Category Archives: Automation

Now is a good time for U.S. workers. They are operating from a position of strength as an ongoing labor shortage creates greater demand and incentivizes higher wages for their services.

But those gains are temporary, warns Nada Sanders, distinguished professor of supply chain management at Northeastern.

The unmet demand and rising costs for skilled labor are convincing employers to automate their businesses at an accelerated ratewhich will result in fewer job opportunities for many of the workers who appear to be doing so well today.

There is critical demand for workers across every sectorfrom hospitality to restaurants to nursing to truck drivers, you name it, says Sanders. But that leverage is going to rapidly shrink and go away.

This is a red alert for workers who need to understand that many of their jobs are going to be pushed out by technology, Sanders says. And once they go, theyre not coming back.

Nada Sanders, distinguished professor of supply chain management at Northeastern. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

The momentary labor shortage is driven in part by The Great Resignation that has been spurred by the millions of American workers who have quit jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply-chain shortages and other business interruptions related to the pandemic are also contributing to the dramatic shift toward automation by U.S. companies, says Sanders.

In autumn 2019, before COVID hit, I was talking to companies about their hesitation to go digital because of the amount of money it would cost, Sanders says. But we are in a different era now. Were two years into this pandemic, and these companies are smart. Theyre saying theyre not going to be caught with their pants down again. Of the companies Ive talked to, theyre all investing a significant increase5% to 10% of revenuesin automation.

A World Economic Forum survey of close to 300 companies around the world last year found that 43% envisioned cutting back on workers in favor of new technology.

The prices used to be astronomical, but the technology is now more commonplace and its actually affordable for small businesses, Sanders says of the drive to automation. Businesses are aware that if they make this investment, theyre not having to pay for benefits, Social Security, healthcare, and [in terms of automated systems] theyre not worrying about COVID and the variants that are coming.

The development shows some obvious signs, says Tucker Marion, a Northeastern associate professor of technological entrepreneurship, who notes how national retailers, including CVS, and restaurants such as McDonalds, have been replacing cashiers with self-service kiosks. Thats just the beginning.

You have those jobs that can be replaced by automation, which is reliable and doesnt require a lot of technicians to maintain it, Marion says. Youll see that in grocery stores, warehouses, restaurants. Workers need to think about what skills theyre going to develop for the workplace.

Northeastern associate professor of technological entrepreneurship Tucker Marion. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Employers want workers who can provide specific skills that werent in demand a few years ago. Thats why Amazon is offering free tuition to employees, says Sanders, in addition to educational programs for employees on data center maintenance and technology, IT, and user experience and research design.

Its also why the Roux Institute at Northeastern was launched in 2019: To train high-tech workers capable of sparking a digital renaissance in Maine, a state that was struggling to train workers who could grow and maintain cutting-edge industries.

When job offers are made, it is reasonable to ask, Is it possible to get reskilling, training, tuition, or something along those lines as part of the compensation package? says Sanders. If I were a worker, in my job negotiation, I would want a chance to reskill and upskill so that I am ready for this new age that is absolutely coming, and its coming very fast.

Sanders notes that a variety of innovations are already changing the U.S. workplace, including:

Sanders and Marion recall the message of Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, in which Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun proposed ways to educate future generations to thrive in the automated economy. People should invest in areas of perception and creativitystrengths that machines cant yet match, notes Marion.

What are the jobs of the future?

It is a challenging question, Marion says. For the foreseeable future, there will be a need for highly technical backgrounds and skillsmaterials science, computer science, engineering, analytics, physics, medicine, biomedicalwhere we are combining different fields together. Interdisciplinary technical skills will be extremely valuable because technology is going to change, and being able to have combinations of skills in different technical fields is very important.

The embrace of automated systems by businesses is a movement that transcends the current supply chain shortages, says Sanders.

I really see this as a community serviceweve got to get the word out to workers, says Sanders. What you dont want is to be caught in a situation where, in a year or two, this job is no longer there, and you no longer have the leverage, and you do not have the skill-set to compete in the new job market.

For media inquiries, please contact Ed Gavaghan at e.gavaghan@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.

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Automation Rapidly Embraced by Businesses Struggling to Find Workers - News @ Northeastern - Northeastern University

CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a research report "Automation Testing Market by Component (Testing Types (Static Testing and Dynamic Testing) and Services), Endpoint Interface (Mobile, Web, Desktop, and Embedded Software), Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Automation Testing Market size is expected to grow USD 20.7 billion in 2021 to USD 49.9 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.2% during the forecast period. The Automation Testing Market is growing due to the rapid adoption of advanced technologies.

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Implementation services segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Implementation services facilitate the integration of automation into the existing software testing infrastructure. Interoperability issues are a major concern in deploying platforms with automation testing solutions. Hence, integrating the solutions with various hardware components and testing the functioning of the entire system is of the utmost importance for the successful execution of automation testing solutions. These services bring together several communication standards, diverse services, and device and data management tools to build automation testing solutions for organizations. Furthermore, these services begin with collecting customers' requirements and then deploying, integrating, testing, and rolling out the solutions. These services enable organizations to integrate their operational and enterprise environment to provide a transparent testing experience ultimately.

