Transparency is essential to increase the use of AI

Joep Hoeks, Chief Product Officer at Exact, on increasing efficiency and quality in the workplace and the role of software developers

Delft, 23 July 2025 – Artificial intelligence is a hot topic, so much so that it's hard to imagine working without it. That’s what you may have been led to think, anyway. According to Exact’s 2025 SME Barometer survey, however, 60% of Dutch entrepreneurs do want to use AI, but don’t quite know how yet. Exact’s Chief Product Officer, Joep Hoeks, has good news: “AI is nowhere near as scary as it may appear. I’m willing to bet everyone is using it already, even if they aren’t always aware of it. They’re just not using it as extensively as they could. That’s a shame, because AI can make life much easier and improve both the efficiency in and the quality of your work.”  

AI is not a new thing. In fact, the term first emerged in the 1950s. “AI is practically old-fashioned”, says Joep, laughing. “Still, we could be making much better use of even the oldest predictive AI functionalities – the ones that look at large amounts of data and use this to predict the future – than is happening at the moment. First, AI can help improve efficiency, which is naturally important in the context of a tight labour market and increasing competition. Additionally, AI improves the quality of work by highlighting data deviations in time, enabling you to avoid errors.”  

Building trust

What needs to be done to make entrepreneurs more willing to embrace AI and increase its use? According to Joep, software developers have a key role to play. As he states, “I strongly believe that as developers, we need to be more transparent and open up the AI black box. In essence, we have to build trust. Users’ willingness to put their trust in software is what determines how much work can ultimately be automated, and how autonomous a system’s actions may be. That’s why at Exact, our software’s users are and will remain at the forefront.  

Innovation, reliability and a focus on people

When developing AI features, Exact follows three principles. “Innovation is our first principle. We experiment with new applications and new language models”, says Joep. “Before bringing these features to market, we also need to be sure they are solid. That brings me directly to our second principle: reliability. We manage the data of hundreds of thousands of companies. Furthermore, we operate in an environment where financial data needs to be highly accurate. Accounts that are ‘close enough’ to being correct are unacceptable. In other words, any AI features we bring to market must be absolutely reliable. Our final principle – being focused on people – is what we’re all about and dovetails with what I just referenced. It’s very important to us that our users are and remain in the lead when using our software and that they are the ones in control. They have the ability to enable or disable various functionalities and thus adapt the level of automation as desired.  

Chatting with your own data

These three principles also govern the development of Exact AI Assistant. As of right now, 400,000 Exact Online users work with this Gen-AI tool, which answers all their ‘how-to’ questions effortlessly and guides them through the software’s use. But that’s not all. Joep: “We see users asking Exact AI Assistant very basic questions using normal language, such as ‘Tell me my top 10 customers’, ‘How many of these items do I have left?’, or ‘Who still owes me money?’ Until recently, you may have had to dig through dozens of Excel files to find the answers. Soon, Exact AI Assistant will be able to do that for you. The time saved will be enormous. You can simply start chatting with your own data. Exact AI Assistant answers your questions in no time and can even add a report for you. We presented this feature during our recent Innovation Day. We are currently finishing up the development and aim to launch a pilot that includes it as a functionality later this year.  

A more voice-controlled approach to work

Exact is also working on applications where AI structures and processes your data input for you. “For example, a user’s voice command might be processed directly into a quote, complete with associated tasks for colleagues, transport scheduling and automatic time tracking. This is not a reality yet, but we are experimenting with it, and I truly expect how we all work to become increasingly voice-controlled”, says Joep.

The role of humans to become even more valuable in the coming years

In conclusion, AI can be very valuable to entrepreneurs, and this value is set to increase further in the near future. For those who remain hesitant about AI’s use and scared of losing their jobs, Joep’s message is clear: “Honestly, that’s nonsense. We are all desperately needed to maintain prosperity and economic growth. With automation, you get more value from your existing teams, and it becomes possible for your colleagues to do more valuable work.”