Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)
What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)?
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) is a technology that uses AI to transform unstructured and semi-structured data—such as PDFs, emails, hand-written notes, and images—into usable, structured data.
While traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) simply “reads” text, IDP understands it. It uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning to identify what a document is (classification) and extract specific, relevant information regardless of the document’s layout.
Key Characteristics
Contextual Understanding
even if they aren’t labeled clearly.
Format Agnostic
including JPGs, TIFFs, PDFs, and
even photos of crumpled receipts.
Continuous Learning
correct an error (Human-in-the-loop), enabling the system to learn.
Integration-Ready
(like JSON or CSV) that can be
fed into an RPA bot or ERP system.
Example Use Cases
Sales and Order Processing
The Task: Sorting through a 300-page loan application package containing bank statements, tax returns, and IDs.
The IDP Action: The system automatically classifies each page, extracts the gross income from tax forms and the account balance from bank statements, and flags any missing signatures for review.
Accounts Payable (AP) Automation
The Task: Managing thousands of invoices from different global vendors, each with a unique layout.
The IDP Action: IDP extracts line-item details, tax amounts, and currency types. It then validates this data against purchase orders in the system to ensure the company isn't being overcharged.
Medical Records Management
The Task: Digitizing patient intake forms and historical paper records.
The IDP Action: It identifies key medical codes, patient demographics, and treatment dates from handwritten notes or scanned clinical records, uploading them directly into an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.
IDP in the "Agentic" Era
IDP acts as the “Eyes” for AI Agents. While an Agent can plan a workflow, it relies on IDP to interpret the complex documents that trigger or inform those plans.
eAllianceAI builds Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) custom solutions for each customer’s specific business requirements, analyzing the “As Is” business processes and collaboratively (with the customer) designing the “To Be” business process, using IDP.
