Maximal Automation at Minimal Risks

As a new decade starts, Automation is gaining relevance in the corporate world and there is a growing trend of top companies introducing AI-driven initiatives to automate their business. As companies launch automation programs in their business, terms like Robotic Process Automation, AI, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, NLP are becoming the new buzzwords. However, the ground reality is that Automation is still restricted to top companies and even then not all of them are rushing to start automation. A recent McKinsey Automation survey claims that almost 40% of top European & American companies are yet to start any automation!

The reason perhaps is because most companies and their executives are clueless on how to start and where to start the automation process and what is the true potential of Automation vis a vis their organization. Further Automation requires a high level of understanding of complex technologies and then implementing them over & above the existing IT infrastructure, some of which may be archaic systems. Finally, there is also the fear amongst employees about their jobs becoming irrelevant and hence employee resistance to such a change is foremost when organizations think about adopting Automation.

However, all things considered, Automation can’t be ignored due to its huge potential to change how organizations work, function and operate. The associated technologies within the Automation realm – AI, NLP, ML, Deep Learning etc – are no longer in the experimenting phase but have become proven & reliable with use cases in all major industry domains. Ranging from simple Chat Bots to Robotic Process Automation to complex natural language processing, Automation is changing how organizations work.

So while 2020 brings Automation to greater prominence, how & where do you start automation in your organization?

The safer bet is to aim towards low hanging fruits i.e. processes that are less riskier, preferably not critical to business or revenue operations and that are not subject to compliance/regulatory rules. Here are a few ideas to start Automation pilot programs:

• Chatbots

These are perhaps the easiest, fastest and more importantly cheapest to implement. They are the best bet for an organization to test their worthiness towards adopting Automation.

• Simple RPA

Robotic Process Automation in itself is huge and it encompasses process automation at a basic level to the very complex. However, by focusing on simple process automation, companies can warm up to automation without any significant risks to the business itself. For instance, in the HR department, a simple automation algorithm that matches requirements with resumes received or that prepares a questionnaire for candidates instantly and then filters them according to relevant response can help the HR team to cut down their time wastage by at least 20% and make the whole processes faster & more efficient.

• Predictive Analytics – This is one aspect of Automation that can significantly impact an organization’s operations and revenue. Yet it is also one that can be rapidly deployed to start the path towards automation. The advances made in AI & Machine Learning algorithms have enabled the processing of vast amounts of data to derive meaningful, critical & timely insights for various business functions of an organization.

Each of the above is simple, fast and cheap steps towards starting an organization’s journey towards automation. Each of these automation methods are running successfully in organizations with their associated technology & tools certified as proven & reliable. All of them can be introduced in business functions that are not mission-critical, that do no impact revenues and that are not subject to compliance/regulatory frameworks.

By working with any of these low hanging fruits, organizations can start their journey towards automation in a controlled, calculated and well-calibrated manner without risking too much in terms of operations and revenues. Further running a pilot program in any one of them would also mean that you don’t burn through your budget before they can be implemented. Finally, each of them proves that rather than being a threat to jobs, these processes would only help employees remove the burden of daily, mundane & tedious tasks and focus more on working smartly & intelligently.

At QuadLogix Technologies, our consultants work actively with clients to identify Automation opportunities in their organization, collaborate to define the entire automation journey and build early pilot programs that deliver maximum Automation at a minimum risk.