DocuWare prepared for launch of new interface, IDP, AI tool

Document management provider DocuWare is preparing to launch a redesigned version of its platform this autumn, built around a new interface.

The changes will also add an AI-powered data extraction tool and an AI agent, according to Thomas Gröhl, the company's Vice President of Global Marketing.

DocuWare is positioning the update as more than a visual refresh. Gröhl said it responds to a broader shift in how businesses need to handle information that doesn't fit neatly into structured fields.

"We see generally an increased need for businesses out there to make a lot more sense out of their business-critical information, and that information is residing in structured but also very unstructured documents," Gröhl said.

He pointed to the EU's e-invoicing directives and a wider global shift toward e-reporting requirements as regulatory pressure driving the need, alongside demand from functions like procurement, human resources and legal that regularly work with unstructured content.

In March 2025, the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) directive launched as an amendment to the 2006 value-added tax directive. It mandates structured cross-border B2B e-invoicing to start in 2028 and be fully implemented across all 27 member states by 2030.

DocuWare has used machine learning to extract data from structured documents, such as invoices, for more than 25 years. What's changing, Gröhl said, is the ability to apply that same automation to documents that don't follow a fixed template, using generative AI and what DocuWare calls a "large document model" behind the system.

A new interface, an extraction tool, and an AI agent

The new DocuWare bundles three components. The first is a redesigned user interface built to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which Gröhl said is increasingly a requirement not just for public sector organisations but across the market generally.

The second, DocuWare IDP (intelligent document processing), is an extraction tool that pulls information out of unstructured documents at scale and makes it available inside DocuWare's document management system. Gröhl gave the example of a large volume of legal contracts: rather than manually searching for start dates, end dates, or liability clauses, that information can be extracted up front, made searchable, and used to trigger automated workflows - such as flagging every contract set to expire within a given window.

The third, DocuWare Aura, is the company's AI agent. Gröhl described it as functioning like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, but scoped entirely to a customer's own information inside their DocuWare environment. He said keeping that boundary intact - so customer data doesn't leave the system it's hosted in - is a requirement he hears directly from customers, many of whom are wary of where their data goes when using public LLMs. 

The new user interface will be free for all existing customers, who can toggle between the old and new interface rather than being forced onto the new one immediately, Gröhl said. DocuWare has made the new platform available to its partner community since June.

DocuWare IDP is priced as a document-based, consumption add-on. Aura follows a freemium model: every customer gets access with a set monthly allowance of tokens or operations, with usage beyond that billed on a consumption basis. Gröhl assured that new customers signing up after launch will start on the new interface by default, with the old interface still available if needed.