Can AI process PDF bordereaux?
Yes. Modern AI can process many PDF bordereaux by identifying tables, understanding the information they contain and transforming the extracted data into a structured format. Native digital PDFs are generally the easiest to process, while scanned documents may require OCR before AI can interpret the content.
Key takeaways
- AI can process both native and scanned PDF bordereaux.
- Native PDFs usually provide higher accuracy than scanned documents.
- OCR converts scanned pages into machine-readable text before AI analyses the data.
- Human review remains important for low-quality scans or low-confidence extractions.
Although Excel remains the most common format for delegated authority bordereaux, many organisations continue to receive reports as PDF documents.
Sometimes these PDFs are generated directly from underwriting or policy administration systems.
Others are scanned copies of printed reports.
From an operational perspective, PDFs are often more difficult to work with because they are designed for people to read rather than systems to process.
Before the information can support underwriting, oversight or reporting, it first needs to be converted into structured data.
Not all PDFs are the same
One of the biggest misconceptions is that every PDF behaves in the same way.
In practice, there are two very different types.
Native PDFs
Native PDFs are created digitally.
The text, tables and numbers already exist as machine-readable information.
AI can usually identify tables, understand the business meaning of each field and extract the data with relatively high accuracy.
Scanned PDFs
Scanned PDFs are simply images of documents.
Before AI can understand the information, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is normally used to convert the image into machine-readable text.
Only then can AI interpret the extracted information and transform it into the required structure.
Understanding tables rather than reading pages
Traditional PDF extraction tools often focus on reading text.
Modern AI focuses on understanding the document.
For example, it can recognise:
- Table structures.
- Headers and sub-headings.
- Policy records.
- Premium values.
- Dates.
- Currency amounts.
- Totals and subtotals.
Rather than simply extracting every piece of text, AI attempts to understand how the information relates to the underlying delegated authority process.
Common challenges with PDF bordereaux
PDF documents introduce several operational challenges that are less common in Excel.
These include:
- Multi-page tables.
- Split rows.
- Poor scan quality.
- Rotated pages.
- Small fonts.
- Handwritten notes.
- Watermarks.
- Complex table layouts.
The quality of the original document often has a greater impact on extraction accuracy than the AI itself.
Validation remains essential
As with any bordereau, extraction is only one stage of the process.
The resulting data should still be validated against business rules.
Typical checks include:
- Missing policy references.
- Invalid dates.
- Currency inconsistencies.
- Duplicate records.
- Premium totals.
- Mandatory fields.
Where confidence is low, records should be presented for human review rather than accepted automatically.
Choosing the right approach
Many organisations assume PDF processing is simply an OCR problem.
In reality, OCR and AI perform different roles.
OCR converts images into text.
AI understands what that text represents and maps it into a business structure.
Used together, they provide a much more robust approach than OCR alone.
Example
A managing agent receives monthly claims bordereaux as scanned PDF reports from several overseas coverholders.
OCR first converts the scanned pages into machine-readable text.
AI then identifies the claims table, extracts claim references, dates, reserves and paid amounts, validates the results and highlights any low-confidence records for manual review before loading the information into downstream systems.
FAQs
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Can AI process scanned PDF bordereaux?
Yes. Scanned PDFs can usually be processed using OCR to convert images into text before AI interprets the extracted information.
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Are native PDFs easier to process than scanned PDFs?
Generally yes. Native PDFs already contain machine-readable text, which usually results in higher extraction accuracy than scanned documents.
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Does OCR replace AI?
No. OCR and AI perform different functions. OCR converts images into text, while AI understands the business meaning of the extracted information and maps it into structured data.
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