Mobile Endpoint Interface segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Mobile automation testing is an important segment in this fast-moving world. When the development team becomes acquainted, they can work fleetly, and there is no possibility that the existing features will change. Even with the best manual testing processes and test engineers, it is considered that no company can set up and afford the framework for testing mobile applications. Repeating the tests manually is costly and time-consuming, whereas, in the case of test automation, time and cost are both saved as the tests performed are spontaneous according to the framework

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Asia Pacific (APAC) region to record the highest growing region in the Automation Testing Market

APAC is the most promising region as it has major economies, such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, China, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, which offer significant growth opportunities for automation testing vendors. The region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This region comprises major economies like India, and China which has a very large customer base. The governments are taking initiatives for rapid adoption of new technologies like AI and ML, automation, IoT, mobile and web-based applications, cloud-based services, and other technologies.

Key and innovative vendors in the Automation Testing Market are Accenture (Ireland), AFour Technologies (US), Applitools (US), Astegic (US), Broadcom (US), Capgemini (France), Cigniti Technologies (India), Codoid (India), Cygnet Infotech (India), froglogic (Germany), IBM (US), Infostrecth (US), Invensis (India), Keysight Technologies (US), Micro Focus (UK), Microsoft (US), Mobisoft Infotech (US), Parasoft (US), ProdPerfect (US), QA Mentor (US), QA Source (US), QualityKiosk Technologies (India), Ranorex (Austria), Sauce Labs (US), Smartbear Software (US), Testim.io (US), Thinksys (US), Tricentis (US), Worksoft (US).

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Cloud Testing Market by Component (Testing Tools/Platforms and Services), Testing Tool/Platform (Functional Testing, API Testing), Service (Managed Services and Professional Services), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022

API Testing Market by Component (API Testing Software/Tools and API Testing Services), Deployment Type (Cloud Based and On-Premises), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022

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Cognitive automation allows the once tedious task of unstructured data entry and compilation to be delegated to cognitive process automation-powered bots.

Earlier this year,1.5 millionAmericans flockedto theofficial site of the ACAduring the 2021Marketplace Special Enrollment Period. These new additions resulted in a staggering nationwide total of 12.2 million Americansenrolled inmarketplace healthcare a record high.

However,significant obstacles still stand between healthcare providers and quality patient care.A 2021 studyfrom the Association of American Medical Colleges is predicting a major physician shortage by 2034. The data used for the study was from 2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and doesntconsiderthenumberof medical staff thatquit or retiredsince the pandemic began.Additionally,more than 3,600 health workers died in 2020, and the World Health Organization is warning that healthcare worker burnoutas a result of the pandemicwill have serious effects.

The 2022Open EnrollmentPeriod is an opportunityfor many uninsured and underinsured Americans to access health insurance, butthese patients may still face obstacles in receiving medical care.Healthcareprovidersthat are considered in-network for these plans face a large increase in patientappointments yethave less available staff and physicians to providequalitycare.

This leavesthehealthcare systemsearching for smart solutions to work throughhigher demand for services with less human resources.

During peak times, healthcare facilities face an increased workload on two fronts. Treating patients is the priority and a demanding endeavor even prior to the pandemic. And while extraordinary advancements have been made in using AI to diagnose and treat medical conditions, few headlines are written about the impact of robots behind the front desk.

However, machine learning is changing the way healthcare process management is run. Thanks to cognitive process automation (CPA), bots are now able to read and interpret medical claim forms and match medical notes. Advancements in optical character recognition(OCR)and natural language processing(NLP)enablethese same bots to understand and respond to requests. And, according to aMcKinsey studyfrom 2019, 36% of healthcare services can be automated, which is a strong endorsement for incorporatingcognitive automationinto daily processes.

In the last year,CPAhas increased productivity, efficiency, and accuracy for healthcare providers. Pre-trained bots can take over monotonous, rote work like general administration and data entry. Ordering, obtaining, and processing labs becomes easily delegated. More than just standard robotic process automation, these bots even use machine learning to make informed decisions, just like human employees.

The upcoming OpenEnrollmentPeriodcould add a considerable workload toan already over-burdenedhealthcare office staff, butCPA can provide relief. Medical record organization, work schedule creation, human resources, financial management, and more can be fully automated, allowing administrators more time and resources to focus on supporting their staff and patients.

See also: Bringing Healthcare into the Digital Age

During periods of high demand, whether expected or unexpected, its easy for staff to become overworked and fall behind. Even hiring additional staff can cause strain for existing employees expected to train the new hires, and the training period can take too long to be a profitable course of action. This is a hurdle many medical offices will face with the2022OpenEnrollmentPeriod.

With CPA, bots can blend human intelligence and decision-making with the speed and accuracy of robotic AI. Just like human employees with a work history, pre-trained bots can understand the industry lingo, read handwritten documents, and make inferences and decisions rooted in past experiences.

The bots can even scale their efforts to take on a heavier workload than normal by multiplying themselvesto meet increased demand. This makes these cognitive solutions ideal for healthcare services, whichis an industry largely unprepared for the projectedshortages we will face within the next decade.

