Ask AI
Where: Ask AI on the left rail — opens a docked panel on the right of every console page
Ask AI is the assistant built into the admin console (buyers and vendors have their own, and the same assistant can answer on WhatsApp). It answers from your live data, using the same permissions you have: as the panel says, it "runs only permission-gated tools on your behalf — it never invents data."
Asking
- Press Ask AI in the rail. The panel opens with "How can I help? Answers follow the page you're on. Pick a starting point, or ask anything." and a row of suggestions that change with the page — on the dashboard, for example, Show me the receivables aging, Which accounts are at risk of churn?, How do I set up pricing?
- Type into "Ask about this page or anything else…" and press Send.
- Answers lead with the data — a short table or list inline — and may include a chart. If the answer lives on a screen, the console navigates there for you; you do not have to hunt for a link.
- End chat closes the conversation and asks "How did that go?" — whether the chat solved it, a thumbs up or down, and an optional note. Those answers feed AI conversations.
Speaking instead of typing
Press the microphone in the composer and say the instruction — "receive 200 VALVE-100 into Main Store", "set PIPE-200 to 45 on the default price list". What you said is sent as your message the moment you stop, and anything that changes data still waits for your Confirm. Read replies aloud speaks each answer back; both need the browser's microphone permission.
What it can see
If a person can see it on a screen, the assistant has a tool for it — scoped to your own permissions, so widening what the AI can read never widens what you can read.
| Area | Examples of what to ask |
|---|---|
| Enquiries and CRM | Check the enquiry from Handan Hewan · What's in the pipeline this month? · Convert this lead |
| Customers | Show me Thorn Engineering's account · Create a customer for Acme Ltd |
| RFQs, quotes, orders, invoices | Open RFQs waiting to be priced · Where is order 1024? · Which invoices are overdue? |
| Pricing | What does Thorn pay for M12 hex bolts? · Price these lines for quote 3fa8 |
| Sales and demand | Revenue this month vs last · What are buyers searching for that we don't stock? |
| Inventory | What's low on stock? · Stock movements for SKU 4471 · Stock valuation by warehouse · Dead stock over 90 days |
| Credit and collections | Receivables aging · Who is at risk of churn? · Send a payment reminder to … |
| Returns, rebates, subscriptions | Returns awaiting review · Rebate accruals this quarter · Standing orders due this week |
| Catalog quality | Which products are missing required data? |
| Marketplace and reviews | Vendors with pending listings · Reviews waiting for moderation |
| Automations | What automations are running? · Turn on abandoned-cart recovery |
| Audit and assistant quality | Who changed the price list yesterday? · Which chats went badly this week? |
| Navigation | Open trade partners · Show me who owes us — the console opens the screen |
What it can do
Reads happen immediately. Anything that changes state goes through the real console routes under your own permissions, and anything outward-facing or hard to undo — sending a quote, creating a customer, converting a lead, toggling an automation, emailing a reminder — is prepared as a confirmation card first. Read the summary, press the action button to go ahead or Cancel. A card works once and expires after ten minutes.
When a job has several steps — "price these lines, then send the quote" — the assistant plans all of them and shows one card listing the steps. On confirmation it runs them in order, stops at the first failure, and answers with a ✓/✗ checklist; the screen you need opens by itself and refreshes as the work lands.
The assistant never guesses at numbers and never sends a quote with a missing price: a 0.00 line is refused both when the card is prepared and when it is executed. If a tool is not available to your role, the assistant says so rather than working around it.
Reviewing what it said
Every exchange — yours, buyers', vendors' and WhatsApp's — is kept under Settings → AI conversations together with the end-of-chat surveys. Thumbs-down and unresolved chats are the ones to read first.
If it's unavailable
"Sorry, I'm unavailable right now." means the AI provider behind the assistant is not responding. The console works normally without it; try again in a few minutes and tell your operator if it persists.