During an ERP rollout everyone looks at processes, interfaces and master data. The lasting value arises somewhere else. In the first weeks of use, a continuous picture of the business emerges for the first time: purchasing, sales, finance, service and production no longer deliver separate figures but traceable relationships.
It is precisely this picture that makes modern AI functions usable at all. A model that only masters language can formulate text. A system that knows business objects and their relationships recognises deviations, thresholds and shifts and can derive suggested actions that actually fit the business.
For mid-sized firms this implies a clear order: first the continuous data foundation, then the AI application. Reversing that order produces impressive demonstrations and little effect in daily work.