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Herbert Insights and Innovations (HI&I) creates organizational structure by improving the process before automating it. The firm breaks work into clearly owned human tasks, documents the rules and evidence required at each step, then configures workflows for routing, approvals, notifications, integrations and reporting. People remain accountable for decisions; artificial intelligence can recommend an action or flag a policy mismatch, but it does not become the approval authority.
This approach is aimed at government contractors, healthcare organizations, colleges and universities, public schools, school districts and other organizations that must prove who did what, when it happened and why a request advanced. Its clearest documented application is enterprise procurement: standardizing purchasing intake and approval while integrating with an ERP instead of leaving employees to reconstruct the trail later.
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HI&I combines business-process improvement with workflow implementation. It does not stop at drawing a process map or configuring a software form. The work described by the company runs from procedure optimization to documentation, workflow automation and continuous improvement.
That distinction matters in organizations where a process may be understood informally but executed differently by each department. HI&I translates institutional knowledge into explicit tasks, owners, decision rules, required information and evidence. A resulting workflow can make the expected path visible to employees while giving finance, compliance and management a reliable history of exceptions and approvals.
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The firm’s stated scope includes vendor management, purchasing, accounts payable, billing, procurement, general approvals, human resources and information technology. Martin J. Herbert is identified as president and CEO, and Jessica A. Herbert as chairwoman, CFO and CTO. The sectors named in the company profile include government contractors, healthcare organizations, colleges, universities, public schools and school districts.
As Martin J. Herbert puts it, “When questions arise, organizations shouldn’t scramble for answers. We help them control processes, capture every action and quickly retrieve the information they need.” In practical terms, that means treating an audit trail as part of the operating process, not as paperwork assembled after an audit request.
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How can workflow automation create lasting organizational structure?
Automation creates durable structure when it encodes responsibility and policy without hiding the judgment that still belongs to people. HI&I’s model starts with the work itself, then uses technology to make the agreed method repeatable.
1. Identify the human-centric tasks
The first pass reduces a broad process to individual questions: who needs to do what, in what order, with which information and under which conditions? For a purchase request, those tasks might include describing the need, confirming budget availability, checking a preferred supplier, reviewing a threshold, approving an exception and confirming receipt.
Writing those tasks down exposes gaps that software alone cannot solve. An organization may discover that two departments use different definitions of “approved,” that a backup approver is not assigned, or that a buyer repeatedly re-enters information already held in an ERP.
2. Optimize and document the procedure
Before automation, the organization decides which steps are necessary, which controls are proportionate and which decisions require a particular role. Documentation should include the normal route, escalation timing, exception criteria, required fields and the evidence that must be retained.
This is where organizational structure becomes explicit. A new employee can follow the documented path; a manager can see the decision they own; and an auditor can understand the policy basis for an outcome without relying on one employee’s memory.
3. Automate routing, approvals and evidence capture
The workflow then enforces the documented route. It can send a request to the correct approver based on department, amount, project, funding source or exception status; prevent incomplete submissions; notify a substitute when a deadline is missed; and record comments, timestamps, status changes and attached evidence.
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Automation should remove avoidable coordination, not remove accountability. A system can ensure that a request reaches the right person and that a required field is present. The designated person still decides whether the purchase, payment or policy exception is appropriate.
4. Improve from real operating data
Once the workflow is in use, its history shows where work stalls, where requests are returned for missing information and where exceptions cluster. Those observations support controlled changes to the procedure. Continuous improvement is safer when changes are made to a visible process with a known owner rather than to an informal habit distributed across email and spreadsheets.
What is the difference between a form and a true workflow?
A form collects information; a true workflow uses that information to coordinate a controlled process from request through decision and execution.
| Capability | Basic form or inbox process | End-to-end workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | Captures whatever the submitter happens to provide; missing details are often resolved by email. | Uses required fields, validation and structured data so the request is usable by the next role. |
| Routing | Someone manually forwards the request or chooses an approver. | Policy rules route it by role, threshold, department, project or exception. |
| Approval | An email reply or signature may be difficult to interpret later. | Records the decision, identity, time, comments and applicable route in one history. |
| Execution | Staff re-key details into another system after approval. | Passes controlled data to the system of record, reducing duplicate entry. |
| Exceptions | Handled in side conversations with inconsistent documentation. | Uses explicit branches, escalation and required justification for deviations. |
| Reporting | Depends on searching mailboxes or compiling spreadsheets. | Provides status, aging, bottleneck and audit views from workflow data. |
Marty Herbert described the distinction in a Nutrient sales event by separating end-to-end workflow automation from simple form filling. A form can be a useful front door, but it becomes a workflow only when the organization defines what happens next, who is responsible, what rules apply and how execution is confirmed.
How does HI&I automate procurement approvals without losing human oversight?
The documented procurement case shows a practical sequence: standardize the request, apply policy-based approval paths, integrate the approved data with the ERP and preserve an intelligible record of every decision.
