The fear is reasonable
When a sales team proposes connecting an AI assistant to the ERP, finance and IT are right to hesitate. An assistant that could change invoices, email clients or place orders on its own is a liability, however clever it is.
The answer isn't to keep AI away from the ERP. It's to draw a clear line between reading and acting — and to put a person on that line.
Reading is the default
emily connects to your ERP to read. On Cegid PHC — every version — that's a direct, read-only connection to the database; Ahora ERP is supported for questions. Sales, invoices, client balances and products are available either way, and live stock and purchasing come with the direct connection.
Nothing emily answers changes a figure in your books. See Cegid PHC, Ahora ERP and connecting your ERP.
Acting takes a yes
Everything that leaves the conversation waits for a person:
- Emails to anyone else are drafted, summarised back to you and sent only after you confirm — see email with approval.
- Meetings are booked, moved or cancelled after confirmation.
- Orders by voice, on Cegid PHC, are read back line by line and only created on a yes. They land as an unsigned draft invoice for the back office to review and finalise — see voice orders.
An illustrative exchange:
The order is the only thing emily writes to the ERP, and even then nothing is final until your back office says so.
Every change leaves a trail
Every change emily makes in the CRM is recorded with who, what, when and from which channel — WhatsApp, browser voice or web chat. Deleting a company, contact, deal or note is restricted to admins and managers, and it's reversible. See the audit trail.
Access by person, company and topic
Not everyone should see everything. A rep can be limited to certain companies in a group, and to sales without margins. emily answers within those limits — a rep who asks about margins without access gets an honest "I don't have access to that", not a leak.
Numbers that aren't invented
The most dangerous AI answer is the plausible one with nothing behind it. emily answers from a real query on your data; when the data isn't there, she says so rather than filling the gap with a good-sounding guess. See reliable numbers and our glossary entry on AI hallucination.
A checklist for any ERP assistant
Whatever you're evaluating, ask:
| Question | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Is access read-only by default? | Yes, with the least privilege needed to answer. |
| What can it write, and where does it land? | A short list — and drafts, not posted documents. |
| What confirms each action? | A person, every time, before it happens. |
| Is every change logged? | Who, what, when and which channel. |
| Can access be limited per person? | By company and by topic, like margins. |
| What happens when data is missing? | It says it doesn't know. |
| How is personal data protected? | A DPA, a subprocessor list, and no training on your data. |
Our guide to connecting AI to your ERP safely walks through each point in more detail.
The bottom line
Voice makes the ERP usable from the road. Human approval makes it safe. Put the two together and your reps get answers and take orders from the car, while finance keeps the final word on everything that touches the books.