M‑Files Aino
Answers questions about a document, summarises it and translates the summary. Built into both M‑Files editions.
AI document management
Ask your documents what they say
With AI document management in M‑Files, you ask a contract what the notice period is and get the answer with its source. The AI reads only what the person asking may open. M‑Files Aino is built in, and the free 30-day trial includes it.
Definition
AI that reads the documents you already manage
AI document management is AI that works inside the document system. In M‑Files it reads the documents the person asking may open, answers with the sources listed and suggests the details each new document is filed by.
Answers and summaries come from M‑Files Aino, which is part of both M‑Files editions. The M‑Files Metadata Agent suggests the details, and CtrlScout from our development partner CtrlDocs takes questions across the whole vault.
In daily work
The AI does the reading for you
Find it in your own words
Describe what you are looking for the way you would say it to a colleague. You do not need the right search term, or to know which document it is in.
Ask about a document
Ask about a clause, a date or who signs off, and the answer comes from the document's own text. You do not have to read it through first.
Get a summary first
A summary tells you whether a document needs a full read, and the summary can be translated into another language.
Check the source
Every answer lists the documents it came from. Open one and check it for yourself before you rely on it.
Metadata suggestions
Filled in as the document arrives
When a document is added, the M‑Files Metadata Agent reads it and suggests its details: the customer or project, a description, keywords, the dates that matter. Each suggestion waits until a person accepts it, so the document is filed by those details from the day it arrives.
- Your administrator chooses the fields — Suggestions come only for the fields you have asked for, in the kinds of document you define.
- A person accepts each one — Nothing goes on the card until the person saving the document says yes, and the source of each value is one click away.
- For the documents you already have — The same suggestions can run over existing documents in bulk, for example when a file share is brought into M‑Files.
The route a document takes
From an incoming file to an answer with its source
The AI reads and suggests along the way. People accept the details and make the decisions.
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The file arrives
Anyone in the team
A contract, a procedure or an email is saved to M‑Files.
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Details suggested
AI
The AI reads it and suggests the customer, the document type and the dates that matter.
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A person accepts
The person saving it
Each suggestion waits until the person saving the document accepts it.
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Access follows
M‑Files
Who may open the document follows from its details, such as the customer or project it belongs to.
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An answer with its source
Someone asks a question and gets an answer from the documents they may open, with the sources listed.
By document type
How AI handles each kind of document
What the AI does depends on the document, and the decision stays with a person every time.
| Document | What the AI does | What a person decides |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts (sales, purchasing) | Answers questions about clauses and notice periods, with the source shown | Whether to renew or give notice |
| Procedures (quality) | Answers what a procedure says and who approves it | Whether a new version is approved |
| Tenders and proposals (sales) | Summarises the document and translates the summary | Whether to bid |
| Supplier agreements (purchasing) | With CtrlScout, counts and groups them by supplier in a chart | Which suppliers to keep |
| Employee files (HR) | Answers only those who may open the file | Who may see which file |
| Scanned post (finance, administration) | Reads the letter once OCR has made it searchable, and suggests its details | Who handles it |
Examples
Questions people ask their documents
A few illustrations of the questions AI answers in M‑Files. Every answer lists the documents it came from.
What is the notice period?
Asked of a contract: an answer from its own text, with the source shown, so you can check the clause before you reply to the other side.
Who approved this procedure?
Answered from the procedure's text, which is quicker than reading the revision table at the back of a document you have not opened for a year.
Summarise this tender in Danish
A summary of a text document, translated into another language, so a Swedish or English tender can be judged in Danish before anyone reads all of it.
Ask in your own language
A question asked in Danish about an English or Swedish contract gets its answer in Danish, from a text nobody had to translate first.
How many agreements does each supplier have?
Asked across the vault with CtrlScout, from our development partner CtrlDocs: a count per supplier in a chart, with a note of what was counted.
Six things to settle
Before AI reads your documents
Whoever signs off on AI for company documents will want these points settled first. Here is where M‑Files stands on each.
Every answer shows its source
Aino lists the documents an answer came from under the answer, and CtrlScout numbers its sources as links you can open.
It keeps to each person's permissions
Aino and CtrlScout read with the permissions the person asking has in M‑Files, so an answer rests on what that person may open.
Your documents stay out of AI training
M‑Files states that your documents, metadata and questions are not used to train Aino.
