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Customer Story

How Huntsman used agentic AI to slash vendor queries and streamline AP operations

  • 30 to 3 Helpdesk inboxes consolidated 
  • 90% of vendor spend reconciled 
  • Faster response and resolution time 
  • Fewer vendor queries and escalations 

Manufacturing

Challenge: Huntsman’s globally distributed Accounts Payable team faced major inefficiencies. Siloed systems, language barriers and a high volume of vendor queries overwhelmed the AP Helpdesk. With growing pressure on in-house and outsourced performance, leadership saw AI-driven automation as essential - but it had to deliver quick, measurable results.

Results: By automating supplier statement reconciliation and the AP Helpdesk, Huntsman quickly showcased the value of Xelix’s AI. Reconciliations that once took hours were completed in minutes, and vendor queries dropped significantly. The global Helpdesk was streamlined from 30 inboxes to just 3 - bringing new visibility into processes and consistent, high-quality responses across regions.

Xelix Solutions: Statements, Helpdesk 

 

"We're not just answering questions faster. We're solving the problems that caused the questions in the first place."

About Huntsman

Huntsman is a global manufacturer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 60+ facilities in 30 countries. The ERP used by Hunstman is SAP ECC. We caught up with Dana Pearson, Director and GPO S2P, to get the inside scoop on their AP transformation journey with Xelix.
  • $8bn revenue
  • 370k annual invoice volume 
  • 25k suppliers 
  • 13 AP team members 
Huntsman transforms their AP team
THE CHALLENGES

  • Cautious senior stakeholders

    Despite growing AP inefficiencies, senior stakeholders were cautious about new projects.
     
    “AI is such a buzzword,” says Dana. “There was nervousness — what is this AI, and will it really deliver on the promises?” 

    However, within the team, cracks were widening. AP processes were hitting a breaking point, strained by inefficiency and a lack of visibility over processes.

  • A flooded AP Helpdesk creating noise and escalations

    Huntsman’s AP Helpdesk was inundated with supplier and internal queries, receiving far more emails than industry benchmarks for its size. With 30 regional inboxes and language-specific teams, responses were inconsistent and often delayed. Additionally, half of these queries came from within the business. Vendors, unsure of payment statuses, would reach out directly to individuals within Huntsman who would then escalate internally - a clear sign the system wasn’t working. 

  • An inefficient statement reconciliation process

    The AP team aimed to reconcile their 120 top vendors quarterly, but lack of visibility over the outsourced process, and vendors not sending statements meant targets were rarely met. This led to payment delays, errors and more queries. 

    Dana explains “If you’re not reconciling vendor statements, it creates noise in your Helpdesk. Vendors are left wondering when they’ll get paid or why there are discrepancies.” 
Customer testimonial

Huntsman needed to make their Helpdesk more helpful

"With Xelix's translations feature, we've moved from 30 to 3 AP inboxes and dramatically reduced our dependency on regional teams."

THE SOLUTION

  • Starting small with scalable AI

    Rather than pitching a massive transformation, Huntsman started small, using Helpdesk automation and supplier statement reconciliation as a proof of concept. 

    “We needed a low-risk way to prove AI worked before asking for more budget. Xelix gave us the results to take it further," Dana says. 

  • Automating supplier statement reconciliation

    Xelix’s automated statement reconciliation software will help Huntsman reconcile 90% of vendors every six months - each reconciliation taking less than five minutes to complete from raising to reconciling to communicating back to the supplier. 

    Dana explains, “We can now solicit statements from all our vendors en masse and reconcile them quickly using fewer people. And it's a symbiotic relationship where doing those statement reconciliations will drive down the enquiries we're getting in our Helpdesk.” 

    Additionally, statement reconciliation has a significant impact across the business. Increased coverage helps identify missing credit notes - worth up to $2.5 million for every $1 billion spent (on average). It also ensures accurate ledgers and vendor balances, supporting compliant audit trails and more reliable financial reporting.

    You can book a demo to find out more about how Statements can make your processes and cash flow more efficient. 

     

  • A smarter, faster Accounts Payable Helpdesk

    Xelix’s agentic AI Helpdesk has transformed Huntsman’s vendor query management: 

    ✅ 30 inboxes reduced to just 3 (one per major region: Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA) 

    ✅ Emails automatically categorised and routed to the right teams 

    ✅ Helpful replies generated instantly in any language 

    Dana explains, “With Xelix, we’ve dramatically reduced our dependency on regional teams for language-specific queries. The system generates responses almost instantly and allows us to consolidate our Helpdesk operations globally.”

    Dana continues, “All these improvements fall under our central goal, which is to make our Helpdesk more helpful.”

    A more efficient AP Helpdesk has a big impact on the wider business. Dana and her team can help lower process costs, build better relationships with suppliers, hit their SLAs and maintain a good reputation both externally and within their own business.

    You can book a demo to find out more about how Helpdesk can help transform your vendor query management. 

Customer testimonial

How Huntsman moved from 30 to 3 regional AP inboxes

"The goal with Xelix was to make our Helpdesk more helpful. We can now solicit statements from vendors en masse and reconcile more in less time, which drives down our Helpdesk queries."

THE RESULTS

  • Using Xelix to prove the value of AI tools

    With Xelix, Huntsman didn’t just automate two AP processes. They created a ripple effect across the entire department. The reconciliation process now feeds the Helpdesk with fewer issues. The Helpdesk, in turn, frees up time to focus on improvements. And most importantly, a team once buried in queries now has the tools — and the buy-in — to drive strategic change. 

Customer testimonial

How Huntsman used Xelix to prove the power of AI

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