Data organization and analysis are trending topics in the world of healthcare process management. Cognitive automation allows the once tedious task of unstructured data entry and compilationtobe delegated to CPA-poweredbots, fully equipped to automate the entire process.

With CPA, healthcare providers can find, organize, and process patient data at a much faster rate than ever before. This allows clinical staff to spend less time on monotonous tasks and more time ensuring compassionate care and pleasant experiences for patients, especially as the initial industry outlook predicts more severe medical cases due to delayed elective and routine carethroughout the pandemic.

Even patient onboarding becomes an easier process with CPA sorting data. Scheduling appointments, collecting relevant information and documentation, and even revenue recovery can be fully automated, saving precious time and resources. Nursing, in particular, is estimated to be 30% to 50% more productivewith the help of AI and cognitive automation.

With ACA enrollment at a record high of12.2 millionAmericans, healthcare systems and providers must prepare now for an increase in seasonal demands for the 2022 enrollment period and beyond. AI and cognitive automation are increasingly relevant, and well-timed solutions for the challenges healthcare institutions may face, given that the processes are highly automatable and efficient.

As the United States continues to come to terms with the effects of COVID-19, healthcare systems and providers should put value in tools that will allow staff to deliver a better quality of care while reducing errors and manual output.

Thoughmedical advancementslikesurgery-performing robots and cancer-detecting AI are lauded, widespread use is neitherpractical nor imminent. Small, understaffed clinics wont have access tothe state-of-the-art resources that oftenmakesheadlines.Additionally, the impact wont be felt by the average American.

However,cognitive process automation is accessible for even the smaller clinics, making up for the decrease in staff. Additionally,the impact can be felt by both patients and healthcare workers asthesebots alleviate a stressed system.

Thoughitdoesnt have the same headline appeal as adiagnostic robot, the impact of healthcare automation is far more tangible, realistic, and given the shortage of healthcare workers more crucial than ever.

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Companies Invest In Automation To Plug Gaps In An Aging Workforce

It might seem intuitive to assume that technology is adopted based primarily on the merits of the technology and its impact on things like productivity.That isn't, however, what new research from MIT shows.Instead, it argues that we tend to invest more in robotics and other automation-based technologies when our populations become older as employers strive to plug gaps in an aging workforce.

"Demographic changeagingis one of the most important factors leading to the adoption of robotics and other automationtechnologies," the researchers explain.

Indeed, when it comes to the adoption of technologies, such as robotics, the authors argue that the demographics of the population account for up to 35% of the variation between countries.What's more, a similar phenomenon appears to be occurring within countries too, with metro areas in the United States that are aging faster adopting automation technologies faster than areas that are aging more slowly.

"We provide a lot of evidence to bolster the case that this is acausal relationship, and it is driven by precisely the industries that are most affected by aging and have opportunities for automating work," the researchers say.

We're obviously in the midst of the so-called "great resignation", and reports of unfilled vacancies have prevaricated around the world in the past year.It's also true that most developed countries around the world are aging rapidly, with nations such as Japan, Italy, Finland, and Portugal aging the fastest.

The MIT research examines a range of industry, demographic, and technological data from the 1990s through to the mid-2010s.The data shows a strong relationship between the age of the workforce, which was defined as the ratio of workers aged over 56 and those aged between 21 and 55, and the adoption of robotics in 60 different countries.

The age of the workforce alone was found to account for 35% of the variation in the adoption of robots in a country, as well as around 20% of the variation in the importing of robots into the country.This was especially so in countries like South Korea and Germany, both of whom are aging rapidly.Indeed, the data found that the age of the population accounted for 80% of the variation in robot adoption between Germany and the United States.

"Our findings suggest that quite a bit of investment in robotics is not driven by the fact that this is the next 'amazing frontier," but because some countries have shortages of labor, especially middle-aged labor that would be necessary for blue-collar work," the researchers say.

After exploring the adoption of other automation-based technologies across 129 countries, the researchers believe this same narrative holds true for all forms of automation.

"We find the same thing when we look at other automation technologies, such as numerically controlled machinery or automated machine tools," they explain.

Importantly, it's not a trend that is observed for non-automation technologies, such as computers and more standard information technology.There were also some interesting trends in terms of how the adoption of automation technologies impacted the labor market.

For instance, in Germany robots were adopted in large part because of a shortage of workers, so it was not done as a cost-cutting measure but rather to maintain productivity.In the United States, however, this was not so much the case, with automation being used to replace younger workers more often.

"This is a potential explanation for why South Korea, Japan, and Germanythe leaders in robot investment and the most rapidly aging countries in the worldhave not seen labor market outcomes [as bad] as those in the U.S.," the researchers explain.

While the findings are interesting from an international perspective, the fact that they also hold up when looking within countries is equally important, especially given the quite evident divides that have arisen in developed countries in recent years, not least between large cities and smaller towns and rural areas.

