Supplier onboarding stalls when compliance, finance, and procurement each open a separate tab. The agent reads from all three, drafts one onboarding packet, and writes its findings to a Dock row that procurement either approves or sends back. The supplier record stays in Coupa or SAP Ariba. The judgment stays in Dock.
Architecture
Coupa, SAP Ariba, and Vanta stay the system of record for the raw data: supplier profile, sourcing event, security posture. Dock is the system of record for what the agent interprets from that data. Each Dock row carries a pointer back to the platform record (coupa_supplier_id, ariba_supplier_id, vanta_vendor_id), the agent identity, the decision, the reviewer, and the timestamp. The agent re-fetches platform data via fresh API reads when it needs current state, so the Dock packet never drifts from the source.
The Dock surface
One table, supplier_onboarding_checks, holds the agent's draft packets.
| coupa_supplier_id | vendor_name | financial_check | compliance_check | vanta_security_score | agent | draft_decision | reviewer | status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPA-44812 | Northwind Logistics | D&B PAYDEX 78, clean | OFAC clear, ISO 9001 active | 92/100 | agent:procurement-onboarder | Approve, Tier 2 | govind@dock | approved |
| CPA-44819 | Polaris Components | DSO 64 days, watch | OFAC clear, ISO expired 2025 | 71/100 | agent:procurement-onboarder | Hold, request renewed ISO | priya@dock | sent_back |
| CPA-44823 | Helix Materials | PAYDEX 81, clean | OFAC clear, SOC 2 Type II | 88/100 | agent:procurement-onboarder | Approve, Tier 1 | govind@dock | approved |
Each row points back to the Coupa record. The Ariba sourcing event and Vanta vendor ID sit in adjacent columns, omitted here for width.
The worked workflow
A new supplier request lands in Coupa. The agent reads the Coupa profile, pulls the matched Vanta vendor record, checks Ariba for any prior sourcing event, and runs a financial pull against D&B. It writes one row to supplier_onboarding_checks with the three check results and a draft decision. Procurement opens the row, reads the agent's reasoning, and either approves or marks sent_back with a note. On approval, Dock fires the onboarding packet into Coupa and posts a confirmation comment to the requester. On send-back, the agent re-fetches the missing artifact and revises the same row, preserving the prior draft in history. The audit trail shows every read, every draft, every reviewer click.
Why it matters
Procurement's job is judgment, not tab-switching. The agent eliminates the assembly work, and the reviewer sees a single packet with the evidence already attached. Decisions ship in minutes, not days.
Attribution survives the handoff. When finance or legal later asks why a Tier 1 supplier was approved, the Dock row names the agent, the reviewer, the timestamp, and the source records it read. The CIPS profession serves more than 64,000 members across 180 countries promoting best practices in procurement (Wikipedia). Those best practices assume traceable decisions. Dock makes the trace automatic.
The packet is also auditable against compliance frameworks. ISO 9000 treats external providers and the organization as interdependent, with mutually beneficial relationships enhancing value (Wikipedia). Tying every onboarding decision to a Vanta score and an ISO status makes that relationship legible.
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FAQ
Q: Why not store the supplier record in Dock directly? A: Coupa and Ariba are systems of record for vendor master data. Dock holds the agent's interpretation and the reviewer's decision. Two roles, two systems.
Q: What happens when Vanta updates a security score after approval? A: The agent re-fetches on a scheduled cadence and writes a new row if the score crosses a threshold. The original approval row stays immutable.
Q: Can the agent approve a Tier 3 supplier without a reviewer? A: Only if procurement has explicitly enabled auto-approve for that tier. Default is reviewer-in-the-loop, and the row records which mode was active.
Q: How does this differ from a Coupa workflow rule? A: Coupa routes the record. Dock holds the agent's reasoning, the evidence it read, and the reviewer's verdict, with attribution that survives the handoff.
