How DATIFY became an everyday working tool

You do not spot the most active user by the number of clicks. You spot them by how much real work they manage to move into the system, and whether the company keeps running normally afterwards.

When we talked to the most active DATIFY user at ČSAD Hodonín, it was not about one trial table or a few documents parked “for later”. DATIFY here handles invoice approval, contract management, vehicles, registration documents and internal rules. Dozens of approval workflows run over the data, and the HR agenda is next in line.

ČSAD Hodonín also keeps adding new users. Not because someone issued an order that everyone must use it from tomorrow, but because the app proved itself in real operations. And real operations expose the weak spots of software faster than any presentation.

A transport company is not one process. Nor seven tables

ČSAD Hodonín provides passenger and freight transport in the Czech Republic and abroad. Alongside that it handles parcel delivery, the fuel trade, vehicle repairs, car sales and servicing, and customs services.

A company like that does not produce one type of document and does not have one universal procedure. Every division deals with different information, deadlines and responsibilities. On top of that sit hundreds of vehicles, employees, contracts and technical documents.

The memory of experienced colleagues is valuable in transport. As a database it has awkwardly limited search, and even worse cover when someone is away.

That is why ČSAD Hodonín built separate agendas for controlled documents, code lists, freight transport, invoices, contracts, vehicle registration documents and the fleet overview. Each has its own structure, but all of them stay part of one workspace.

Simplicity that survived contact with real operations

When building DATIFY we often talk about a simple, clear workspace. So does almost everyone else about their product. The real test comes when a larger number of people from different parts of a company step in and each of them needs to do something different.

At ČSAD Hodonín, DATIFY passed that test. Users keep being added and the system keeps spreading into new areas. A new colleague can focus on their own agenda instead of first sitting through an intensive course in navigating the interface.

That steady growth in the number of users is one of the best confirmations for us that the system has settled into everyday operations. You can order people to use software. A good working tool is one they start using on their own.

An invoice does not know who should approve it. The system should

One of the most used areas is the approval of internal invoices. ČSAD Hodonín holds hundreds of them in DATIFY.

Every record carries the invoice number, date, amount, supplier, customer, description, attachments, the approver responsible and the current status. Documents can be shown by approver or in a kanban view by processing stage. Kanban has become the most popular way to work.

At a glance you can see what has just been entered, what is waiting for a decision, what has been approved and what has made it into the books. No digging through email, and none of that favourite office discipline of working out who is holding it right now.

Dozens of approval workflows, one shared principle

ČSAD Hodonín runs a great many automated approval workflows over its invoices. Each scenario works with specific divisions and approvers.

When an invoice meets the conditions set, DATIFY hands it to the right person for confirmation. Depending on their decision it changes the status of the document, sends it to the next stage or notifies whoever should carry on.

An approved document can move on to accounting. A rejected one gets the matching status and goes back to be completed or corrected. People still decide. The system only makes sure their decision does not end as a lone click with no follow-up.

ČSAD Hodonín set the scenarios up around its own organisational structure. This is where the difference between record keeping and a managed process shows clearly: the first tells you where a document is sitting. The second knows what should happen to it.

A registration document is simple. But…

The ČSAD Hodonín fleet covers cars and service buses, trucks, tractor units, trailers and specialist machinery.

DATIFY holds every one of its vehicles, including registration documents and hundreds of inspection records. Alongside them sit COC certificates, green cards, insurance policies, lease agreements and ownership change records.

The data sources are linked to each other. For a given vehicle you can pull up the related documentation, the date of the next inspection and the validity of its insurance.

For a single vehicle you can hold that in your head for a while. For a whole fleet it is better to leave the ambition to the system.

From a registration document straight to usable data

ČSAD Hodonín has finished testing AI extraction of vehicle registration documents. The test went well.

Instead of retyping by hand, DATIFY can read the registration number, VIN, registration dates, vehicle category, make, model, power output or emission standard straight from the document.

The extracted information goes into prepared columns, where the user checks it and can work with it further. The data can be filtered, compared and linked with other information about the vehicle.

So this is not only about typing faster. A PDF turns into usable data, a fairly significant career move for a document.

AI that stuck around after the demo

AI is easy to talk about. Getting it to reliably help with real work on a Monday morning is somewhat harder.

At ČSAD Hodonín both the AI Assistant and the AI Architect have proved themselves. The assistant helps work with document content and the information held in data sources. People can ask in plain language and reach what they need faster.

The AI Architect helps when a new set of records is needed. From a description it proposes the structure, the data sources and the columns required. Nobody starts from an empty table and the traditional question of what actually belongs in it.

That is important feedback for us. The value of AI in a company is not measured by applause during a demonstration. It is measured by whether the user opens it again the next day of their own accord.

Hundreds of contracts without digital archaeology

ČSAD Hodonín also manages hundreds of contracts in DATIFY: from leases and service agreements to supply arrangements, software maintenance and other operational deals.

Each contract can carry the division responsible, attachments, the date it was signed, when it takes effect and when it expires. The AI Assistant helps navigate their content and automations watch the important dates.

A digital archive can, after all, be just a more expensive filing cabinet. The difference appears once the system knows what a document contains, when it expires and who to tell about it.

Next stop: the HR agenda

The next step is moving the HR agenda into DATIFY. The structure being prepared covers employees, ID and driving licences, medical certificates, employment contracts and their amendments.

And who helped design the structure of the new data sources? The AI Architect. So the HR agenda did not start with an empty table, but with a proposal that could be discussed, adjusted and put into practice right away.

What came of it? Less searching, more managing

The ČSAD Hodonín case shows what happens when a company treats DATIFY as more than a place to store documents.

Invoices gained approval workflows and automatic follow-ups. Vehicles are linked to registration documents, inspections, insurance policies and lease details. Contracts have clear deadlines and responsible divisions. AI helps create new records, find information and extract technical documents. And the number of users keeps growing.

Data will not drive a bus, of course. But a well configured system makes sure the people who can drive it do not spend part of their working day looking for a document, checking its status or tracking down who was supposed to approve it.

That is simply well organised work. And in operations this fast, being organised really is needed.