Document automation is more than reading text from a PDF. The useful result is a validated record that reaches the correct system, with uncertain cases sent to someone who can resolve them.
Describe the document mix
Provide a small, approved sample covering the formats you receive: scanned pages, digital PDFs, different layouts, missing fields and multi-page files. Record approximate volumes and the languages involved. A proposal based on one clean sample will miss much of the real work.
List the fields you need and the rules used to check them. Specify whether a field may be absent, whether totals must reconcile and how the system identifies a document it has already processed.
Separate extraction from approval
For an invoice workflow, extracting supplier details is different from approving a payment. A useful first release may create a reviewable draft record while keeping approval in the existing finance process.
Specify what the reviewer sees: the source page, extracted values, uncertainty indicators and validation failures. Corrections should be recorded so the team can identify recurring problems without retaining more sensitive data than necessary.
Test the complete journey
Ask the specialist to demonstrate an ordinary document, a duplicate, a damaged file and a failed connection to the destination system. Confirm that retries do not create duplicate business records.
Require an exception queue, a reconciliation report and a manual fallback. At handover, your operator should know which documents are waiting, which were rejected and which successfully reached the next system.
Use the NIST AI risk framework for the wider governance discussion. The project itself should have specific validation rules and a named business owner. Browse automation experts with that checklist.