The starting problem
A government contractor had a centralized buying function that employees used inconsistently. Different teams followed uneven purchasing practices, making oversight difficult and leaving the central function only partly effective.
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HI&I implemented an enterprise-wide workflow that gave employees a consistent front end for purchase requests. Better intake completeness meant reviewers received the information needed to evaluate the request instead of sending it back through several rounds of clarification.
Threshold and role-based routing
The workflow enforced the organization’s approval paths. A request could be directed according to purchasing thresholds and other policy conditions, ensuring that the required authority reviewed it before execution. The important design work is not merely placing an approval button on a screen; it is defining the thresholds, delegates, escalation timing and exception evidence that make the route defensible.
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Integration with Deltek Costpoint
The workflow integrated with Deltek Costpoint so requisitions and purchase orders could be created through a controlled approval process. This preserves a consistent front-end experience while reducing duplicate entry between the request process and the ERP. Integration should also define which system owns each field, how errors are returned to the requester and how a correction is recorded.
Human decision points
Automation can verify that a budget field is present, identify the appropriate approver and flag a request that appears outside policy. It cannot replace the accountable manager’s judgment about business need, conflict of interest, supplier suitability or an unusual circumstance. Those judgments should be recorded as decisions with rationale, not inferred from the fact that a workflow reached its final state.
How does HI&I use AI in approvals?
HI&I describes AI as decision support, not an autonomous approval authority. AI may recommend whether a request appears aligned with organizational policy, while a designated person retains responsibility for the final decision.
A responsible design keeps the recommendation distinguishable from the decision. The record should show the policy or data used for the suggestion, the human who accepted or rejected it, any explanation supplied by that person and the time of the action. Organizations should also define what happens when the recommendation is unavailable, ambiguous or contradicted by a reviewer.
- Use AI for: identifying missing information, classifying requests, matching a request to a policy, suggesting a route and highlighting unusual patterns for review.
- Keep people responsible for: approving spend, accepting an exception, resolving conflicts, certifying compliance and authorizing execution.
- Govern the boundary: restrict permissions, log recommendations and overrides, test for inconsistent results, and provide a manual path when confidence or data quality is insufficient.
This separation is especially important in regulated environments. It lets an organization gain speed from recommendations without claiming that a model made a legally or financially accountable decision.
Can workflow automation improve audit readiness?
Yes, when the workflow captures complete, readable evidence as work occurs. It cannot make an undocumented policy defensible, and it cannot compensate for missing ownership or poorly designed exceptions.
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- What was requested? Preserve the submitted data, attachments, funding or project context and any later amendments.
- Who acted? Record the identity and role of each submitter, reviewer, approver, fulfiller and administrator.
- When did it happen? Keep timestamps for submission, assignment, decision, escalation, completion and changes.
- Why did it advance? Store the policy route, approval rationale, exception justification and any AI recommendation that informed—not replaced—the decision.
- What happened in execution? Link the approved request to the requisition, purchase order, invoice or other system-of-record event.
Readable history matters as much as data volume. A reviewer should be able to follow the normal route and understand deviations without translating internal status codes or searching separate mailboxes. Access controls, retention periods and export procedures should be specified during design so the evidence remains available to the people who need it.
Which organizations are a good fit for this approach?
HI&I’s described sectors share a need for repeatable controls and defensible records, but the approach can apply to any organization where work crosses departments and decisions must be explained.
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- Government contractors: procurement, project spending and subcontractor processes often require evidence of authorization and segregation of duties.
- Healthcare organizations: purchasing, vendor onboarding, access requests and internal approvals may involve sensitive information and strict role boundaries.
- Colleges and universities: decentralized departments benefit from common purchasing and approval rules without eliminating local responsibility.
- Public schools and districts: standardized intake and approval histories can make spending and administrative decisions easier to review.
- Growing enterprises: formal workflows preserve institutional knowledge as staff, locations and systems multiply.
The strongest fit is not determined by employee count alone. Look for processes with recurring handoffs, policy thresholds, frequent exceptions, audit exposure or costly duplicate entry.
How should a buyer evaluate a workflow automation project?
Evaluate the operating model and evidence design alongside the software. A polished interface cannot fix unclear policy, and an ERP module cannot automatically resolve ownership disputes.
Questions about process design
- Can the provider document the current process and identify unnecessary steps before configuration?
- Will each task have a named owner, backup and escalation rule?
- Are normal, urgent and exception paths designed separately?
- Can policy changes be versioned and approved without silently altering historical records?
Questions about data and integration
- Which system is authoritative for supplier, budget, employee and accounting data?
- Does the integration prevent duplicate entry and return errors in a way a requester can fix?
- Can the organization export a complete history with attachments, comments and timestamps?
- How are permissions, segregation of duties and administrator actions logged?
Questions about human oversight
- Can an approver see the information and policy basis needed for a decision?
- Are AI recommendations clearly labeled, reviewable and overrideable?
