Why Orthantic
Planning models that fit your business, with agentic AI
Orthantic is designed for organisations whose planning has outgrown spreadsheets, and whose processes need more flexibility than a packaged application provides.
AI that works inside the plan
Most AI tools work on data copied out of the planning system. In Orthantic, the AI agent works inside the planning model, on the same data, rules and dashboards as the planners.
It answers questions, explains results and prepares changes, and a person approves every change. AI-assisted model building reduces time to value. See Orthantic AI.
Flexibility beyond packaged applications
Packaged planning applications work well where a business process matches the application's design. Where requirements are more specific, extra spreadsheets are often needed to cover the gaps.
Orthantic models are built around your own dimensions, rules and calendar, so specific requirements are handled inside the platform.
Business ownership without custom code
Custom-built planning solutions can match a process closely, but each new channel, rule or process usually needs a development cycle.
In Orthantic, business logic is written in a readable formula language, so changes are made directly in the model, without a development cycle.
Purpose-built models that adapt to change
Dimensions, hierarchies, calendars and business rules are set up around your planning process. New requirements become model changes, without waiting for a vendor roadmap or a software release.
The change is made directly in the model:
Every figure in the model that depends on it is recalculated from that point, and the rule stays visible for review and audit.
Comparing planning approaches
How spreadsheets, packaged planning applications, custom-built solutions and Orthantic compare for a recurring planning process.
| Spreadsheets | Packaged planning application | Custom-built solution | Orthantic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI for analysis and planning | Separate AI tools, working on copied data | Varies by vendor and edition | Built separately, if at all | Built in: questions, root cause and changes with approval |
| Building and extending models | By hand, by the file owner | Often by implementation partners | By developers | By Orthantic, AI-assisted, with no custom code |
| Time to a first working model | Hours, for a simple model | Months | Months | Weeks |
| Fit to your planning process | High at first, harder to maintain as it grows | Good where the process matches the standard design | High at implementation | High, and kept up to date as needs change |
| A new requirement mid-year | New tabs and file copies | A change request to the vendor | A development cycle | A model change, without a development cycle |
| Forecasting and optimisation | Separate tools or add-ins | Varies by vendor and module | Built and maintained separately | Included, with results written back to the plan |
| Transparency of calculations | Cell-by-cell review | Often limited | Code review | A readable formula for every rule |
| Collaboration | Copies merged by hand | Shared application | Shared application | One shared model with role-based access |
| Audit trail | File versions only | Usually available | Depends on the build | Every value, by rule or by user, and every AI change |
| Knowledge retention | Depends on the model author | Kept in the application | Depends on documentation | Kept in the model: each rule documents itself |
✓ strong fit ◐ partial fit — not a strength. Packaged applications vary by vendor. Time to a first working model assumes a single planning process; see how it works.
One platform, multiple planning models
Each process is modelled at its own level of detail, in a model of its own.
Finance, Sales, Workforce and Operations plan at different levels of detail, and each process needs a model designed around it. Orthantic provides one model per planning process, with the detail that process needs.
Each model is shared by everyone who plans that process, across regions and countries, with role-based access to what each person sees and edits. A new process gets a model of its own, at the detail it needs.
See it applied to your planning process
Get in touch to arrange a demonstration and discuss how your planning process could run in Orthantic.