Insights · Glossary
Glossary: the terms of enterprise AI process automation.
Twelve terms that come up again and again when people discuss AI agents in SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft 365. Each with a short definition and an example from voluro Nexus.
Agentic process automation
The execution of business processes by AI agents that read data from several systems, assess each case against defined rules and create transactions themselves. Standard cases run through without manual work, while exceptions go to the responsible person with a reason attached.
Example in voluro Nexus
A won opportunity in Salesforce is checked and created as a sales order in SAP. An order with a special discount goes to the sales manager first.
Guarded Autonomy
A set of rules that decides for every agent action whether it runs automatically, needs approval or is denied. The check runs outside the language model, by fixed rules.
Example in voluro Nexus
A standard €8,000 order from an existing customer runs automatically. €85,000 with a special discount goes to the sales manager. For a blocked customer, nothing is created.
Human-in-the-loop
HITL
A person takes part in the decision at a defined point in the process before the system continues. The process owner decides where that point is.
Example in voluro Nexus
The approval request arrives as a card in Teams or in Outlook, with the prepared order, the rule and the reason. The responsible person approves, rejects or sends the case back with a comment.
Straight-through processing (STP rate)
STP, touchless processing
Straight-through processing means a case runs through without manual intervention. The STP rate is the share of such cases: cases without intervention divided by all cases in the period.
Example in voluro Nexus
Nexus measures the autonomy rate per process alongside approval rate, blocked cases and processing time. We set the baseline and target in the proof of value.
Clean core
An SAP approach: the ERP core stays unmodified, and extensions run through released APIs, events and services on SAP BTP. That keeps upgrades manageable.
Example in voluro Nexus
Nexus creates sales orders through the released S/4HANA sales order API, such as API_SALES_ORDER_SRV. If a function is missing, it is built as a custom API or BTP service.
MCP server
Model Context Protocol
The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that lets AI applications use the tools and data of other systems. An MCP server provides such tools.
Example in voluro Nexus
Through the Nexus MCP server, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude call Nexus agents as a tool. In the other direction, Nexus connects other systems’ MCP servers as tools and secures them like its own.
Idempotency
An operation is idempotent if running it several times has the same result as running it once. Writing agents need this, because network errors and retries happen.
Example in voluro Nexus
Every call carries a transaction key. If a run breaks off and is retried, the sales order in SAP is still created only once.
Agent tool
A registered system action with fixed parameters and its own permissions that an agent may call. An agent can only use the tools assigned to it.
Example in voluro Nexus
erp.salesOrder.create creates a sales order, erp.customer.check checks the business partner and blocks. In your landscape, both are mapped to the matching SAP interfaces.
Process pack
A prepared business solution for a recurring process, with trigger, flow, control points and metrics. During the project it is mapped onto your systems.
Example in voluro Nexus
The order-to-cash pack handles order processing from the purchase order or won opportunity to the confirmed sales order.
Audit trail with hash chain
Tamper-evident log
A complete log of all actions. In a hash chain, every entry contains a checksum of the previous one. If an entry is changed afterwards, the chain breaks and the change becomes visible.
Example in voluro Nexus
For each action, Nexus records the context read, the rule and its version, the tool call, the result and the approver. Verifying the chain shows “chain intact”.
On-prem relay
Relay service
A small service in your own network that makes systems behind the firewall reachable. It opens outbound connections only, and no inbound port is opened.
Example in voluro Nexus
An SAP ECC system in your data center reaches Nexus through the relay. It forwards tool calls only to targets on its local allowlist, and credentials stay in your network.
AI register (EU AI Act)
A register of the AI systems a company uses, with purpose, risk class, owner and review dates. It provides the overview needed for the obligations under the EU AI Act.
Example in voluro Nexus
Nexus keeps an AI register listing every agent with its risk class, owner and review date.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Guarded Autonomy and human-in-the-loop?
Human-in-the-loop means a person takes part in a decision at some point. Guarded Autonomy defines when that is necessary: per action, the rules decide whether the agent acts alone, requests approval or stops.
Is an agent tool the same as an API?
An agent tool uses an API and adds fixed parameters, permissions and rules. An agent calls the tool, never the API directly.
Do AI agents in SAP require clean core and S/4HANA?
No. Nexus also works with SAP ECC and on-premise systems through the relay service. Clean core and S/4HANA offer more released APIs, which makes many things easier.
Read on
What is agentic process automation?
Definition, how it works, its limits and an order-to-cash example.
AI agent, RPA or workflow?
A decision guide with comparison table.
voluro Nexus
The platform for agents, agent tools, rules and monitoring.
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