78% of firms say they use intelligent document processing – so why do 61% still use paper?

Adoption is everywhere — but true intelligence isn’t 

You’d think that 78% stat should be impressive, right? The problem is that most of those setups still look more like rule-based automation than actual AI. Some rely on old-school templates, others dabble in machine learning but only at a very basic level. In short: lots of automation, not much intelligence. The good news? There’s still plenty of room for those ready to level up. We’ll get to that soon.

Legacy systems are being ripped out 

Here’s a striking one: 68% of new IDP projects are replacements of older systems. That’s huge. It shows how quickly companies are moving away from brittle, single-purpose tools. The direction of travel is clear: toward composable platforms that let you plug in new AI models as they come along. No one wants another expensive rip-and-replace cycle every few years.  

Beyond invoices: IDP in the front office 

Invoice automation used to be the obvious starting point, and for many, it stayed the comfort zone. But things are changing fast. IDP is now showing up in onboarding, KYC, contract reviews, HR and even customer-facing processes. These are tougher use cases: documents with images, messy formats and strict compliance requirements. Basic field extraction won’t cut it anymore. Systems have to actually understand the document and push it to the right place.  

Paper isn’t going anywhere 

You’d think by now paper would be fading out. Not so. 61% of organizations still have paper in their core workflows, and 48% expect paper volumes to increase by the end of 2025. And startlingly, more than 40% still receive faxes. Yes, you read that right. We have to look at regulated industries to truly understand why, though. Companies in this area have to wrestle with passports, signed forms, prescriptions and even handwritten notes. The challenge for IDP is clear: take all that low-quality, unpredictable input and turn it into clean, trustworthy data.  

The hyperscaler effect 

And then there’s the cloud giants. Hyperscalers are bundling document AI into their platforms, which makes powerful models easy to access. But that doesn’t solve everything. Most enterprises need more than raw services. They need orchestration across multiple vendors, proper audit trails, metadata governance, and rock-solid security. That’s where independent platforms shine — pulling everything together into end-to-end, compliant workflow.  

So where does this leave buyers? The survey shows a big gap between adoption and real intelligence. Closing it means knowing what to look for. If much of the market still resembles glorified OCR, the question becomes: How do you tell basic automation from true IDP?  

The Market Momentum Index: Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Survey 2025 points to a few essentials every platform should offer:

1. Capture from anywhere

Intelligent IDP can handle input from every channel: email, mobile app, scanner, fax or direct system integration. It should be able to recognize what is inside, make it machine-readable and prepare it for downstream processing even when the source is inconsistent or low quality. That includes multi-page documents, handwritten forms and photos taken on the go.

2. Contextual understanding, not just extraction

Pulling out a handful of fields is not enough. Real IDP understands the type of document and the context around it. With AI and large language models it can pick out what really matters and adapt to new layouts without someone building brittle templates in advance.

3. Built-in validation and fraud detection

Capturing data is only half the job. Intelligent IDP verifies information against trusted sources, checks for duplicates and flags suspicious changes. The best systems can even detect AI-generated or manipulated content. This reduces risk and makes sure only clean data flows into critical systems.

4. Automation that scales

The end goal is action, not just extraction. Intelligent IDP ensures reliable data flows directly into business processes. It orchestrates workflows from start to finish, tracks every step for auditability and makes exception handling easier for teams. The result is higher throughput and better resilience as processes scale.

When intelligent document processing is done right, it goes far beyond basic invoice capture. The Market Momentum Index: Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Survey 2025 shows that organizations are already testing and scaling IDP across a wide mix of scenarios — not just in the back office but in customer-facing workflows, too.

• Identity verification
  Automating checks on IDs, passports and licenses helps reduce fraud and speed up onboarding. In regulated industries this is becoming a core requirement, not a nice-to-have.
  
  
• Invoice processing
  Still one of the most common entry points for IDP, invoice processes are increasingly enriched with validation against payment details and supplier records. This cuts errors and accelerates purchase-to-pay cycles.
  
  
• Healthcare documentation
  Hospitals and insurers are leaning on IDP to classify and anonymize records quickly while meeting strict compliance obligations like GDPR and HIPAA.
  
  
• Contract management
  Extracting clauses, renewal dates and obligations give legal and procurement teams better oversight and help avoid costly surprises.
  
  
• Customer communications
  Sorting and routing emails, forms and letters to the right teams ensures faster responses and less manual triage — an area where customer satisfaction is directly at stake.
  
  
• HR processes
  From processing job applications to managing personnel files, IDP is helping HR teams reduce the paperwork load and focus on people instead of data entry.
  
  
• Supply chain documents
  Confirmations, shipping papers and customs forms can be checked automatically against orders, helping logistics teams keep goods moving smoothly.

If you are looking for an IDP vendor that checks every box we just covered, Doxis Intelligent Content Automation is the leading choice. Every capability highlighted in the Market Momentum Index survey — from multi-channel capture to contextual understanding, validation and scalable automation — is built into the platform.

The benefits show up at two levels, and they are closely linked:

• For teams: Doxis takes away repetitive manual work, makes processes faster and ensures information is accurate and reliable. That means less frustration and more focus on meaningful tasks.
• For the business: Those gains translate directly into higher productivity, better security and compliance, faster decision-making and ultimately a stronger bottom line.

Doxis is also proven in the market:

• Recognized as a Leader in IDC MarketScape for both Intelligent and Unstructured Document Processing
• Named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Document Management 2024
• A Forrester Total Economic Impact study reveals a 336% ROI with Doxis

In other words, if you are ready to move beyond glorified OCR and step into intelligent document processing that truly understands, validates and acts, Doxis is where to start. Book a free, no-obligation demo and we’ll be in touch!