A common digital foundation is the layer that connects people, systems and decisions throughout a process, preserving the complete history and visibility over each case. It doesn’t replace the ERP or the CRM: it organises the work that happens between them. In this video, Daniel Gomes, General Manager of Masterlink, explains why we keep working the same way, despite having so much technology.
Video in Portuguese, with Portuguese subtitles.
In Summary
- According to Daniel Gomes, most organisations have many systems, but few processes managed end to end.
- Each system solves only part of the work. What falls between them still depends on email, Excel and informal knowledge.
- A common digital foundation doesn’t replace the ERP, the CRM or the other systems, and it isn’t one giant application: it organises what happens between them.
- With structured processes, artificial intelligence no longer encounters scattered documents and can identify where the process stands, what rules apply and who can decide.
Why we have so much technology and keep working the same way
Daniel Gomes’s answer is simple: because there are many systems, but few processes truly managed end to end. If you walked into most organisations today, he says, you would probably find dozens of applications: ERP, CRM, document management, human resources, finance, portals, collaboration tools. And yet people still work by email, exchange files, keep parallel Excel spreadsheets and ask one another: “Where does this process stand?”
The problem: each system solves only part of the work
The problem, he argues, is not a lack of technology: in most cases there is even too much technology. The ERP handles one part, the CRM handles another, document management stores the documents, email ensures communication, and Excel ends up being used to track what fell in between. But no one is truly managing the process end to end.
The real process runs across all systems
A real process starts with a request, goes through several people, has validations, rules, decisions and documents, may need information from different systems, and ends when someone executes an action and what happened is recorded.
What a common digital foundation is
Daniel Gomes calls it a common digital foundation. It does not mean replacing the ERP, the CRM or the systems the organisation already has, nor putting everything inside a single giant application. It means creating a consistent way to manage what happens between those systems:
- a request comes in through the right place;
- the necessary information is associated with the process;
- each person knows what they have to do;
- validations and approvals are clear;
- systems communicate when needed;
- it is possible to know where the process stands;
- the full history of what happened is preserved.
It can be an invoice, a commercial proposal, a hiring process, a job application, an internal request, or an interaction with a customer, supplier or citizen. The context and rules change, but there is a structure that repeats: information coming in, people involved, decisions that have to be made, and an outcome to achieve.
Where many organisations still get stuck
It is this space—the work that happens between systems—that many organisations still have not been able to solve. They have the systems, but that work remains dependent on email, Excel and informal knowledge. That is why, despite all the investment in technology, many people continue to work in practically the same way.
Masterlink’s role
At Masterlink, Daniel Gomes says, this is very much the work they do. They do not come into an organisation intending to replace everything that already exists: they take the processes that run across people, departments and systems and help organise them end to end. They connect the information, define the steps, clarify responsibilities, integrate with existing systems and create a common foundation where new processes can be added, without always starting from scratch.
The ERP, the CRM and document management continue to fulfil their function, but they stop working as isolated pieces and start taking part in a complete process. What already exists is not thrown away: it is made to work better together.
And it is also the foundation that artificial intelligence needs. According to Daniel Gomes, when there is a structured process, AI no longer encounters only scattered documents or information without context: it can identify where the process stands, what information is relevant, what rules apply, who can decide, and what should happen next.
The answer to the initial question
We keep working the same way, Daniel Gomes concludes, because we bought systems to solve parts of the problem, but often still lack the connection and organisation of the process as a whole. When that connection exists, two things happen: the organisation gets more value from the technology it has already invested in, and the conditions are created for artificial intelligence to bring real value to operations.
Frequently asked questions
It’s the layer that connects people, systems and decisions throughout a process, preserving the complete history and providing visibility into the status of each case.
No. It doesn’t replace the systems the organisation already has, nor does it combine everything into a single application. It organises the work that happens between them, so that each one keeps fulfilling its function while all take part in a complete process.
The examples given in the video are an invoice, a commercial proposal, a hiring process, a job application, an internal request, or an interaction with a customer, supplier or citizen.
According to Daniel Gomes, because a structured process gives AI context: where the process stands, what information is relevant, what rules apply, who can decide, and what should happen next, instead of scattered documents.
