IDP: what is intelligent document processing and what is it for

Intelligent document processing (IDP) is the technology that reads and understands unstructured documents — invoices, contracts, files, forms — to extract data, validate it and trigger the corresponding action, without rigid templates.

A booming market

It is not a niche: according to Grand View Research, the global IDP market will grow from about $2.3 billion in 2024 to around $12.35 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate close to 33%. The reason is simple: most enterprise information is still trapped in documents, and reading it by hand does not scale.

Why classic OCR is not enough

Classic OCR converts image into text, but does not understand the content. As vendors like ABBYY explain, an OCR engine can read every character correctly and still not know which number is the invoice total and which is a line subtotal. IDP combines OCR with AI and machine learning to understand the document the way a person would.

The difference shows in accuracy: IDP platforms reach 95-99% accuracy in field extraction because they understand context and validate results, while OCR depends on templates per format and breaks when they change.

Common use cases

• Reading invoices and automatic reconciliation in the ERP.
• Validating legal documentation in customer onboarding (KYC).
• Extracting data from forms and files in healthcare or education.
• Automatic classification and routing of mail and attachments.

IDP is a key piece of hyperautomation: it turns paper and PDFs into actions inside your systems.

Where it fits in your process

At Twinny, IDP does not go alone: it is part of the full process. The agent reads the document, decides what to do with the information and executes it in your CRM or ERP. That is how we automate any business process by combining RPA + AI, with a high ROI.