for non-profits and SMEs working in Odoo
AI reads requests and documents and prepares them as a suggestion in Odoo. We first use what Odoo can do itself and only build what’s missing, starting with a pilot around one task.
No obligation · 30 minutes · online, with someone who builds, tests and fine-tunes it
Ethic is the AI studio of Zenjoy, a digital product studio from Leuven. Since 2011, Zenjoy has built integrations with SAP, Odoo, Salesforce and Airtable, among others.
At a glance
Honest advice
Odoo has AI built in, and for many tasks that’s enough. We’ll tell you honestly which of the three fits, even if it’s the cheapest.
| Odoo AI | A fixed rule in Odoo | Your own workflow through an integration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good for | Drafting emails, summarising the chatter, filling in fields, sorting documents, reading in supplier invoices and asking questions about your own data in plain language. | Tasks without free text. An email to a fixed address becomes a lead or ticket, a new status sets up a task. | Sensitive data, requests from channels outside Odoo, data from several systems or a model you choose yourself. |
| Watch out | Odoo AI works with ChatGPT or Gemini. On Odoo.sh or your own server, you need your own API keys for that. Odoo can also post invoices from selected suppliers automatically: only switch that on deliberately. | A rule doesn’t understand free text. With every exception, someone still has to step in. | More building up front. And not every Odoo subscription gives access to the external API. We check that first. |
| What we do | Agree what AI may see, and teach your team to work with it. | Telling you when a rule is enough. Then we don’t build AI. | Build with an AI fact sheet, test in a pilot and maintain after launch. |
What you can do with it
Accounting and Documents
Odoo reads in supplier invoices itself and can sort documents with AI. We add to that for documents that need more, such as contracts, certificates or case files with attachments, or if you want your own model. The integration can sort on its own; your team does the posting.
CRM and Helpdesk
A request via your website, email or PDF becomes a lead or ticket with the fields filled in. Existing contacts are recognised. Doubtful cases go to a colleague.
Documents and Knowledge
Your team asks in plain language about contracts, procedures or agreements. The answer links to the document in Odoo. Odoo can also do this itself with AI agents; we build it if you want a different model or stricter access rules.
Accounting and Sales
The figures come straight from Odoo. AI only writes the commentary, with the source next to each number. You finish the report for your board.
How it works
This is how an integration for requests works. It can prepare a draft on its own. A reply to the requester goes through a colleague.
Through your web form, an email or a PDF, just like today.
A model we chose together extracts the name, organisation and question. Only the fields in the AI fact sheet.
The integration looks up the existing contact and prepares a lead or ticket as a draft on its own. You can always undo that.
Is the AI unsure about the contact or the question? Then the suggestion gets a flag and a colleague decides.
The logs show the request, the suggestion, the edits and who approved what.
In the pilot
In the pilot, we measure two things: how much time a request costs your team, and how often you have to edit a suggestion. Based on that, you decide: roll it out, adjust or stop.
AI fact sheet
Every integration comes with an AI fact sheet. Your DPO and your IT lead read it before we go live. This is what it looks like.
Example
Requests to Odoo CRM
What it does
Reads new requests from the form on your website and from the info@ mailbox, and prepares a draft lead in Odoo CRM. Doesn’t create quotes and doesn’t send anything.
What data
Name, organisation, email address and the text of the question. No attachments, no accounting, no account numbers.
Model and location
A language model that runs in the EU. Odoo itself stays where it runs now. The provider’s contract rules out using your data to train models.
Who checks
On its own: preparing a draft lead and adding a label. Via the membership manager: confirming every lead and every reply to the requester. Doubts about the contact go to the same colleague.
What we keep
Every request, the suggestion, the edit and who approved it. We keep that for 90 days.
Owner and stopping
The membership manager at your organisation. The integration works with its own Odoo user and API key. Revoke that key and it stops immediately.
Control
Some doors swing both ways, others only one. AI can do things on its own if they can be undone and stay inside your organisation. Anything that goes outside or decides about a person goes to a colleague first. We agree what AI can do on its own, when someone has to approve and when the workflow stops.
The integration gets its own Odoo user with its own API key, and only sees the modules it needs. Renewing the key on time is part of maintenance.
The integration can label, sort and prepare a draft on its own. Posting, confirming and sending is done by your team.
Duplicate contacts, incomplete requests, unreadable attachments. We test with real examples before we go live.
Odoo Online lets you choose Europe as your hosting region. The AI model runs in the EU as standard, and we put the provider and country in the AI fact sheet.
Who builds it
Ethic is Zenjoy’s AI studio, based in Leuven. The same team builds and maintains your workflow, and everything is in your name.
15 years
building and maintaining software
400+
organisations
4 years
using AI daily in our own work
Built to keep working
01
Odoo is renewing its API and retiring the older ones. We build on the new API from the start and keep an eye on the releases.
02
We can switch to a better or more efficient model without rebuilding the workflow. We test it again.
03
Code, prompts, documentation and access.
04
Monthly maintenance covers updates, monitoring and small changes. New workflows are planned separately.
After a first conversation, you get a proposal with a clear scope and a fixed price.
Frequently asked questions
Question not listed? Just ask us.
A data processing agreement and security overview are available on request.
Technical note
As of October 2026. Odoo AI is part of Odoo 19. Odoo plans to retire its older external APIs: in Odoo Online from version 21.1 (winter 2027), in Odoo 22 (autumn 2028). An API key expires after three months at most. We build on the new API and renew keys as part of maintenance.
Not much, but it has to be the right people. At the start, you need someone who knows the task well, for example from accounting, and someone with admin rights in Odoo to set up API access. During the pilot, your team approves the suggestions as part of the work it already does today. Every few weeks, we look at the figures together and adjust. What we need from you is set out in the proposal.
Odoo stays where it is now: on Odoo Online in the region you chose, on Odoo.sh or on your own server. Do note that Odoo Online also stores its backups in Canada, and you can’t restrict that. The integration only sends the fields in the AI fact sheet to the AI model. Which model that is, with which provider and in which country, is in the AI fact sheet. Odoo’s built-in AI works with ChatGPT or Gemini. We look at that together with your DPO.
It happens, and that’s why the integration only makes suggestions. Your team approves before anything is confirmed in Odoo. If the AI is unsure, the suggestion gets a flag. In the pilot, we agree in advance how many errors are acceptable, and the logging shows where things go wrong.
Odoo regularly releases new versions and sometimes retires old parts. The older APIs are scheduled to disappear in Odoo Online 21.1 and in Odoo 22. We follow that and adapt the integration before anything goes wrong. We also renew the API key on time. That’s covered by the monthly maintenance agreement.
The AI Act divides roles. Your organisation uses the integration under its own authority and is therefore usually the deployer. Whoever develops the AI system and puts it into service under their own name is the provider. We set out which role lies with whom in the AI fact sheet for each integration. The AI Act also asks you to work on your staff’s AI knowledge. That’s what our AI literacy training is for. This isn’t legal advice.
Your Odoo partner stays responsible for your configuration and your modules. We build the AI layer alongside it, through Odoo’s official API and with its own user. Before an upgrade, we agree who tests what. That way everyone knows who’s accountable for what.
Related
Workflow
Documents and invoicesIntegration
Accounting and PeppolSector
Non-profitsIntegration
Microsoft 365In a first conversation, we look at your Odoo and at one task your team retypes today. You get honest advice: Odoo AI, a fixed rule or your own workflow.
No obligation · 30 minutes · online, with someone who builds, tests and fine-tunes it
