Welcome to the automation economy – Protocol

Today, companies across the world are facing unprecedented uncertainty. Consequences of the global pandemic, ongoing trade concerns and political conflicts have disrupted business operations, which has, in turn, exacerbated existing workforce issues, created supply shortages, and made demand forecasting and customer engagements more complex. How are businesses expected to thrive in this world order? According to a new report, the answer lies in the power of automation to stabilize workforces, drive economic growth, and build business resilience. Introducing the Automation Economy.

The Automation Economythe focus this week at Imagine, and in response to Automation Anywheres third edition of the Automation Now & Next reportwill accelerate how businesses scale automation and sustain performance. Of the 1,000 global organizations surveyed in the report, more than a third indicated automation will lead them out of global crises.

Todays business leaders must look beyond their current business processes and imagine how automation can enable them, and others, to make bolder moves and reimagine work, says Mihir Shukla, CEO and co-founder of Automation Anywhere. The reality is we just dont have enough knowledge workers to do the work, and theres much more work to be done. It doesnt matter what you produce, but more importantly, how you are going to get the work completed and deliver the product to your customers?

A fireside chat with Automation Anywhere youtu.be

For certain sectors, intelligent automation is a must-have, not just a nice-to-have. In financial services, automated processes can include loan payment management, car loan applications, bank account management and much more. In a case study published by Automation Anywhere, one data firm needed data to be converted from one system to another. The projected time for a vendor to finish this process was two years, but the migration was completed in just 12 weeks with automation and bots running 24/7.

In healthcare, automation can improve patient outcomes by supporting medical advancements, managing patient intake, scheduling, claims and billing, freeing staff to ensure patients get the care they need. In retail, automation services can make ERP and supply chain processes more-efficient, and can include creating and disseminating reports, clearing invoices, and checking payment status against service-level agreements (SLAs).

The C-suite views automation as a vital tool in the business toolbox that can revitalize their workforce and improve employee retention. After all, if workers dont have to focus on routine manual tasks, they can be more engaged with other aspects of their job. In the Automation Anywhere report, around 40% of survey respondents believed that more than half of all employees could benefit from even just a single bot to help them in their daily work routine.

Also, a whopping 94% of respondents said moving employees to higher-value work is a top priority for the coming year.

For nearly twenty years, according to Shukla, he has been on a mission to unleash human potential by helping every company in every sector across the globe build a digital workforce and succeed with automation.

Teaming up with a digital coworker is par for the course for businesses seeking to address key challenges, but it is also useful as a strategy to interest employees with a new kind of colleague. At Automation Anywhere, they are using hundreds of digital coworkers internally in multiple departments. Our employees aren't just more productive with bots they are happier, says Shukla. Employees and customers have quickly come to not only rely on their digital workers but to engage with them, giving them friendly nicknames and wanting to communicate with them in a more personal way.

Shukla goes on to say that Automation Anywhere is delivering on that promise for customers. When we empower human workers to offload manual tasks to automation, we unleash their potential to pivot to the next big idea, build deeper customer relationships and drive business growth.

That is a future many business leaders are embracing to attain a competitive advantage.. A quarter of respondents in the Automation Anywhere report said they are escalating automation funding by at least 25% to help speed up automation deployments. Sitting on their hands simply isnt an option any longer, especially as more companies focus diligently on building a resilient workforce buttressed by both human and digital workers.

Digital transformation continues to accelerate at a rapid pace across enterprise businesses, and it can be overwhelming to adapt to an ever-evolving culture of technological change. But to drive growth, embracing the Automation Economy can be a harbinger of positive outcomes ahead. Business leaders can continue to help run current operations with the status quo model, or they can choose the bold and rewarding path of making calculated bets and exploring new technologies and solutions to scale automation across the company.

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Welcome to the automation economy - Protocol