The researchers used the same techniques used internationally to examine the adoption of robotics and automation in around 700 metropolitan areas across the United States between 1990 and 2015.To make the comparison as fair as possible, they attempted to account for factors such as local labor trends or the industrial composition of the economy.

Generally speaking, the same trends appeared locally as they did globally.The older the workforce was, the greater the adoption of robots and other automated technologies.For every 10 percentage point rise in the age of the local population, there was a 6.45 percentage point rise in the number of firms specializing in industrial robots.

If the "Great Resignation" means the worker shortage gets even more serious, then this study suggests we can look forward to growth in automation without the accompanying fears that the robots will be "taking our jobs".

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Companies Invest In Automation To Plug Gaps In An Aging Workforce - Forbes

These automation start-ups have raised biggest automation investments and funding of 2021

The emergence of artificial intelligence has created massive popularity of adopting automation in multiple industries across the world. Investors are instigated to invest millions of dollars in different automation start-ups to boost the efficiency and performance of companies. The main aim of these automation start-ups is to enhance the standard of living of society including employees and customers. Automation funding as well as automation investments are thriving in the global tech market with multiple seeding rounds like Series A, Series B, and many more. The global automation market is expected to hit US$355.44 billion in 2028 with a CAGR of 9.2%. Lets explore some of the biggest automation investments and funding of 2021.

Posh Technologies has received one of the biggest automation investments in 2021 with US$27.5 million automation funding. This automation startup is focused on conversational AI and natural language processing technology. It has received this automation funding from Series A from Canapi Ventures with additional investments in product research and development.

Torq has raised US$50 million in Series B automation funding as one of the biggest automation investment of 2021. Torq is known as the Portland-based no-code automation platform for security teams and the total funding value has led to US$78 million. This automation investment is led by SentinelOne, GGV Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. It will utilize the amount to boost expansion to meet demand from customers and manage security service providers.

Celigo has secured one of the biggest automation investments of 2021 with US$48 million in Series C from OMERS Growth Equity and NewSpring Capital. The aim is to spend this automation funding on improving business automation for mid-market companies and go-to-market capacity. This automation start-up is popular for being the only iPaaS company to deliver prebuilt business process automations with embedded business logic.

Tipalti has raised intelligent automation investment worth US$270 million as an accounts payable automation start-up. It received this automation funding in Series F and the total valuation has reached US$8.3 billion. This automation start-up utilizes artificial intelligence to help businesses manage suppliers, invoices, payments, and many other financial services from one cloud platform.

Pento is a popular automation start-up known for creating a payroll automation software has received US$35 million in a Series B from Tiger Global Management and Avid Ventures. The SaaS offering is fully automated for the payroll managers and finance teams to have more control and visibility.

Virtuoso has secured US$13.3 million in a Series A automation funding from Paladin Capital, Mubadala Capital, Crane Venture Partners, Forward Partners, and Downing Ventures. This automation start-up is focused on delivering codeless test automation to CI/CD through natural language interface. It leverages RPA to simplify the quality assurance process of testing software deployments.

Workato has nabbed one of the biggest automation investments and funding of 2021 with US$200 million in a Series E automation funding to boost record growth as well as capitalize on the increasing demand for enterprise automation. This automation investment was led by Battery Ventures, Insight Partners, Altimeter Capital, and Tiger Global.

WorkFusion has successfully raised US$220 million to scale its growth in intelligent automation. This is one of the biggest intelligent automation investments of 2021 in a Series F automation funding from Georgian. This funding will help to boost its leadership trajectory in the worlds fastest-growing software segment. The intelligent automation software helps in automating industry-specific manual operations to solve complex business problems efficiently.

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Know Top Biggest Automation Investments and Funding of 2021 - Analytics Insight

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Dec. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bizzi, a Vietnam-based accounts payable automation SaaS, emerged as the winner of the Digital Transformation (DX) Award 2021 organised by the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SwissCham) in Singapore and Deloitte.

The DX Award 2021, now in its second year, celebrates the pursuit of innovation and digitalisation across Singapore and Southeast Asia, features eight subcategories this year: Cybersecurity; Financial Services; Advanced Manufacturing; Healthcare; Insurance; Logistics; B2C; and Business Excellence.

"Given the pressing need to accelerate digitalisation across the region, we envisioned the DX Award to serve as an avenue for facilitating best practice exchange, networking, and mentorship in the new digital normal," said Andreas Enderlin, Chairman of the Digital Transformation Award and Managing Partner of Hugo Capital Partners.

A total of 45 submissions were received, and only 22 startups were showcased at the virtual pitching night. Bizzi was the only tech startup representative from Vietnam.

Founded in the midst of COVID-19, Bizzi is the first mover in invoice processing automation solutions powered by AI and robotic process automation (RPA) in the Vietnamese market. Bizzi's unified platform can be integrated with existing ERP/accounting solutions, and connects vendors and customers to automate financial processes like bills payments, receipt scanning, compliance, and bookkeeping, among others.

The early-stage startup already has more than 100 enterprise customers including South Korean convenience store chain GS25, Circle K, Guardian, Family Mart, Medicare, Tiki.vn, Deloitte, DKSH and more than 1,000 SMEs using the platform on a daily basis. Their monthly value of processed invoices exceeds US$300M.

