Pioneering AI-powered automation transformation in Real Estate

Shriram Properties, one of India’s leading real estate developers, has been a trusted name in residential and commercial projects for over two decades. With a strong presence in key metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata. As part of its growth vision, Shriram Properties is committed to leveraging technology with its business operations to not only enhance operational agility but also redefine customer experiences across its value chain.

The digital transformation journey

Shriram Properties' operational transformation is not just about automation – it is about becoming a digital first and intelligence-driven enterprise. The company has strategically embraced automation to modernize core functions like HR, finance, and supply chain management. By teaming up with UiPath and implementation partner Catnip Infotech, Shriram Properties embarked on a digital journey that challenged the norms of the traditionally manual real estate sector. This shift aligns with the company’s broader SPLNxT mission—an ambitious initiative aimed at doubling sales and tripling revenue within three years by catering to India’s fast-growing mid-market and mid-premium segments. To support this growth, Shriram Properties recognized the need for scalable operations that reduce turnaround times, elevate accuracy, and boost productivity. Automation became the key enabler.

From operational bottlenecks to strategic levers

Before the transformation, Shriram Properties, like many real estate firms, struggled with typical back-office challenges: slow invoice cycles, manual SAP entries, repetitive HR functions, and delayed reconciliations. These issues weren't just administrative inefficiencies but had strategic implications. Cumbersome workflows impacted vendor relationships, delayed project timelines, and hindered the financial agility needed for large-scale real estate development.

Automation offered a way out. By adopting UiPath’s end-to-end automation platform and leveraging intelligent document processing (IDP), Shriram Properties began reimagining its entire workflow stack.

Today, Shriram Properties’ digital transformation is a masterclass in leveraging automation to solve real challenges in real estate. From slashing manual SAP entry by 70% to achieving 99% data accuracy, the company has turned operational bottlenecks into strategic strengths. As the company advances toward a fully agentic enterprise exemplifies how strategic automation can redefine industry standards, delivering exponential value across complex workflows.

The automation imperative

Real estate is an industry of scale—large projects, intricate financials, and sprawling supply chains. For Shriram Properties, managing this complexity meant grappling with inefficiencies in finance, HR, IT, and logistics. Manual data entry in SAP slowed down the finance team, invoice delays strained supplier relationships, and fragmented HR processes hindered workforce scalability. The cost of these inefficiencies wasn’t just financial, but was strategic to meet its SPLNxT goals.

Recognizing automation as a game-changer, Shriram Properties adopted a phased approach, starting with high-impact, low-complexity processes and scaling to sophisticated workflows. The UiPath Platform became the backbone of this transformation, integrating seamlessly with SAP and other enterprise systems. The journey kicked off in HR, where bots automated attendance tracking by consolidating punch-in and punch-out data and generating daily reports for employees and managers. This quick win—delivering immediate time savings—laid the groundwork for broader adoption.

Automation is pivotal to our growth strategy, By optimizing core processes, we enhance cash flow visibility for project funding, strengthen supplier relationships with timely invoicing, and scale our workforce efficiently in a labor-intensive industry. This strategic alignment turned automation into a catalyst for both operational excellence and competitive advantage.

Hariharan Subramanian, Vice President of Information Technology at Shriram Properties.

Key workflows transformed: precision automation at scale

Shriram Properties has revolutionized its operational framework by implementing advanced automation, driving efficiency, accuracy, and scalability across critical processes. Below is an overview of how key workflows were transformed into a seamless, hyper-automated ecosystem:

• Invoice Processing Automation (MIR7): Streamlined efficiency The SAP MIR7 process for parking invoices previously relied on manual data entry, leading to errors and delays. By deploying UiPath bots equipped with optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent document processing (IDP), intervention by people was reduced by 70%. The system now processes over 150,000 invoices annually with 99% data extraction accuracy and an 80% validation success rate, significantly accelerating invoice handling and minimizing errors.

• Bank reconciliation and statement downloads: Real-time financial insights Timely access to financial data is critical in real estate. Automated bots now log into bank portals daily to retrieve and store statements in secure network folders for the finance team. This automation reduces manual effort by 25%, streamlines bank reconciliation, and provides near-instant visibility into cash flow, enabling faster, data-driven decisions for project-intensive operations.

• Vendor registration and SAP integration: Optimized supplier onboarding Manual vendor registration was slow and error-prone, impacting supplier relationships. Bots now extract data from Microsoft Forms, verify details with the Shriram Properties Limited team, and seamlessly create vendor records in SAP. Automated notifications deliver vendor names and business partner codes to the Accounts Payable team, reducing processing time and errors by 50%. This streamlined process enhances supplier collaboration, a key competitive advantage.

• Complex financial workflows (F-02, FV70, FB65): Precision and speed SAP transactions such as F-02 (data entry with tax codes), FV70 (posting demands), and FB65 (bill reversals) previously required two minutes per entry. UiPath bots now execute these tasks in one minute with full automation, delivering real-time updates. This 50% time reduction improves transparency, reduces manual workload, and allows staff to focus on strategic priorities, enhancing financial agility.

