Initial Situation
Public utilities are under intense pressure: climate targets, digitalization, skills shortages, and increasing competition require new solutions. Many processes—particularly in customer service, contract management, and financial accounting—are still paper-based or manual. This leads to high costs, long processing times, and susceptibility to errors.
At the same time, regulatory pressure is increasing: With the EU AI Act, stricter requirements for transparency, traceability, and risk management of AI systems have been in effect since August 2024.
Objective
- Increased efficiency through automation of repetitive, manual tasks.
- Improved data quality and reduced errors in data entry.
- Reduced workload for employees, allowing them to focus on more value-added activities.
- Ensured compliance and transparency to meet regulatory requirements.
Description of the Use Case
1. Document intelligence (example: contract changes)
- AI systems automatically extract relevant data (e.g., customer number, tariff details, address changes) from incoming PDFs or scans.
- The information is assigned to the correct customer account in the CRM system.
- Special cases are forwarded to employees.
Result: Manual data entry work is reduced by up to 95%, processing time is drastically reduced, and data quality is improved.
2. Automated invoice processing
- An AI model is trained using historical accounting transactions.
- New invoices are automatically classified, assigned to accounts, and transferred to the workflow system.
- Only exceptions require manual review.
Result: Significant reduction in the workload for financial accounting, lower accounting costs, and fewer returns.
3. Customer service through AI-supported voicebots
- Standard inquiries such as meter readings or contract information are answered fully automatically by voicebots.
- The system is integrated with CRM and telephony and forwards more complex issues to employees.
Result: Over a third of all inquiries can be handled automatically, waiting times are reduced, and customer satisfaction increases.
Benefit
- Cost reduction: Less manual processing means lower personnel costs.
Productivity increase: Faster turnaround times for customer and financial processes. - Customer satisfaction: 24/7 service through voicebots and self-service offerings.
- Sustainability: Less paper, more efficient processes, and optimized grid integration of renewable energies.
- Future-proofing: Compliance with the EU AI Act creates trust and legal certainty.
Success Factors
- Data quality: AI requires clean, structured data.
- Strategic integration: AI is not a tool silo, but a digital workforce that holistically supports business processes.
- Governance: Clear rules for transparency, monitoring, and risk management.
- Gradual rollout: Start with pilot projects, then scale up to other processes.
Opportunities
Risks
In short:
With AI-supported document and invoice processing and intelligent customer service, municipal utilities can not only reduce costs and accelerate processes, but also meet increasing regulatory requirements and thus position themselves sustainably for the future.
Future-proofing your company