Answers come from your own documents
Aino uses only what is in the vault, with no outside or internet knowledge.
People make the decisions
The AI reads and suggests. Reviews and approvals stay with the people the workflow assigns them to.
Certified to ISO/IEC 27001
M‑Files holds an ISO/IEC 27001 certification that covers M‑Files Cloud, Hubshare and Aino. M‑Files acts as a data processor under GDPR and offers a data processing agreement.
Confidentiality
The AI reads with your permissions
An answer is built from the documents the person asking can open. Someone outside HR gets nothing drawn from employee files, however the question is put. Aino and CtrlScout use the permissions you already have in M‑Files.
- Access that follows the document — A contract can inherit the access of the customer or project it belongs to.
- Counts within the same access — CtrlScout counts only what the person asking may see.
The tools
Which tool does which job
Questions about a document go to M‑Files Aino, which is part of both M‑Files editions. For questions across the whole vault, with counts and charts, we add CtrlScout from our development partner CtrlDocs.
M‑Files Metadata Agent
Suggests the details as documents are added, and adds them to existing documents in bulk.
CtrlScout
Asks across the whole vault, counts and charts what it finds and drafts the email. On every M‑Files edition, in the cloud or on your own servers.
CtrlScout at ctrldocs.comMicrosoft 365 Copilot
Works with M‑Files documents within M‑Files permissions, once Microsoft 365 storage or the M‑Files connector is set up and people have Copilot licences.
M‑Files in Microsoft 365
Getting started
Start with one kind of document
A first project takes one document type from its details to the first answers. The next type follows once the first one works.
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Step 1: Pick the document type
Choose one kind of document that many people look for, such as contracts or procedures.
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Step 2: Decide its details
Agree which details describe it: the customer or supplier, the type and the dates that matter.
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Step 3: Connect where it lives
Network folders and SharePoint Online can be connected, so the documents are found from M‑Files where they are.
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Step 4: Fill in the existing files
The M‑Files Metadata Agent adds the details to the documents you already have, in bulk.
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Step 5: Run a pilot
One team works with its own documents and asks its own questions before the next type is added.
We quote the M‑Files licence and the set-up together.
Questions about AI in M‑Files
Can we try it before we buy?
Yes. The free 30-day M‑Files trial includes M‑Files Aino. It is a cloud vault with basic content and workflows, with no credit card and no software to install, and you ask for it through our contact form.
Can the AI show me documents I do not have access to?
No. Aino and CtrlScout both answer within each user's permissions, from the content that person is allowed to see.
Can AI answer across all our documents?
Yes, in two ways. M‑Files offers a configuration that lets Aino answer questions across the whole vault, and CtrlScout, from our development partner CtrlDocs, asks across the vault on every M‑Files edition and counts and charts what it finds.
Do we need OCR as well as AI?
They do different jobs. M‑Files OCR turns a scanned page into a searchable PDF, and from then on Aino reads it like any other text document, answers questions about it and can help classify it.
Which languages does it work in?
Aino and CtrlScout answer in the language of the question, so a Danish question about an English contract gets a Danish answer. Aino can also translate a summary into another language.
Can AI fill in the details when a document is saved?
Yes, with the M‑Files Metadata Agent. It suggests values as documents are added, administrators choose which fields it suggests for, and people review the suggestions before they are saved.
What about documents in network folders and SharePoint?
They can stay where they are. With connectors, M‑Files shows network folders and SharePoint Online beside the vault, so people find everything from one place, and existing documents can be given their details in bulk. The Intelligent Metadata Layer explains how.
Can Microsoft 365 Copilot use our M‑Files documents?
Yes. Microsoft 365 Copilot can work with M‑Files documents, either from Microsoft 365 storage or through the M‑Files Connector for Copilot, for people with a Copilot licence. M‑Files states that Copilot respects the permissions set in M‑Files. M‑Files in Microsoft 365 has more.
Does AI make decisions or approve documents?
No. The AI finds information, answers questions and suggests details. Reviews and approvals stay with the people and the workflows you have set up in M‑Files.
Is AI included in our M‑Files licence?
M‑Files Aino is part of both M‑Files editions, Essentials and Enterprise, and Enterprise has more AI capacity. Questions across the whole vault and metadata suggestions are licensed separately, and CtrlScout is an add-on from CtrlDocs. A quote covers the edition, who will use the system, since occasional and read-only users can have their own licence types, and how much we set up.