AI in your business: where to start and what it can deliver

Isometric illustration of a gradual rollout of AI automation for administrative work

AI tends to pay off fastest in the work your business repeats every day: sorting email, drafting replies, gathering documents, checking financial data and preparing management reports. You do not need a large project or an in-house development team to get started. You need one clearly defined task, a measure of success and a person who approves what the AI prepares. This article explains what AI can do in a business, how to introduce it into administration and logistics, how to measure the time it saves, and which rules apply in Slovenia and the EU.

At a glance

AI can take on routine administrative work, such as sorting email, invoices and documents, and prepare drafts for a person to approve.
Do not start by buying licences. Start with one process that takes up time every day, and expand only once it delivers a result.
Measure from day one: time spent on the task, response times and the number of corrections. Most Slovenian organisations do not measure the impact of their AI use at all.
Your business remains responsible for its decisions. For every automation, name the person who checks and approves the result.
The EU AI Act classifies systems by risk. Data protection rules still apply to personal information in email and documents.

What AI actually does in a business
How far Slovenian businesses have come
AI in administration: tasks you can hand over
AI in logistics and transport
How to measure productivity gains from AI
How to introduce AI into your business: six steps
Data, the AI Act and human oversight
Our perspective
Start with one task
Frequently asked questions
Sources

What AI actually does in a business

The European Council describes artificial intelligence as the use of digital technology to create systems that perform tasks which would normally require a person. These systems learn to recognise patterns from large amounts of data. In practice, AI can read a message, identify what it is about and prepare the next step: a category, a draft reply, a summary or an alert.

According to the GZS ZIT guide to introducing artificial intelligence, AI is spreading rapidly through manufacturing, services, retail, agriculture, healthcare and security. Its main benefits are higher productivity, increased revenue and stronger competitiveness. The guide specifically highlights industries built around document processing, such as accounting and legal services, where AI can support or fully take over individual routine tasks.

There are two very different ways to use it:

An individual uses a chatbot. An employee opens a tool, pastes in some text and copies the result back. This can help, but it remains dependent on the individual and does not become part of the process.
AI is built into the process. The system connects to your inbox, folders and business tools. It does the work automatically, while a person reviews and approves the result.

The second approach delivers more value. In the Inkubator material on AI in business, Jožica Sofia Andrini emphasises that the greatest business value comes from improving entire processes, rather than isolated tasks.

How far Slovenian businesses have come

Adoption is rising sharply. According to statistical office figures reported by Lider, 38% of businesses with at least ten employees use AI technology in 2026. The figures are 34% for small businesses, 52% for medium-sized businesses and 83% for large businesses.

Research by the Artificial Intelligence Competence Centre shows how deeply that use has become embedded:

Indicator (Slovenian organisations)	Share
Use AI at least in pilot projects	65.1%
Have AI in production or are scaling it up	44.2%
Use AI occasionally, at an individual level	54.3%
Have integrated AI into core processes	16.3%
Do not measure the impact of AI use	67.4%

Most businesses are therefore already experimenting with AI, but few have incorporated it into everyday work and know what it delivers. The same research shows that AI adoption follows digital maturity. Among digitally advanced organisations, 76.2% have solutions in production or are scaling them up, compared with just 31.8% of those at an early stage. Well-organised processes, data and clear responsibilities are therefore essential if AI is to move from experiments into regular use.

AI in administration: tasks you can hand over

Administration is the best place to start. The European Commission finds that business support processes, such as HR, finance and CRM, are less complex and easier to automate, making them a useful testing ground with opportunities for quick wins. The GZS ZIT guide gives examples such as routing incoming invoices, reviewing and classifying documents, and sorting email. In her article on AI in small businesses, Polona Cimprič also includes preparing quotations and correspondence, summarising legislative updates, analysing basic sales data and producing promotional content.

Here is how the work can be shared between AI and your team:

Task	What AI prepares	What stays with your team
Email	Sorts incoming messages by subject and urgency, and drafts replies	Reviewing and sending
Open matters	Flags unanswered messages and missed deadlines	Deciding who takes ownership
Finance	Collects and checks financial data, and flags discrepancies	Approval and action
Daily tasks and calendar	Coordinates tasks, suggests meeting times and organises the calendar	The final schedule
Order documents	Gathers missing documents and checks that everything is in place	Releasing the order
Sales enquiries	Summarises the enquiry and drafts a quotation	Pricing and terms
Marketing	Drafts posts and copy	Editing and publishing
Management reports	Collects data and prepares a summary	Interpretation and decisions

All these tasks have three things in common: they recur, follow recognisable rules and produce drafts in which a person can quickly spot an error. That makes them ideal candidates for a first automation. If you run an accounting firm, where documents make up a particularly large part of the workload, explore AI automation for accounting firms.

AI in logistics and transport

Logistics involves a large amount of time-sensitive administration. In a single day, a dispatcher or administrator handles transport enquiries, sends quotations, gathers transport documents, delivery notes and invoices, coordinates carriers, and answers customers asking where their shipment is. Most of this work happens over email.

Transport documents being handed over at a logistics loading bay

The growing role of AI in logistics is also reflected in the logistics trends for 2026, which discuss generative AI for suggested freight rates, along with the digitalisation and automation of administrative steps. These systems take pressure off specialists rather than replacing them.

In a transport business, AI can:

Sort incoming enquiries by route, cargo type and urgency, then draft a reply or quotation.
Gather the documents needed to fulfil an order and flag anything missing before the truck leaves.
Flag open matters, such as a customer waiting for confirmation or a complaint that has not received a reply.
Coordinate the team's daily tasks so work is not duplicated or left sitting between two people.
Prepare a management report on the number of enquiries handled, response times and outstanding items.

