Start · The story
Foundry OS · Guided by a real scenario

★ Follow Meridian’s invoice journey

This guide walks the full Foundry OS path using one concrete story: Meridian Retail wants to stop drowning in supplier invoice exceptions. You will see what each module is for, why it exists, and how Meridian uses it — with metaphors and diagrams along the way.

Real-world scenario Metaphors Visual diagrams Interactive steps
🏢
Meet Meridian Retail

Meridian receives ~4,000 supplier invoices a month. Most match purchase orders automatically. About 12% fail matching (wrong amount, missing PO, duplicate). Today, three AP clerks chase those exceptions in email and spreadsheets. Mistakes slip through; month-end is painful. Leadership wants automation — but only if the process is understood, funded, built properly, and monitored.

Invoice arrives, exception found, automation handles it

→ The big metaphor: building a smart factory

Think of Foundry OS like opening a small factory for one business process:

Discover

Draw the blueprint

Architects document how work really flows today — rooms, doors, fire exits (exceptions).

Decide

Get the building permit

City hall (leadership) checks ROI and signs the budget before construction starts.

Build

Construct the plant

Engineers assemble machines (digital workers), conveyors (pipelines), and intake forms.

Run + Operate

Open & staff the floor

Ops runs the line in Opera; clerks handle approvals and BAU work from Project and Opera.

Five stage metaphor from blueprint to service desk
Document to build to run overview
1 DISCOVER Assess 2 DECIDE Pipeline & budget 3 BUILD Project · AI · RPA 4 RUN Opera 5 Ops
Stage 0 · Finding the front door

0 Get oriented

Before Meridian documents invoices, Priya (Transformation Lead) needs to know how to enter the building and which floor is which.

🗺
Metaphor — a campus with modules

The dark sidebar is the campus map. Assess is the library and permit office. Project is the construction site. AI Agent and RPA are the machine shops. Opera is the factory control room. DocIQ is the document intelligence lab. Home is the information desk.

SIDEBAR Home Assess Project AI Agent RPA Opera Home Info desk Assess Library / permit Project Construction Opera Factory (post-login) AI Agent Agentic workflows RPA Robot Framework DocIQ Document intelligence Sidebar areas: Home · Assess · Project · AI Agent · RPA · Opera
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Meridian moment

Priya signs in Monday morning, lands on Opera, then opens Assess → Process Repository — “that’s where we document Invoice Exceptions before anyone builds a bot.”

  1. Sign in at /login (SSO in production).
  2. Note you land in Opera — the factory control plane.
  3. Open the sidebar and briefly visit Assess, Project, AI Agent, RPA, and Opera.
  4. Return to Home (/) for the Foundry OS overview.
Stage 1 · Foundry Assess = the library / blueprint office

1 Discover — blueprint the work

You would not automate a kitchen without a recipe. Foundry Assess is where Meridian writes the recipe for invoice exceptions — owners, steps, systems, meetings, and an honest assessment of effort.

📐
Metaphor — architectural blueprints

A process is the building name (“Supplier Invoice Handling”). A variation is a specific floor plan (e.g. “UK AP — Hybrid”). Tabs are rooms on that floor: map room, document vault, meeting notes, assessment lab, approval stamp desk.

🧾
Meridian scenario

AP Manager Sam and analyst Priya create process Supplier Invoice Exceptions, variation Hybrid — Queue + Clerk. They map: invoice lands in ERP → match fails → exception queue → clerk decides → pay or reject. They attach last week’s workshop transcript and list ERP + email as target apps.

Invoice in PO match Match fail? Exception Queue item + form data Clerk / bot Happy path: auto-pay Exception path (what we automate)

A Process Repository — the card catalogue

/assess/repository

Like a library catalogue: search, filter, create the book (process) and editions (variations). Open a variation for Process Details — maps, docs, meetings, assessment, and approvals.

  1. Open Assess → Process Repository.
  2. Create process Supplier Invoice Exceptions.
  3. Create variation Hybrid — Queue + Clerk (environment + version).
  4. Open Process Details for the variation.

B Process Details — rooms in the blueprint

DetailsOwner: Sam ContactsAP SMEs DocumentsSOP vault AppsERP, email OutputsPaid / reject
  1. Set owner (Sam), team (AP), status.
  2. Add contacts who know edge cases.
  3. Write a starter SOP in Document Library.
  4. List ERP + email; outputs = Paid invoice / Rejected invoice.