- What is the manual fallback if a model, integration or notification service fails?
- How are employees trained to handle exceptions rather than routing around the workflow?
Questions about improvement
- Can managers measure cycle time, aging, rework and exception volume?
- Is there an owner for reviewing those measures and prioritizing changes?
- Will the implementation team remain involved while the process is refined in production?
Nutrient identifies HI&I as a Nutrient Workflow partner that helps clients define, build and refine procurement processes. That partner context is relevant when assessing platform expertise, but buyers should still request a process-specific design, integration plan, security review and support model rather than assuming a platform label guarantees a successful outcome.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What pitfalls can undermine a human-centered workflow?
Most failures are design and governance failures, not a lack of automation features.
- Automating a broken process: If unnecessary approvals and ambiguous roles are copied into software, the organization gets a faster version of the same confusion. Simplify and document first.
- Designing only the happy path: Urgent purchases, delegated authority, rejected requests, partial receipts and policy exceptions need explicit branches.
- Collecting too little at intake: Missing project, budget, supplier or business-need data creates rework and weakens the audit trail.
- Creating duplicate entry: Re-keying approved data into an ERP introduces transcription errors and makes the workflow history diverge from the accounting record.
- Treating completion as approval: A status of “done” does not explain who authorized an exception or why a recommendation was accepted.
- Over-automating judgment: An AI score or rule should not be treated as a substitute for the person accountable under policy.
- Ignoring adoption: If the workflow is slower than an email workaround or does not reflect real responsibilities, employees will create shadow processes.
- Measuring only speed: Faster cycle time is not a success if control quality, data completeness or decision transparency declines.
Recovery usually starts with a process review: sample completed cases, compare the recorded route with policy, identify where users leave the workflow and correct the smallest design problem first. Preserve historical records when changing the route, and communicate the effective date and owner of every policy revision.
What is known—and not yet quantified—about HI&I’s results?
The available descriptions provide qualitative evidence: a government contractor obtained standardized purchasing intake, enforced approval paths, greater visibility and integration with Deltek Costpoint. They do not publish an independently audited return-on-investment percentage, implementation-time benchmark, engagement sample size or universal cost figure.
That limitation does not invalidate the model; it defines what a prospective client should ask for. Request baseline and target measures such as request completeness, approval cycle time, exception rate, duplicate-entry corrections, aged requests and time required to answer an audit query. Agree on how those measures will be calculated before deployment so an improvement claim has a clear reference point.
How can an organization start without automating everything?
Begin with one process that has visible control pain and a manageable number of roles, such as purchasing approvals or vendor onboarding. Establish the policy owner and baseline measures, map the current route, remove unnecessary steps, define exceptions, then automate the smallest complete slice from intake through execution evidence.
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- Select a process with recurring volume, cross-functional handoffs and a clear business owner.
- Collect representative cases, including rejected, urgent and exception requests.
- Write the task, role, rule, data and evidence requirements for each stage.
- Agree on approval thresholds, delegation, escalation and segregation of duties.
- Define system-of-record ownership and the integration fields before building screens.
- Configure a pilot workflow, including notifications, failure handling and audit export.
- Train users on the normal and exception routes, then monitor adoption and rework.
- Review the measured results and adjust the procedure before extending the pattern to another process.
This staged method keeps technology aligned with organizational structure. It also gives leaders a defensible way to decide whether a second process is ready for automation, rather than treating software deployment as the finish line.
Why does the human-centered emphasis matter?
Organizations do not operate through diagrams or software objects; people make decisions within policies, deadlines and imperfect information. A human-centered workflow makes those responsibilities visible while removing avoidable coordination work. The result is structure that can survive staff turnover, growth and scrutiny because the process, evidence and decision rights are explicit.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsMarty Herbert summarized the intent as “business process improvement and workflow automation … taking all of those processes that everybody knows and loves, or potentially hates, and makes them a little bit easier or makes them standardized.” Standardization is valuable here not because every case is identical, but because differences become deliberate, authorized exceptions instead of accidental variations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HI&I replace an organization’s ERP?
The documented procurement example uses a workflow in front of Deltek Costpoint rather than replacing it. The workflow controls intake and approvals, while the ERP remains part of the execution and record-keeping environment.
What evidence should we request before hiring a workflow partner?
Ask for a process map showing normal and exception routes, an ownership matrix, an integration and data-ownership plan, sample audit-history output, and a measurement plan with baseline definitions. These artifacts reveal whether the engagement addresses operating design rather than only software configuration.
Can a workflow support delegated or temporary approval authority?
It can if delegation is modeled as a controlled rule with an effective period, scope and audit record. The organization should retain the original approver, the delegate and the reason or policy basis for the substitution.
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How do we prevent employees from creating email workarounds?
Design the workflow around the information employees actually have, keep common requests quicker than the old route and provide a clear exception path. Monitor cases that start or finish outside the system, then fix the friction instead of merely telling users to comply.
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