These steps do not interfere with your TMS or route planning. They reduce the burden on people who are currently overwhelmed by email every day. To see how we approach this, visit AI agents for logistics and transport.

How to measure productivity gains from AI

Because two-thirds of organisations do not measure AI's impact, conversations about it often come down to impressions. Measurement is straightforward if you start before implementation.

The Inkubator material identifies enquiry response times, quotation conversion rates, customer satisfaction and process productivity as useful indicators. AI can help monitor these continuously so you can act in time. For administrative work, we suggest four measures:

Time spent on the task: how many minutes your team spends on the chosen task each day.
Response time: how many hours pass between receiving a message and replying.
Correction rate: how many AI drafts need substantial changes.
Missed follow-ups: how many messages or deadlines are left without a response.

A worked example. Suppose an administrator spends 90 minutes a day sorting email and writing routine replies. After implementation, reviewing and approving drafts takes 30 minutes. That saves 60 minutes a day, or 21 hours a month for one person over 21 working days. If the correction rate is high, improve the system's instructions before expanding the task.

Record a baseline for one to two weeks before implementation, then compare the figures after a few weeks. Our guide to measuring the results of a pilot explains the process in detail.

How to introduce AI into your business: six steps

Inkubator stresses that implementation begins with understanding your business, rather than choosing a tool. Most small and medium-sized businesses benefit more from improving one process and expanding gradually than from introducing AI everywhere at once. This sequence also works in practice:

Define the problem. Where do you lose the most time? Where does work get stuck? Write down one sentence, such as: “On average, we take six hours to respond to an enquiry.”
Choose the first task. It should happen frequently, have clear rules and allow errors to be corrected quickly. Sorting email and drafting replies are often a good choice.
Review your data and tools. The DIH Slovenia guide for small and medium-sized businesses identifies four foundations for successful implementation: company culture, people, data and infrastructure. Connect the solution to the tools you already use so your team does not have to change its habits.
Assign ownership and approvals. One person is responsible for the process, and one person approves the results before they go out.
Run a time-limited pilot. Agree the success criteria and duration in advance, for example six weeks.
Expand gradually. Once the first task works and the figures are clear, add the next one: from email to finance, then from finance to reporting.

The European Commission has another encouraging finding for smaller businesses: SMEs can access AI solutions in much the same way as large businesses, because AI is increasingly built into the software businesses already use.

Data, the AI Act and human oversight

The EU's Artificial Intelligence Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 entered into force on 1 August 2024. It classifies systems by risk: some practices are prohibited, while high-risk systems face stricter requirements for risk management, documentation, transparency, human oversight, accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity. DIH Slovenia's Guide to Introducing AI in Businesses 2.0 also provides an overview of risk categories and obligations.

For safe everyday use in administration, we recommend:

Know which data passes through the system. Email and orders contain personal information about customers and drivers. Before connecting an inbox, establish what AI can access, where the data is processed and who can see it. If you are unsure about the legal basis or a data processing agreement, consult your data protection officer or a lawyer before implementation.
Have a person approve anything before it goes out. Polona Cimprič points out that AI does not take responsibility for business decisions and remains a tool requiring professional oversight. Approval is a required step for contracts, pricing and financial data.
Match oversight to the consequences. Internal email categorisation needs less checking than a quotation sent to a customer.
Write a short internal policy. Set out what employees may use AI for, what they must not enter, who approves a new tool and what to do when an error occurs.

To see how we handle this, read about AI security: data, access and approvals and our guide, AI prepares, you approve.

Our perspective

The businesses we work with do not need AI because it is fashionable. They need it because email, documents and coordination consume hours every day that they could spend with customers. That is why we always start with one agreed task, rather than a list of everything AI could do.

We adapt the solution to your processes and the tools you already use. Your team does not have to learn a new system, because AI works where they already work. Our team handles all setup and maintenance, led by founder Marko Bizjak, who is personally responsible for the system's implementation and operation.

We believe in expanding gradually. Once the first task delivers a result, we add the next one, and build from there. Throughout, you can see what each automation does and approve anything that goes out. That is how AI becomes part of the team, rather than an experiment nobody uses after two months.

Editorial team

Start with one task

If administration is overwhelming your team, the quickest starting point is a 45-day pilot for €690. Together, we choose one task, such as sorting email and drafting replies, connect it to your tools and measure how much time it saves.

Marvixdigital

If you choose to continue, the subscription is €490 per month, with each additional AI employee costing €400 per month. Changes beyond the included allowance are billed at €70 per hour. AI usage and hosting are billed separately, and custom integrations are agreed individually. AI employees for email, finance and coordination are available, and you can find full details on our pilot pricing page.

All prices exclude VAT. Continuing after the pilot is a separate decision, confirmed in writing. The subscription begins with three months paid upfront (€1,470), followed by monthly billing at €490. Each additional AI employee also starts with three months paid upfront (€1,200), followed by €400 per month.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need an in-house IT specialist to introduce AI?

No. Our team, led by the founder, handles setup, connections to your tools and maintenance. We need someone on your side who understands the process and approves the results.

Will AI reply to customers on its own?

AI prepares a draft, which you review and approve. You remain responsible for the content, in line with professional guidance. You retain oversight of every automation throughout.

Do we have to replace the software we already use?

No. We adapt the solution to your existing tools so your team can keep working in a familiar environment. Custom integrations are agreed separately.

How long will it take to see results?

The pilot lasts 45 days. During that time, the first task is put into use, and you can compare the time spent before and after implementation using concrete figures. The results help you decide whether to expand.

Does AI make sense for a smaller business too?

Yes. Smaller teams often feel the benefit of every hour saved most keenly. Start with one task and expand only once it delivers a result.