Agentic B2B Is Here. Are Your Contracts and Invoices Ready?

Will the “A” in AR (accounts receivable) and AP (accounts payable) ever stand for “Agentic?”

The future may not be as far off as some CFOs believe. On Friday (April 17), for example, billing and revenue automation platform Zenskar raised $15 million in new funding to expand its agentic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

As AI agents become more capable, the organizations that can feed them high-quality, structured data could be better positioned to gain a decisive advantage over those that cling to document-centric and human-optimized processes.

The problem is that most B2B contracts and AP/AR workflows were never designed for an agentic reality. These fundamental operational artifacts are frequently dense, ambiguous and optimized for human judgment rather than machine execution.

In contrast, an AI-native organization would treat traditional contracts and invoices as structured data from the outset. Every clause, payment term and obligation becomes a discrete, machine-readable element. Instead of parsing text after the fact, systems can directly ingest, interpret and act on the data in real time.

A contract written for humans requires interpretation. A contract structured for machines enables execution. In this emerging landscape, B2B contracts and invoices are no longer just legal documents but operational instructions that data management best practices make interpretable by machines.

See also: What Agentic Commerce Can Learn From B2B Payments

Does AI Spell the End of Human-Only B2B Contracts?

With contracts and invoices becoming machine-readable, the possibilities of fully autonomous financial workflows can come into focus for CFOs. AI agents can negotiate terms within predefined parameters, execute transactions based on real-time conditions and enforce agreements without human intervention.

For CFOs, this represents an opportunity to reduce cycle times, improve cash flow visibility and minimize disputes. But it also requires a willingness to rethink long-standing processes and invest in data infrastructure.

If contracts are to be executed by AI agents, they must be designed with machine readability in mind. Key elements such as pricing models, payment schedules, service-level agreements and termination conditions should be explicitly defined in standardized formats. Ambiguity, while sometimes useful in human negotiations, becomes a liability when machines are tasked with execution.

Invoices are undergoing a similar transformation. In an AI-driven environment, invoices become real-time signals within a continuous financial workflow. They are generated, validated and reconciled automatically, with discrepancies flagged and resolved by agents before they escalate.

To enable this, invoices must be standardized and structured from the point of creation. This includes consistent data fields, clear linkage to underlying contracts, and integration with procurement and payment systems.

Findings from PYMNTS Intelligence’s November edition of the Payments Optimization Tracker® Series revealed that as agentic AI systems mature, descriptions optimized for human persuasion, like rich imagery, narrative copy and lifestyle framing, must be complemented by precise, unambiguous metadata, like specifications, dimensions, compatibility, warranties, return policies and availability in consistent formats.

See also: Agentic AI Puts a Face on Corporate Treasury’s Next Leap

How CFOs Can Structure Their Organizational Data for the AI Era

The transition to agent-ready contracts and invoices is not a single project; it is a foundational shift in how organizations think about data. It requires investment in systems, alignment across functions and a willingness to challenge entrenched practices.

Research from PYMNTS Intelligence has shown that 83% of companies have yet to fully automate their accounts receivable operations, with data fragmentation a key limitation.

For CFOs, the starting point is often an audit of existing processes and data structures. Where are the inconsistencies? Which documents are most critical to operations? How easily can key terms be extracted and acted upon?

Billtrust Chief Product Officer Lee An Schommer said in a recent PYMNTS interview that companies manage an average of three enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, leading to data silos that make it tough to get a unified view of customer behavior, payment history and dispute patterns.

At the same time, the introduction of AI agents into contractual and financial workflows is likely to raise important questions about accountability. If an agent negotiates a term or triggers a payment, who is responsible for the outcome?

Organizations must also look to remain vigilant about the risks associated with automation. Bias in training data, errors in logic and unforeseen edge cases can all have material consequences. Robust oversight mechanisms are essential to mitigate these risks.

But while it can be tempting to view the agentic transformation as a matter of adopting new tools or platforms, in reality, it is a competitive reset. In a world where machines are becoming active participants in commerce, the structure of contracts and invoices may determine which firms are able to move faster, operate more efficiently and respond more effectively to changing conditions.

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