Is AI Safe for Business Data? Understanding Automated PO Extraction Security
As AI processes more business data, security is paramount. How to ensure your customer data remains private in the age of LLMs.
PO2Order Team
Editor in Chief
“I’m not sure I want an AI reading my customer’s data.”
It’s a valid concern. With headlines about “OpenAI training on your data,” businesses are rightfully cautious about feeding Purchase Orders—which contain pricing, addresses, and contact info—into a black box.
But not all AI is created equal.
Zero-Retention Architectures
The best breed of B2B AI tools (like PO2Order) utilize Zero-Retention architectures.
Unlike some consumer chatbots from major providers, which might store your chat history to train future models, specialized extraction APIs are designed to be stateless.
- Input: PDF is sent to the API.
- Process: The model extracts the text (SKUs, Qty, Address).
- Output: The JSON data is returned to your system.
- Delete: The API forgets the PDF ever existed.
Privacy vs. Training
There is a difference between “using AI” and “training AI.”
- Public LLMs: Often train on user inputs. Risky for trade secrets.
- Enterprise/Private Models: Do not train on inputs. They are pre-trained on general documents and applied to your specific data.
Security by Obscurity is Not Security
Compare AI security to the alternative: Email.
Email is notoriously insecure. When a PDF sits in an inbox, it is replicated across servers, accessible to anyone with the password, and often downloaded to local laptops (which can be lost or stolen).
A structured, automated pipeline is actually more secure. The data flows directly from Source -> Encrypted Pipeline -> Shopify Database. It touches fewer human hands and sits on fewer local hard drives.
