days.

• Automatic renewal found.

• There is no termination clause.

• Governing law is different.

• Sensitive data is involved.

If a high-risk flag is found, AI Automationcan direct documents to senior legal before proceeding to the next level.

4. Create an SLA for Approval

Approvals that have been directed can still be held up.

Therefore, each stage should have an SLA.

Example:

0 jam → Approval Request

24 hours → Reminder

48 jam → Escalation

With AI Automation, reminders can be sent automatically to approvers. If no decision is made by the deadline, the system can forward the notification to the next approver.

5. Don't Forget the Audit Trail

Every approval decision needs to have a trail.

Minimum save:

Document ID | Approver | Status | Timestamp | Comment

With AI Automation, the data can be used to find out who approved the document, when the decision was made, and the reason if the document was rejected.

This is important when Legal or Compliance requires process history.

What Do You Need to Prepare Before Creating a Workflow?

• List all document types.

• Approval matrix for each type of document.

• Contract value threshold.

• Parameter risk.

• PIC and replacement approver.

• SLA approval.

• Aturan escalation.

• Standard document template.

• Role-based access.

• Audit trail.

• Minimal 20–50 documentsfor initial testing.

• Use legal software for companies and officially licensed software.

Start with high-volume documents. Once the rules are stable, the workflow can be expanded to other document categories.

FAQ

1. Can AI determine approvers automatically?

Can. AI Automationcan use document type, value, department, and risk flag as parameters.

2. Can one type of document have multiple approval paths?

Yes. For example, a vendor contract under Rp 50 million requires a manager, while a contract over Rp 250 million requires a director.

3. What if the approver is not available?

Workflows can use backup approvers or perform escalations after certain SLAs.

4. Can the approval matrix be changed?

Yes. Rules should be configurable so that policy changes don't always require major system changes.

5. Can AI read contract values ​​from PDF?

Yes, if the information can be extracted from the document. Scanned PDFs usually require OCR.

6. Can high-risk documents be directed directly to senior legal?

Yes. Risk flags can be a trigger for establishing a stricter approval path.

7. Should all approvals be automatic?

No. Automation should assist with routing and administration. The final decision rests with the authorized approver.

8. Does the approval workflow need to be connected to document management?

This is highly recommended. This way, the approval status and document version can remain synchronized.