"We are humbled that Bizzi, a young Vietnamese startup, is starting to gain regional recognition. Bizzi was founded to meet a huge pain point in the industry - manual accounting is not only time-consuming but prone to errors. Our robotic process automation technology and machine learning cuts invoice processing time by 80% and processing cost by 50%, while increasing transparency and tax compliance at the same time. Bizzi aspires to accelerate digital adoption and digital transformation in finance teams for tangible, measurable business benefits," says co-founder Vu Trong Nghia.

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DX Awards 2021 is sponsored by industry leaders including Acronis, DSV, Entsia, SIX group, Zuhlke, and is supported by Enterprise Singapore, The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, and The European Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, amongst others.

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Founded in 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Bizzi is an AI-powered accounts payable automation SaaS to help streamline accounting operations with invoice processing automation and digitize business cash flow management to make better business decisions.

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As call volumes skyrocketed during the pandemic, contact centers turned to AI to help distribute the workload. But even before the pandemic, customer service departments were experimenting with automation solutions, including chatbots and transcribers, to streamline operations. A 2019 Deloitte survey found that 76% of contact centers were planning to invest in AI in the next two years. According to that same survey, 57% of companies were testing the use of AI in assisting customer service agents.

Anticipating the trend, Karan Kashyap founded Posh Technologies, a Boston, Massachusetts-based conversational AI and natural language processing technology development company, in 2018. Today, Posh announced that it raised $27.5 million in series A funding led by Canapi Ventures. Kashyap, who serves as CEO, says that the proceeds will be put toward supporting additional investment in product research and development and the expansion of Poshs platform.

Poshs growth accelerated during the pandemic amid the increasingly digital world which we continue to live in. Just as the pandemic started, we were already getting ready to hit the gas pedal. The pain points and needs of financial institutions changed from the pandemic to our benefit, including needing to better manage customer service on a 24/7 basis, managing increased call volumes from closed branches, and doubling down on self service solutions, Kashyap told VentureBeat via email. There was also high turnover for those customer service jobs the great resignation took a toll on call center jobs too. While Poshs aim is not to replace human agents, our technology helps our customers address higher volumes and augment their current service models.

Kashyap, who has a bachelors degree in computer science and a masters in AI, developed Poshs technology while studying at MIT. The platform provides chatbots that automate customer questions and workflows on the web, SMS, and messaging apps for tasks like checking hours and making payments. A separate IVR bot replaces traditional dialpad menus with natural, voice-driven conversations with customers.

On the backend, Posh automates contact center and help desk FAQs and workflows, leveraging machine learning and natural language processing to give chatbots memory persistence. Concretely, Poshs systems train on domain-specific data so that its chatbots understand some of the nuances of a given industrys and companys language.

Posh integrates with live chats as well as other API-friendly systems (e.g., digital banking databases and telephony) and escalates to human reps if need be. Customers get metrics showing how conversations went and where areas for improvement might exist.

Our AI can easily manage routine inquiries without requiring staff involvement. We see it as the first line of defense to get people out of queues while also enabling round-the-clock self service, Kashyap said. Credit unions and banks are often able to answer customers questions directly on their website through the Posh chatbot feature. In cases where the chatbot doesnt have the right answer, it can intelligently escalate the request to a call center or in-person representative, significantly improving both the amount of money spent on customer service as well as the customer experience.

Beyond incumbents like Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon, Posh competes with a number of startups in the expanding call center automation space. Yellow.ai, a chatbot platform headquartered in Bangalore, India, recently raised $78 million in venture capital to expand its platform globally. Theres also Ada, a Toronto-based startup developing AI-imbued customer service chatbots.

Grand View Research anticipates that the global contact center software market will be worth $90.6 billion by 2028, if the current trend holds.

Kashyap argues that Poshs focus on the financial services industry gives it an advantage over rivals targeting a broader range of segments. To date, Posh has partnered with more than 50 financial institutions to deploy web-based and mobile-based digital agents, and the companys software handles tens of thousands of chats per day and reaches over 5.5 million people.

We serve approximately 50 community financial institutions banks and credit unions across the U.S. and their end users and members. Our digital assistants and voice banking assistants handle tens of thousands of requests a day on behalf of these financial institutions, Kashyap said. We are very focused on financial services and thus train our AI models to be very domain-focused. Not only are we focused on training models with the goal of automating routine banking inquiries and workflows, were also using AI to glean insights from conversations that pass through our system for example, uncovering operational root causes or detecting anomalies.

Going forward, Canapi Ventures partner Neil Underwood expects that 40-employee Posh will benefit from expanded access to credit unions, banks, and prospective talent through its other backers Curql Collective, CMFG Ventures, JAM Fintop, Human Capital, and Piedmont. In the coming months, Posh plans to ramp up hiring to keep pace with what it describes as surging demand.

Beyond answering questions, Posh has developed a competency in helping banks complete simple banking transactions. Especially for credit unions, who are highly focused on member experience, this can be a meaningful value add,Underwood told VentureBeat via email. Over time, we anticipate that the Posh platform will be used by credit unions and banks to drive entire banking interactions.

