01732 759725 46 breakthrough or game-changer in the industry, and how is your company preparing for it? A: The next breakthrough will be the convergence of intelligent automation, AI-driven decision support and seamless human-machine collaboration - essentially, the evolution from workflow automation to work intelligence. Document management systems won’t just store and route data, they will understand, contextualise and act on information, predicting actions and dynamically adapting workflows based on content and user behaviour. Imagine a platform that processes invoices, understands payment patterns, flags anomalies and suggests optimal approval routes autonomously. We’re actively preparing for this future. The natif.ai acquisition brought in-house AI expertise, accelerating our intelligent document processing and machine learning roadmap. We’re also exploring the responsible integration of generative AI and large language models for intuitive user experiences. Our aim is a future-ready ecosystem facilitating the transition from process digitisation to true digital intelligence. Q: What advice would you give a young person starting a career in the industry? A: Stay curious and never stop learning. This industry is evolving faster than ever; the tools, platforms and roles of today will look very different five years from now. Your ability to adapt, ask the right questions and learn continuously will set you apart. Understand the ‘why’ behind the technology. the real value offered is solving real problems for real people. Focus on how technology improves lives, simplifies work or makes businesses more resilient. Don’t underestimate the importance of communication and collaboration. No one builds great solutions in isolation. The most successful people in this space can translate complexity into clarity, work across teams and build trust. It’s a fantastic time to join this industry. There are so many opportunities to shape the future of work. Product-wise, AI is foundational. We’re embedding intelligence into user experience through automated data extraction, smart document classification, conversational interfaces and in the near future, predictive workflow routing. With AI guiding our go‑to-market, we’re positioning DocuWare as a business intelligence enabler, unlocking productivity, accelerating decisions and reducing risk via smarter automation. We’re adjusting messaging, sales enablement and customer success strategies to emphasise business outcomes, especially in document-intensive sectors like finance, logistics and healthcare. For channel partners, AI offers new service opportunities but requires new skills. We’re investing in education and co‑selling to help them articulate AI’s value, integrate new capabilities into vertical solutions and lead transformation discussions. Q: What do you see as the key challenges or pain points businesses are facing in today’s hybrid working model, and how can you help your partners/customers to address these? A: Many businesses still lack the digital infrastructure to support the hybrid model. Key challenges include fragmented information access, inconsistent workflows between remote and office teams and a lack of secure, centralised platforms. DocuWare’s flexible, cloud-native platform, empowers partners to configure and scale solutions to match customer needs, such as automating invoice approvals, managing HR files or ensuring document security in compliance-heavy sectors. This flexibility is crucial for our channel. Partners can leverage our APIs, modular architecture and workflow tools to build adaptable solutions for evolving hybrid work environments. We support them with training and technical enablement. Q: Looking towards the future, what do you envision as the next big Q: What’s currently having the greatest impact on your business? A: We’re seeing AI shift from being a future-looking concept to a practical, transformative force that’s actively reshaping how our customers manage documents, data and workflows. As a result, we’re integrating AI deeper into our platform for smarter experiences. Our aim with this technology is augmentation, empowering better, frictionless decision-making. Q: How do you stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your company remains at the forefront of innovation? A: At DocuWare, proactive innovation, not just trend-following, delivers meaningful customer impact. We strategically invest in cutting-edge technology aligned with evolving work across industries. For example, our acquisition of AI startup natif.ai – by integrating their technology into our own we accelerated intelligent splitting, automated classification and extraction including handwriting, completely redefining user productivity. Beyond acquisitions, our product and technology teams foster continuous innovation through agile experimentation and strategic investments in generative AI. We prioritise maintaining close relationships with our customers. Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum - it comes from solving real problems. Through regular feedback loops, co-development initiatives, and an active partner ecosystem, we ensure our solutions are technically advanced and aligned with user needs and industry regulations. Q: With artificial intelligence fast becoming mainstream, how do you see this impacting your go-to-market strategy, product roadmap, and indeed the wider channel? A: AI is a strategic catalyst, reshaping how we build, sell and grow our ecosystem. Our role is to lead this change responsibly, clearly, with measurable impact. Michael Bochmann, Chief Product & Technology Officer, DocuWare Industry Insight Q&A Michael Bochmann
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