The AI Action: Let Your Documents Tell You What You Need to Know

Documents already contain valuable information such as invoice numbers, totals, names, dates, and signatures. The AI Action in Willow360 allows your workflows to read and understand that information automatically, so you do not have to rely on manual input or rigid templates.

At its core, the Willow360 AI Action helps you ask questions about a document and store the answers as structured data, also known as metadata. Once captured, this data can be reused throughout the workflow, including for conditional routing and decision-making.

What the AI Action Does

The AI Action analyses the content of a document using OCR combined with AI-based understanding. Instead of extracting fixed fields, you simply describe what you want to know, using natural language.

For each piece of information you want to capture, you define:

A name, which is how the data will be referenced later

A question, which tells the AI what to look for

A data type, such as Text, Number, Date, Email, or Yes/No

The goal is simple. Ask only for the information your workflow actually needs.

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Processing Invoices Automatically

You might ask the AI:

“What is the invoice number?”

“What is the total amount on this invoice?”

“What is the supplier name?”

“What is the invoice date?”

Once captured, this information can be used to:

Rename the file, for example Invoice 45821 – £1,240.00

Store the document in the correct folder

Decide whether approval is required

Conditional processing example:
If the Total Amount is greater than £1,000, send the document for approval.
If it is £1,000 or less, skip approval and archive automatically.

Example 2: Checking Whether a Document Is Signed

For contracts or forms, you might only need a simple Yes or No answer:

“Has this document been signed?”

“Is there a handwritten signature visible?”

Conditional processing example:
If Signed = No, send the document to a signing action.
If Signed = Yes, continue straight to storage or notification.

This avoids unnecessary manual checks and ensures unsigned documents never slip through.

Example 3: Identifying Who the Document Belongs To

The AI Action is also useful for identifying people or entities:

“What is the full name on this passport?”

“What is the customer email address shown?”

“What company name appears on this document?”

This data can then be used to:

Route documents to the correct team

Automatically address emails

Populate later forms or stamps

Example 4: Classifying Documents Automatically

Sometimes the most important question is:

“What type of document is this?”

You might ask:

“Is this an invoice, receipt, or contract?”

“What best describes this document?”

Conditional processing example:
If Document Type = Invoice, follow the invoice workflow.
If Document Type = Contract, send the document for legal review.
If Document Type = Receipt, archive immediately.

This allows a single workflow to intelligently handle many document types.

Using Templates to Get Started Faster

To make things easier, Willow360 provides AI templates for common use cases such as:

Invoices

Receipts

ID documents

Contracts

Document classification

Smart document summaries

Templates are a starting point, not a requirement. When you apply one, it simply pre-fills a set of common questions. You can:

Remove anything you do not need

Adjust questions to better match your documents

Add your own, more specific queries

The most effective AI Actions are usually focused and minimal, capturing only the data your workflow truly depends on.

Turning AI Data into Workflow Decisions

Once the AI Action finishes, all requested information is guaranteed to be available, either read automatically or confirmed by a user if something was missing.

From that point onward, the captured data behaves like any other metadata in Willow360:

It can be used in conditions

It can appear in file names

It can be inserted into emails, stamps, or storage paths

It can determine who needs to act next

This is what makes the AI Action powerful. It does not just read documents. It enables smarter, self-directing workflows based on document content.

A Simple Rule of Thumb

When configuring the AI Action, always ask yourself:

“What information do I need from this document to make my workflow work?”

If the answer is clear, the AI Action will do the rest.