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Posh Technologies fuels call center automation with $27.5M funding - VentureBeat

CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new research report the "Industrial Automation Market in Europe and Middle East & Africa with COVID-19 Impact by Component (Industrial Sensors, Industrial 3D Printing, Industrial Robots), Solution (SCADA, DCS), Industry and Region - Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to grow USD 36.4 billion in 2021 and reach USD 51.4 billion by 2026; it is expected to register a CAGR of 7.1% from 2021 to 2026. The growth of the market is attributed to the growing demand for real-time data analysis across geographies and increasing adoption of latest technology across the end-use industries to improve performance. The major driving factor for the industrial automation market is the increasing demand for real-time data analysis and proactive maintenance, which would enable manufacturers to obtain better visibility of the manufacturing plant and, therefore, enhance efficiency. Also, increase in emphasis on predictive maintenance and asset management solutions, which would provide better visibility to users regarding condition of equipment, is fueling their demand.

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"Industrial Sensors Segment Expected to Hold Largest Size of Industrial Automation Components Market in the Middle East & Africa During Forecast Period"

The industrial sensors segment is projected to account for the largest size of the industrial automation market from 2021 to 2026. The growth of the industrial sensors segment is driven by the growing adoption of Industry 4.0 and IIoT and the expansion of the wireless sensors market. Industrial sensors are extensively used in the manufacturing industry, majorly for improving connectivity among various operations. Manufacturers worldwide have begun integrating sensors for collecting real-time data from various data points. Moreover, sensors being an important part of predictive maintenance solutions, are projected to witness rapid growth in demand in the coming years as predictive maintenance is expected to offer lucrative opportunities through capturing of sensor data, facilitating communications, and delivering projections to the players operating in the industrial sensors market in the coming years. Therefore, the market share of industrial sensors in the industrial automation market in the Middle East & Africa in 2020 was valued at USD 1.2 billion, which is higher as compared to the market share of other components and is projected to reach USD 2.1 billion by 2026.

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"Market for Pam is Expected to Grow at Highest CAGR from 2021 to 2026 in the Middle East & Africa"

The PAM segment is projected to register the highest growth rate from 2021 to 2026. Plant asset management (PAM) is a software that utilizes the intelligence embedded in industrial assets to accurately measure and provide information about condition of the assets in a plant. PAM is increasingly being used by manufacturers as it improves decision-making and turn-around time by tracking manufacturing defects and thereby avoiding system failures through real-time data collection and quality management techniques. Additionally, PAM enables manufacturers to reduce downtime and resource wastages by identifying possible failures prior to production and also suggests corrective measures. Furthermore, PAM solutions are extensively being implemented in the food and beverages and automotive industries, owing to constant technical innovations and requirement of a complete data record of equipment installed. Also, the increasing demand for PAM technology can be attributed to the advantages of reduction of costs of manufacturing and enhancing operations of high-performance production assets offered by them. Therefore, it is projected that the PAM segment would witness the highest CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period.

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"Saudi Arabia is Expected to Hold Largest Size of Industrial Automation Market in the Middle East & Africa During Forecast Period"

Saudi Arabia is projected to account for the largest size of the industrial automation market in the Middle East & Africa from 2021 to 2026. Saudi Arabia is witnessing significant growth in the manufacturing sector, owing to the increased implementation of several IoT-related software and services, which are constantly driving the country to become a globally recognized technology-driven industry. Along with the manufacturing sector, the food processing industry in the country is well established to deliver significant growth in the forthcoming years. Additionally, the automotive industry in Saudi, being one of the largest in the Middle East, has been relatively stable, with a number of companies registering positive results. Furthermore, the has been actively curating plans and undertaking measures to uplift domestic manufacturing in the country and reduce economic dependency on the oil and gas sector by adopting advanced technology. Owing to all these factors, the market share of Saudi Arabia, which was valued at USD 1.9 billion in 2020, is higher as compared to other countries in the industrial automation market in the Middle East and Africa and is projected to reach USD 2.7 billion by 2026.

ABB (Switzerland), Emerson Electric Co. (US), FANUC (Japan), General Electric (US), Honeywell International (US), Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), Rockwell Automation (US), Schneider Electric (France), Siemens (Germany), and Yokogawa Electric (Japan) are a few major players in Industrial Automation Market in Europe, Middle East & Africa.

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System Integrator Market for Industrial Automation with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Service Outlook, Technology (HMI, SCADA, MES, IIoT, PAM, DCS, PLC, Machine Vision, Industrial Robotics, Industrial PC), Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2026

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Industrial Automation Market in Europe and MEA worth $51.4 billion by 2026 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets - Yahoo Finance

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kofax, a leading supplier of Intelligent Automation software for digital workflow transformation, today unveiled its top 10 predictions for 2022 as businesses navigate the new challenges accelerated and in some cases, caused by the global pandemic.

