Unilever and Nestlé Bring AI Agents into the Order-to-Cash Cycle

Unilever: NOVA Cuts Order Processing to 90 Seconds

Unilever's NOVA system is already handling initial orders in 11 pilot markets, processing each in about 90 seconds—down from 15 to 20 minutes previously. The company says 95% of orders in these markets pass through without human intervention. Unilever processes roughly 20 million orders annually, of which about 2 million arrive as emails, PDFs, spreadsheets, and photos of paper forms; NOVA uses four agents to read and extract order information, with a fifth agent responsible for review, while missing information and exceptions are routed to staff.

Nestlé: SAP Receivables Assistants for Collections

On the collections side, Nestlé is advancing dunning with SAP's receivables assistant. Luca Dell'Orletta, Nestlé's global head of IT innovation and enterprise architecture, said that its SAP transformation across 140 countries provides the foundation for recommended collection actions. In a product update on October 26, SAP listed seven receivables agents covering account analysis, collection preparation, email correspondence, dispute creation and resolution, and coordination, and said they are being rolled out in phases.

Automation Is Rising, but Integration Remains a Barrier

According to research by PYMNTS Intelligence and JPMorgan, surveyed companies have automated an average of 73% of their accounts receivable processes, up from 55% the previous year; 90% of CFOs still cite system integration complexity as an obstacle.

Source: https://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2026/unilever-and-nestle-put-ai-to-work-between-orders-and-payments/