Process Map is the wall-sized floor plan. Outcome Scenarios are fire-exit plans (what if duplicate invoice? what if vendor disputes?).

  1. Build/review the Process Map (use full-screen in workshops).
  2. In Outcome Scenarios, document auto-match success vs exception handling.

Meetings are like site surveys — transcripts and highlights become documents so the blueprint stays evidence-based.

  1. Create/open the discovery meeting on the variation.
  2. Review summary, highlights, transcript.
  3. Generate documents into the library.
Without assessment

“Just automate it”

Guessing effort → surprise cost → failed project.

VS
With assessment

Scored & approved

Automation %, complexity, cost → pipeline & budget can decide fairly.

  1. Complete Assessment (Meridian estimates high volume, medium complexity).
  2. Request approvers on Review and Approval; clear the gate.
Stage 2 · Permit office

2 Decide — fund what is worth building

Meridian’s CFO will not fund every idea. Transformation Pipeline is the portfolio wall; Budget Approvals is the cheque-signing desk.

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Metaphor — building permits & funding

Assessed processes line up like permit applications. Toggling approved to automate is the zoning stamp. A budget request is the construction loan. Only then does Project open a delivery job.

Transformation Pipeline (portfolio) Other processes Lower ROI Invoice Exceptions High volume · Med complexity ✓ Approved to automate Waiting assessment → Budget Approvals → Project Backlog
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Meridian scenario

Priya shows ~480 exceptions/month, ~18 minutes each → large annual cost. CFO approves a £45k delivery budget. Flags flip to approved-to-automate; the item appears on Project → Backlog like a work order.

/assess/transformation-pipeline · /assess/budget-approvals
  1. Open Assess → Transformation Pipeline; find Invoice Exceptions.
  2. Review savings/ROI/complexity.
  3. Toggle budget available / approved to automate when leadership agrees.
  1. Open Assess → Budget Approvals; create or open the request.
  2. Expand justification; Approve or Reject with a reason.
Stage 3 · Project + AI Agent / RPA

3 Build — construct the automation

Blueprints and budget are not a working plant. Foundry Project manages delivery; AI Agent (or RPA for Robot Framework bots) builds forms, workers, and automated processes.

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Metaphor — construction site + machine shop

Project Backlog / Delivery = the site trailer (Kanban). AI Agent Forms = loading-dock paperwork. Digital workers = machines. Automated Processes = the conveyor. RPA is the unattended Robot Framework shop floor when Meridian needs classic bots.

Backlog Project Delivery Kanban site Forms AI Agent / RPA Workers AI Agent / RPA Automated Process AI Agent pipeline
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Meridian scenario

Delivery lead Alex creates project “INV-EX-2026” in Project → Delivery. Sprint board tracks ERP connector, exception form, RPA worker, and clerk handoff. In AI Agent (or RPA), the form captures PO number, amount, reason code. Worker “INV-Exception-Bot” is queue-managed. Automated Process: Enrich from ERP → Classify exception → Notify clerk or auto-resolve low-risk duplicates. Target apps are registered under Assess → Applications.

/project/backlog · /project/delivery · /ai-agent/forms · /ai-agent/automated-processes · /rpa/digital-workers
  1. From Project → Backlog, create the delivery project.
  2. Open Project → Delivery → Project Details → move tasks on Kanban; use Gantt/Burndown/tests as needed.
  1. Open AI Agent → Forms (or RPA → Forms for the RPA path).
  2. Create a multi-page form for exception intake (PO, amount, reason, notes).
  3. Preview and save — this feeds Queue Manager later.
  1. Configure digital worker(s) under AI Agent or RPA → Digital Workers; enable queue-managed if clerks submit items.
  2. Register ERP in Assess → Applications.
  3. Design the Automated Process under AI Agent → Automated Processes; save.
  4. Complete the delivery project in Project when tests pass.
Stage 4 · Foundry Opera = factory control room

4 Run — open the factory

Project and AI Agent / RPA built the machines. Opera is where Meridian plugs them into power (machines), chooses the start button (schedule vs queue), and watches the CCTV (Live Monitoring).