Automation is now seen through a new lens as the global economy struggles to recover from the pandemic and companies seek resilience and a return to stability and growth. Remote and hybrid work are here to stay, creating new obstacles when it comes to efficiency, collaboration and data security, says Adam Field, Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy and Experience at Kofax. While productivity has been high in this new working model, so too are stress levels and burnout as organizations have more job openings than people to fill them. As we turn our focus to 2022, its time to examine how agile companies are refining their operating models and workflows leading to recovery and growth in 2022 and beyond.

Kofaxs 10 Intelligent Automation predictions for 2022:

1. Automation eliminates jobs? Hardly! The myth of automation displacing human workers will finally evaporate. Employment opportunities are everywhere, and at the same time, automation is being deployed more than ever before. Technology isnt taking over. Instead, it's elevating the experience of human workers. Automation can effectively eliminate most mundane work, creating new opportunities for workers to perform higher-value and more satisfying work. However, the workforce needs the skills to match these opportunities, and employers will need to create pathways to make that happen.

2. AI will go mainstream for next-gen automation. Organizations will achieve next-gen automation with the power of embedded artificial intelligence and its advanced decision-making abilities. AI-powered process automation can make pragmatic decisions that used to require human intervention. With those responsibilities now being automated, human workers can move beyond performing transactional processes and further along the spectrum of high-value work.

3. Integrated supply chains will invest heavily in automation. Accelerated by pandemic uncertainty, companies like Walmart and Amazon are creating or acquiring soup-to-nuts distribution channels, especially as supply chains remain constrained. In order to make this effective, theyll need insight into all parts of the organization. Theyll also need the ability to escalate in real time and bring together a disparate workforcevery quickly, while changing their duties on the fly. Expect these large organizations to invest in technology that creates in-house operations for the foreseeable future.

4. Digital Dexterity will be used to reestablish business moats. Oftentimes, annual predictions proclaim a particular technology as the next big thing. Next year will be different, with no obvious standout. Many organizations will already be using a broad range of low-code driven automation technologies, packaged within a centralized platform and accessible to business users as well as professional developers. Expect organizations to apply this new digital dexterity throughout the enterprise, each creating their own next big thing.

5. Automation will drive organizational convergence. As automation technologies have converged, so too will business functions. An intelligent automation platform combines numerous technologies that create ripple effects throughout an organization. Different business functions can now be merged, and companies are rethinking who owns what. Theyre consolidating formerly siloed functions under one automation office to cut through bureaucracy and improve business agility.

6. Taming unstructured data will be the new competitive advantage. Organizations continue to be bombarded by unstructured data. Hidden within are incredibly valuable business insightsif they can be unlocked. Each company's data is unique, and the ability to harness that unstructured information will provide new and actionable insights. Intelligent document processing will help organizations tame their unstructured data and drive competitive advantage.

7. The Cloud opens new possibilities for diverse print and productivity needs. The distributed workforce has gone from necessity to establishing a business reality and advantage. Productivity is still a priority, but now organizations will need to emphasize frictionless digital touchpoints instead of brick-and-mortar experiences. This new paradigm will accelerate the need for digital productivity tools. Universal print will become even more prevalent, and more organizations will shift much of their printing needs away from individual devices and onto cloud-based servers.

8. Therell be comfort in controlling your datas destiny. The power is firmly back in the hands of the people when it comes to data protection, thanks in part to the maturity of regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Consumers wield the flexibility to share only what they want and, most importantly, with visibility into the exact data theyre actually sharing. For instance, think about some of things Apple has done to allow customers to control their datas destiny. This provides comfort to consumers and compels them to share some instead of none, allowing organizations to provide personalized services while being compliant.

9. Blockchain will be used for vastly more applications. The current and most noteworthy use of blockchain technology is cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. In 2021 we saw the explosion of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) where people spent absurd dollar amounts in an attempt to corner the market on pixelated GIFs created by unknown artists. However, there are much more promising and far-reaching use cases thatll begin to make their way into the mainstream. For example, the secure sharing of medical information, intellectual property rights, and original content security.

10. Well see you at the mixed-reality water cooler. Mixed-reality technologies will continue to become more viable and affordable, providing greater collaboration in a hybrid work environment. We dipped our toes in the virtual reality waters when the pandemic hit, but such events were awkward and uncomfortable. Not so in 2022. Get ready to plunge into the mixed reality pool. Our avatars will be the ones working overtime, participating in true VR-style collaboration, while the latest in augmented and mixed reality technologies will assist us in training and learning even while were hundreds of miles apart.

About Kofax

Kofax enables organizations to Work Like Tomorrowtoday. Our Intelligent Automation software platform and solutions digitally transform content-intensive workflows. Customers realize faster time-to-value and increased competitiveness, growth and profitability by combining Kofaxs cognitive capture, RPA, process orchestration, analytics and mobile capabilities while increasing business resiliency and mitigating compliance risk. For more information, visit http://www.kofax.com. Read more on the Kofax Blog and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

2021 Kofax, Inc. Kofax is a registered trademark of Kofax Limited.

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Intelligent Automation Will Drive Post-Pandemic Recovery - Business Wire

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Since the pandemic, the restaurant industry has been forced to up its game to ensure business continuity. Commercial kitchens are today adopting digital advancements faster than ever.

