What AI Can’t Fix: The Case for Human-Led Deduction Recovery
- The HRG Team
- May 8
- 2 min read
Everyone loves a good shortcut. AI is the darling of the moment—from chatbots to contract reviews, it’s reshaping how we work. But when it comes to deduction recovery, there are some things machines still can’t do.
Let’s be clear: automation has a place. It can flag shortages. Spot duplicates. Organize claims by code. But here’s the rub—AI doesn’t understand retail. It can’t interpret ambiguous contract language, navigate retailer-specific portals, or negotiate on your behalf.
We’ve seen it time and again. A well-known mid-size brand called "Summit Naturals" relied solely on automated software to resolve deductions. It caught the easy stuff. But the more nuanced cases—misapplied compliance fines, bundled discounts, retroactive pricing? Those were written off. By year-end, they’d missed $440,000. Not because the tools failed, but because expert eyes didn’t back the tools.
Human-led recovery means strategic thinking. It means connecting dots, asking questions, and pushing back when claims don’t align. It means talking to real people at the retailer side who don’t speak in ones and zeros.
Automation is a powerful starting point. But without the context of contracts, retailer nuances, historical behavior, and negotiation tactics, it often misses the mark. AI doesn’t know when a deduction is based on outdated terms. It can’t spot when the retailer incorrectly applied a promotion. And it won’t flag that a compliance fine violates your negotiated agreement.
Your software can flag a shortage. However, only an expert can uncover that it was due to a missed ASN update two warehouses ago, trace it back to the root cause, and negotiate the reversal with the retailer’s AP department.
HRG believes in blending the best of both worlds: automation where it helps, and human expertise where it matters. Deduction recovery isn’t just a data exercise—it’s a people-powered process.
Wiser decisions, fewer deductions.