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Metaphor — factory operations

Machines / pools = shop-floor stations. Scheduling = night shift timer. Queue Manager = orders arriving at the dock. Live Monitoring = control-room screens. MI Dashboard = the weekly ops report. Approvals and Audit Logs keep governance in the same control plane. RPA workers are governed from Opera as an add-on.

Machines Digital Worker Schedule Nightly batch Queue Clerk submits Meridian uses this Live Monitoring Completed Running Failed → open logs → re-submit?
Schedule

Timer on the wall

Best for “every night at 2am, pull new exceptions from ERP.”

OR
Queue (Meridian)

Orders at the dock

Best when each exception is a ticket clerks (or ERP) submit with form data.

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Meridian scenario

Ops installs the RPA agent on AP-BOT-01, adds it to pool “AP-East”. INV-Exception-Bot is queue-managed. When match fails, ERP (or a clerk) submits the form → Queue Manager → worker runs → Live Monitoring shows the run. A failed VAT code case is opened in logs; after a fix, ops re-submits once.

/opera/mi-dashboard · /opera/machines · /opera/queue-manager · /opera/live-monitoring · /opera/approvals
  1. Open Opera → Machines; create machine; install agent; confirm connection.
  2. Optional: add to a Machine Pool.
  3. Ensure the digital worker (from AI Agent / RPA / Opera) is production-ready and queue-managed.
  1. Submit a test queue item (or create a schedule under Opera → Scheduling if batch-based).
  2. Watch Opera → Queue Manager for pending → processed.
  1. Open Opera → Live Monitoring; find the run; drill into transactions/logs.
  2. Only re-submit when the failure is understood.
  3. Use MI Dashboard for weekly trends; check Audit Logs when accountability matters.
Stage 5 · Project BAU + Opera Approvals

5 Operate — people still matter

Automation does not remove Meridian’s AP clerks — it changes their job. Day-to-day BAU work lives under Project (Projects, issues, queue submit). Manager stamps and governance live under Opera → Approvals.

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Metaphor — hotel front desk

Guests (work items) check in via Project transactions. Clerks complete manual steps, call a manager via Opera Approvals, and send special requests to the digital worker queue. The factory (Opera Live Monitoring) stays behind the scenes unless something breaks.

Projects BAU tickets Approvals Opera stamp Issues Live issues Queue Submit work
/project/projects · /project/issues · /opera/approvals · /opera/audit-logs · /ai-agent/audit-logs
👩‍💼
Meridian scenario

Clerk Jordan opens Project → Projects each morning. Pending items show open BAU follow-ups. High-value exceptions need a manager stamp in Opera → Approvals. For a new hybrid case, Jordan uses Add to Queue with the exception form. If a bot fails oddly, Jordan logs a Live Issue; ops picks it up in Opera Live Monitoring.

  1. Open Project → Projects; scan open BAU transactions.
  2. Start or continue a transaction; complete steps and comments.
  3. Clear an approval in Opera → Approvals; check Live Issues under Project.
  4. Submit one queue item and confirm it appears in Opera Queue Manager.

Audit Logs live under Opera (/opera/audit-logs) and AI Agent (/ai-agent/audit-logs) — the security camera footage when someone asks “who changed what?”.

Meridian end-to-end

✓ Full checklist

One list to take Supplier Invoice Exceptions from idea to daily ops.

1 Discover 2 Decide 3 Build 4 Run 5 Operate Healthy process
  1. Process + variation in Assess Process Repository.
  2. Process Details: map, docs, meetings, assessment, approval.
  1. Transformation Pipeline flags.
  2. Budget Approvals cleared.
  1. Project: Backlog, Delivery, Project Details.
  2. AI Agent or RPA: Forms, Digital Workers, Automated Processes.
  1. Machines, queue/schedule, Live Monitoring, MI Dashboard.
  1. Project: transactions, issues, queue submit.
  2. Opera: Approvals and Audit Logs.
Help

? FAQ

Answers in Meridian language.

Automating a misunderstood invoice process just creates faster mistakes. Blueprints first — then permits, construction, and power.

BAU transactions and issues live under Project. Approvals live under Opera. Ops uses Opera Live Monitoring; analysts use Assess; builders use Project plus AI Agent or RPA.

Replace “invoice exceptions” with onboarding, claims, refunds, or KYC — the Discover → Decide → Build → Run → Operate path stays the same.

Foundry OS — Discover. Automate. Monitor. · Scenario: Meridian Retail Progress stored in this browser only.