What changes when agents do the work
AI agents answer questions about financial and procurement data in conversation, then go further by summarising risk, recommending next steps and handing back a prioritised action plan. They can also guide employees through common human resources (HR) requests and route them to the right action instead of returning a list of help topics. AI-generated recommendations help people identify what needs attention next and where to focus their time.None of that replaces a decision. It removes the searching, report building and internal triage that used to sit in front of the decision. For a finance team of four, or a payroll office running a weekly cycle for several thousand employees, that reclaimed time is the point.
What agentic AI looks like in day-to-day operations
In public sector organisations, people deliver the services communities depend on, so an open shift is more than a staffing problem. It can interrupt the work itself. When a bus driver calls out sick on a school day, or an engineer is out for site inspection day, someone must find a qualified replacement. They must determine availability, make the offer, confirm acceptance and update the schedule—typically within an hour and usually by phone.Open Shift Automation in Infor Workforce Management identifies eligible candidates, manages the offers, runs the approval workflow and monitors fulfilment. The scheduler is no longer scrambling to find qualified coverage. Shifts are filled, overtime stays visible and the expected services are delivered without interruption.
Catching problems before they land
Public sector agencies do not get quiet failures. A payroll error becomes a correction cycle, and a potential grievance. A billing discrepancy becomes a spike in call volume. An audit finding becomes a public document. The cost of finding out late is measured in trust as much as dollars.Finding a problem is useful. Finding it before it reaches an employee, resident, auditor or elected official is far more valuable. Finance teams can be alerted to unusual transaction patterns before they become reconciliation exercises. Payroll teams can identify irregularities before payroll is finalised, when corrections are still simple and routine. Workforce leaders can spot coverage gaps, workload imbalances and fatigue risk before they affect schedules. The value is in the timing. The earlier an issue surfaces, the fewer people it affects and the less work it creates.
Where AI agents act first, and where a person stays
As agents take on more work, agencies need visibility into the actions they perform, the decisions they make and where human review or approval is required. New governance and orchestration capabilities provide that visibility, helping agencies establish guardrails, monitor interactions and coordinate work across multiple agents and processes.
Guardrails are only useful if an agency has decided where the line should be drawn. That decision belongs to the agency, and the most workable way to make it is by consequence rather than department.
Examples of lower-risk tasks agents can handle, with actions recorded for auditability:
- Routing a requisition to the right approver
- Flagging an invoice that does not match its receipt
- Identifying expired qualifications and recommending corrections
- Guiding an employee through a time-off request or an address change
Examples of decisions that should require human review and approval:
- Benefit denials and eligibility determinations
- License and permit revocations
- Disciplinary action and separations
- Procurement awards and contract exceptions
Without a clearly defined line, agencies can default to reviewing everything or reviewing almost nothing. Configurable guardrails give the line a place to live in the system, while interaction tracing produces the record that makes a decision defensible later.
See agentic AI in practice
The goal is not to automate everything—it is to automate the right work and remain accountable for the outcome. Join us on Thursday, November 5, at 11AM ET for our upcoming webinar, The Agentic Enterprise and Infor Velocity Suite: Building Your AI and Automation Roadmap for Public Sector and Services Organisations.
In one hour, we will cover what Infor is building across AI and automation, how to identify the right opportunities and how the Infor AI Adoption Hub can help you build a practical innovation roadmap.
Not ready for an hour? Infor’s AI opportunity assessment takes about two minutes and provides a readiness score, along with recommended use cases tailored to your role and agency.
Jessica Dunyon
Director of Solution Marketing for Public Sector, Infor
Jessica is the director of solution marketing for public sector at Infor with nearly 2 decades of industry experience.
Prior to Infor, Jessica's professional career trajectory started with food & beverage operations leadership then shifted to the frontlines of gov tech startups, learning sales, marketing, project delivery, and customer engagement on the job. She contributed expertise at various organizational levels, from entry-level positions to strategic leadership roles, where her adaptability and comprehensive understanding of business dynamics defined strategy and steered successful outcomes.
Jess has an MBA with an emphasis in Management and Strategy from Western Governors University, a BS in Journalism and Communication from Utah State University, and she's a certified Project Management Professional since 2011. She was recently recognized for 8 years of service on her city’s planning & zoning commission, serving as chair for the last 2.
A recent empty nester, Jessica lives near Salt Lake City and rides motorcycles as often and as fast as she can. Ask her about upcoming travel plans or to share pictures of her dogs.