An AI approval routing agent reads the request's value, category, department and tags, and builds the approval path your rules require, naming each approver and the order they act in.
A request is ready to go for approval.
The agent reads approval rules by amount and type.
It builds the list of required approvers.
Absences and delegates are applied.
Each named approver approves or rejects.
Decisions and timing stay on the record.
It sends each approver a clear summary with the facts needed to decide, and applies delegation and out-of-office settings so requests do not wait on someone who is away.
It records every step and outcome. The agent never approves or rejects; it moves the request between the people who do.
Approval paths are rarely simple, and mistakes in routing either delay a purchase or let it skip a required approver.
Different amounts, categories and cost centres each need different approvers.
People move teams and the routing continues to send requests to former managers.
A bare link gives them no basis to decide, so they delay.
A manual route can omit someone required for a risky or high-value purchase.
A request sits with someone on leave because nobody set a backup.
The agent takes the amount, category, department, risk tags and vendor from the record.
It applies the approval rules to list required approvers and the order of approval.
Out-of-office status and delegations are applied so each step has an active approver.
Each approver gets a summary of the request, its checks and what is needed from them.
The chosen path, the reasons and every action are written to the record.
Bring a small sample and watch Flo work through it.
| Aspect | By hand | With the agent |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing approvers | Buyers work out who must approve each time. | The required approvers are derived from the rules for the request. |
| Availability | Requests wait for approvers on leave. | Delegates are read from the delegation record. |
| Wrong approver | Requests go to the wrong person and are bounced. | The reason for each approver is shown on the request. |
| Order | Parallel and sequential approvals are mixed up. | The agent follows the defined order for the request type. |
| Audit | It is hard to show why someone approved. | The rule, approver and decision are stored together. |
| If | Then | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Amount falls in a defined approval band | Route to the approvers for that band | Approvers decide |
| Request category needs a specialist approver | Add the specialist to the path | Specialist decides |
| Approver is the requester | Replace with the next level and note why | Next level approves |
| Approver is on leave with a delegate | Route to the delegate and tell the approver | Delegate decides |
| No approver found for the department | Hold and ask for a rule | Procurement lead resolves |
| Request value is revised upward | Recalculate the path and add approvers | New approvers decide |
A manager raises a request that would route to themselves. The agent routes to the next level up and notes why, and the lead confirms the rule.
A reporting line changed and the rule points to someone who moved. The agent flags a missing or changed role and the lead updates the mapping.
Costs split across departments may need both heads. The agent proposes both and the buyer confirms.
A new type of request has no rule. The agent sends it to the general approver and logs the gap for the lead.
Talk it through with the team. We will map it to your steps and show where a person stays in control.
Begin with a single amount band and department.
Compare agent routing with what buyers would have chosen.
Bring in category rules and absences after the base path is stable.
Check a sample of routes against policy each quarter.
Cycle time = date approved or rejected − date sent for approval, averaged across requestsIt shows how long requests spend in approval. Break it down by approver and path to see whether delay comes from the rules, the people or missing context.
Quick answers to what people ask most about approval routing.
Book a demoIt is deciding who must approve a purchase and sending the request to them in order. An AI agent applies your rules, notifies approvers and records the route, while the approvers decide.
No. It moves the request between the people who approve. Every approval or rejection is made by an authorised person.
The agent uses the delegation or backup set for that person. If none exists, it flags the request to a lead instead of leaving it waiting.
It applies the rules you have set and cannot waive an approver. Changes to the path come from people updating the rules or granting an exception.
Request category assignment is the step of placing a purchase request in the right spend category, such as marketing software, contract labour or office equipment.
→Approval chain configuration is the work of defining who approves which purchases, in what order and under what conditions.
→Request cost estimation is the step of working out what a requested purchase will really cost over its term, not only the headline price.
→Approval delegation is the arrangement by which an approver's authority passes temporarily to someone else, for example during leave.
→Bring a small sample of real items. We will show what Flo handles on its own and where it hands over to your team.