• HR and IT processes: proactive automation Automation extended into HR and IT, delivering proactive efficiency. The Password Reset Process monitors help desk emails, resets credentials, and notifies users instantly. The Demand Release Process validates sales orders in SAP and Salesforce before autonomously releasing demands. These workflows, which operate without prompts by people, reduce resolution times by 60%, demonstrating the transformative impact of intelligent automation.

• Trial balance report automation: Accelerated reporting Generating trial balance reports in SAP was a labor-intensive process involving manual extraction of P&L and balance sheet data, lookups, and consolidation. Using UiPath Apps integrated with SAP, this workflow is now fully automated. Finance teams submit inputs via a custom app built by UiPath Apps, and bots retrieve reports, apply macros, and generate the Trial Balance. Manual effort has decreased by 85%, accuracy has improved, and reports are delivered in minutes rather than hours.

• SG&A budget addition & reallocation automation: Enhanced control and compliance Managing SG&A budget adjustments, including additions and reallocations across WBS elements, was previously slow and lacked real-time visibility, increasing compliance risks. A fully automated solution leveraging UiPath Apps and SAP integration has transformed this process.

Users initiate requests through an intuitive UiPath Apps, specifying WBS codes and amounts. A multi-level approval workflow ensures only authorized changes proceed. Upon approval, bots log into SAP, execute budget postings, perform validation checks, and update financial records with 100% accuracy. All actions are logged for auditability, and stakeholders—Finance, Project Managers, and Controllers—receive instant notifications. This automation enhances efficiency, transparency, and compliance.

UiPath’s IDP and machine learning capabilities delivered 99% accuracy in document processing. This precision, paired with scalable bots, turned SAP into a powerhouse of efficiency. Today, Shriram Properties runs 45 hyper-automated processes, reclaiming 1,000 days annually and elevating the business-to-business experience.

Santhosh Kumar L K, CEO of Catnip Infotech

Overcoming skepticism: Trusting the bots

No digital transformation is frictionless. At Shriram Properties, the shift to automation met initial skepticism, especially among finance and operations staff. Could bots really handle intricate tasks like invoice validation and SAP postings?

The company tackled these doubts with a structured change management plan. By launching small pilot projects and rigorously validating outcomes, teams gradually built confidence in automation.

People won’t trust automation blindly without proof. It took 3-4 months to validate early use cases. Once bots consistently delivered results, trust followed. Today, our teams rely on automation to reduce workload and improve quality. These milestones were only possible with the strong support of our CEO & CFO.

Hariharan Subramanian, Vice President of Information Technology at Shriram Properties

Catnip Infotech played a key role in ensuring successful execution. According to Santhosh Kumar L K, CEO of Catnip Infotech, “Our challenge wasn’t just technical. We had to prove that bot-driven data is as reliable as person processed data. That cultural shift—from doubt to dependence—unlocked automation’s full potential.”

With 45 processes already hyper-automated, Shriram Properties isn’t stopping there. The company is now pushing into the next phase—agentic AI, where intelligent agents execute complex workflows proactively without prompts by people. These agents will integrate predictive analytics, generative AI, and self-learning algorithms to deliver foresight and autonomy.

One exciting initiative is the development of the ‘Parivar’ app, which will leverage insights from over 23,000 customer interactions. This app, integrated with UiPath and AI-driven analytics, aims to deepen customer engagement through hyper-personalized experiences, automated queries, and proactive service updates.

Automation’s promise is compelling, but adoption is not seamless. Employees and stakeholders initially questioned its reliability—could bots truly handle complex financial data? Shriram Properties tackled this through iterative testing and transparent communication.

“Trust builds with consistent results. Within six to seven months, automation hit 70-80% autonomy, freeing staff for strategic work.” said Subramanian.

The shift wasn’t just technical—it was cultural. RPA is a journey. People won’t trust it blindly without proof. Early validation took three to four months, but as bots delivered flawless outcomes, skepticism faded. Efficiency soared by 50-60% across workflows, and employees embraced automation as a partner, not a threat.

Catnip Infotech played a pivotal role, bridging technical execution with people's trust.

“Proving bot-driven data was 100% reliable was the toughest challenge. That shift—from doubt to dependence—unlocked automation’s full potential” said Kumar.

Supercharging future with agentic AI

Shriram Properties isn’t stopping at workflow automation. It’s racing toward an agentic future. Agentic AI, where autonomous agents handle multi-step workflows, promises proactive operations. Generative AI will supercharge this, enhancing forecasting and financial analysis with insights from 23,000 customers indexed via UiPath for the upcoming ‘Parivar’ app, set to deepen customer engagement.

Shriram Properties envisions a fully agentic enterprise: The next phase of the journey blends process, data, and intelligence. With AI-driven decisions it is creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. Having won the toughest phase—process optimization—Shriram Properties is poised for a data-centric and application-driven future.