Be it a robotic arm that flips pizzas or serves or robots that take accurate measurements of ingredients, automation has resolved the biggest challenge faced by the food industry since time immemorial, which is the standardization of taste, temperature and quality.

Consistency is key in cooking and automation enables just that. Startups in the space are now making investments in technology to ensure they build a loyal customer base.

Processes That Are Automated In the Kitchen

Food and beverage (F&B) startups have shifted to kitchen automation in various aspects. Karan Tanna, founder CEO, Ghost Kitchens India, shares an example. We have an equipment which can be compared to induction, it is used for Chinese and Indian gravies. The screen on the equipment shows us the recipes of the particular product and the manpower on the station just needs to add the ingredients one after the other. The equipment will do the cooking on its own at prescribed temperature and time.

The startup has also shifted to automation for dosa, fryer, burgers as well as regeneration of frozen patties and parathas.

Bengaluru-based Mukunda Foods focuses on automating repetitive but complex cooking processes such as heat control, tossing, stirring, puffing, spreading, rolling, mixing, etc. Since we have perfected automation for these steps, we assemble them based on what cuisine needs to be automated, said Eshwar K. Vikas, co-founder and CEO Mukunda Foods.

The company uses an automatic griller i.e. E-Pan for cooking flatbreads evenly or grilling perfect patties and kebab which is a challenge for restaurants. Especially when many cloud kitchens rely on the back end, the oil must be used appropriately, the temperature needs to be changed from time to time so that it can be cooked well from both sides. The automated heat technology of our machine ensures that the food is neither over nor undercooked, Vikas added. Most importantly, the operator doesnt need to flip the food since its getting cooked from both sides simultaneously, hence you save 50 per cent of turnaround time.

So, precisely, the operator needs to select the recipe in the machine, place food in the pan and continue working with another task. Once a dish such as a parantha is cooked, the automatic food ejector will push it into the food tray, and it is ready to serve.

Many B2B startups such as peAR, an augmented reality-based in-restaurant ordering company, are helping restaurants set and automate many processes to reach and serve maximum restaurant partners. These technologies and processes are built in a way that they can be scaled across India. For instance, instead of reading a paper-based menu and ordering, peAR uses AR to make menus more visually appealing and changing the habit of viewing the menu and then ordering. We focus on increasing revenue of a restaurant by pulling more users to our restaurant partners, upselling new users, said Parth Vora, founder, peAR.

Restaurants can also convert their entire menu in 3D and AR by themselves. Users scan a QR code placed on all the tables of any peAR restaurant partner and can watch the entire menu of the restaurant in 3D and AR (augmented reality) live on their table even before ordering.

Cost And Time Reduction And Other Benefits

The biggest advantage of automation is standardization and hence better customer experience. With better customer experience companies can increase sales and hence the profit. While the equipment is cooking the food, the manpower is free to operate other machines or cook other things which means that lesser manpower is required just waiting for items to be cooked. For example: when we have to make noodles, we have to put sauce, noodles, vegetables in the heated induction and it will automatically cook in 3 minutes, said Tanna.

This helps restaurant staff to multitask. During these 3 minutes, the manpower is free to work on other things, which helps us to avoid more manpower in the kitchen. However, the biggest advantage for us to use automation is the standardization of food and drastic increase in customer satisfaction, he added.

The major cost heads in any F&B business are manpower, training, electricity and oil consumption, and wastage. These automatons are aimed at reducing and minimizing each of these header costs. For example, our automatic fryer helps reduce electricity and oil consumption by 25 per cent and manpower cost by more than 70 per cent, ensuring zero wastage. A brand can quickly achieve the ROI in one to two months. Similarly, finding skilled labor for Chinese Food is a challenge, and training them requires an investment of money and time. Our Automatic Wok, Wokie can be operated by anyone who can operate an android phone and accurately follows Chefs recipe. This reduces the training cost to a minimum, said Vikas.

He added that his teams focus is on helping brands achieve food taste consistency while being operationally efficient.

Other Tech Trends

Foodtech is on the rise. The industry is very dynamic and new trends are developing every year. Automation and Robotics in the kitchen are expected to grow deeper in the years to come. We are seeing bending machines being used for various staple products like Idli Sambhar. The intervention of technology will be high in the days to come however, the use of the same keeping in mind sustainable unit-level economics will be the key, said Tanna.

Vikas expects a giant leap in the digital ordering experience with a vital outlet level back end. So, we will witness a lot more innovation in this space. Fresh Food Vending Machines will be the next big thing in India. Seeing vending machines for tea/coffee/ soup on the railway stations and cafeterias is a common sight, but soon we will see them vending out fresh foods like noodles and Indian breakfast items like Poha Upma. Since everyone uses UPI like Paytm and Google pay, one can scan the QSR code, pay the amount and collect the Food. We will also see automation in dishing out fresh pizza bases. This is something that a lot of big Pizza brands are interested in, he said.

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Kitchen Automation Is Revolutionizing the Food Industry - Entrepreneur