Introduction
Stampli's dynamic approval workflows leverage AI to automatically suggest approvers for requests, POs, service tickets, and Stampli Cards based on your organization's historical patterns and relevant transaction details. This feature provides flexibility in your approval processes while ensuring the right decision-makers are involved at the right time.
How it works
Feature summary
Dynamic workflows use Stampli's AI (Billy the Bot) to analyze factors like request type, amount, department, and your company's approval history to suggest appropriate approvers for each transaction. You can accept these suggestions or modify them as needed, giving you both efficiency and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances or unique situations.
See below for a table explaining how dynamic workflows differ from Stampli’s predetermined workflow functionality.
Key features and capabilities
✔ AI-powered approver suggestions Billy the Bot analyzes your company's approval patterns and transaction details to recommend the most appropriate approvers, eliminating guesswork and manual routing decisions. These suggestions improve over time as the system learns from your organization's patterns.
✔ Fallback routing When primary approvers are unavailable, the system can automatically suggest alternative approvers based on historical data, ensuring workflows remain uninterrupted even when key team members are absent.
✔ User property integration The AI leverages user attributes like department, level, and location to refine approver suggestions, aligning workflows with company policies while streamlining the decision-making process.
✔ Flexible approver selection Override suggestions when needed and select any approver in your organization, bypassing standard hierarchies to accommodate exceptions or urgent requests without being constrained by rigid rules.
✔ Line-level approvals Allow reviewers to approve or reject individual line items within a single request, enabling more granular control over spending and expediting partial approvals when needed.
✔ Comprehensive audit trail All interactions between requesters and approvers are logged for transparency and compliance, creating a complete record of the approval process even with changing approvers.
Additional notes
Dynamic approval workflows can be used for Requests, ERP-based POs, Stampli POs, Service Tickets, and Stampli Cards
Billy the Bot continues to learn and improve suggestions based on your organization's approval patterns
You can combine dynamic approvals with manual selections, giving you complete control while benefiting from AI assistance
Unlike predefined workflows, dynamic workflows don't require you to create and maintain complex approval rules as your organization changes
Comparing Dynamic and Predefined Approval Workflows
If you're deciding between dynamic and predefined approval workflows, consider these key differences:
Feature | Dynamic Workflows | Predefined Workflows |
Overview | Billy the Bot automatically recommends approvers based on historical patterns in your organization. The system considers factors like department, request type, amount, and previous approval decisions when making suggestions. You maintain complete flexibility to accept, modify, or override these recommendations as needed. | Using our workflow builder, you create fixed rules that determine exactly which approvers should be assigned in specific scenarios. While this provides consistency and structure, dynamic workflows offer greater adaptability for handling exceptions or changes to your processes. |
Setup process | Minimal configuration required; learns from your organization's patterns | Requires defining specific rules and conditions in workflow builder |
Flexibility | Highly adaptable to changing needs and exceptions | More structured with fixed rules that must be updated manually |
Approval logic | Based on AI analysis of historical patterns and transaction details | Based on predefined rules using up to 5 specific fields |
Maintenance required | Self-improving with minimal maintenance needed | Requires updates when business rules or organization structure changes |
Best for | Organizations that need flexibility and handle many exceptions or unique cases | Organizations with strict compliance requirements and consistent approval processes |
Billy's AI role | Active in suggesting approvers based on historical data | Limited to workflow setup; turned off for approver suggestions when workflow is published |
Both options provide effective ways to route approvals, and many organizations use a combination of both approaches depending on the type of transaction or department needs.
Related articles
Predefined approval workflows (link TBD)