Automation For the Win

Automation is... using technology to perform tasks with reduced human involvement — generally to improve efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce the chances of errors.

My journey into the world of automation began at one of my first jobs in which computer work took center stage. My boss was keen on efficiency and introduced me to the concept of using macros to streamline repetitive tasks. Macros reminded me of creating subroutines when I was in college taking computer programming classes.

A subroutine (known more commonly today as a function) is a section of code that performs a specific task every time it's run. Let's say you had a process in a program that takes 5 lines of code to execute, and you need to re-use that process multiple times in various places, perhaps to find specific names in a contact list. Well, if you needed to reuse that process 10 times, that would be 50 lines of code. That may not seem like much, but I can tell you from personal experience, it's no fun going through duplicate lines of code when a process needs to be updated! :)

I learned to love subroutines the hard way. My first big assignment — to create a digital rolladex — resulted in pages and pages of code. I remember writing everything in a very linear way. I just kept writing new lines, often copying and pasting from previous code, for every process that came along.

While I did get an A on that assignment, I remember being given the feedback that it's as important to write efficient code as it is to write functional code.

My discovery of macros opened up a whole new way of thinking. They were like mini programs that could be made to tackle a wide variety of routine procedures. I immediately understood how powerful this sort of thing could be in the workplace.

Using macros not only freed up brain cycles for other creative and analytical processes but also significantly improved quality by reducing the chances of human error. I dove headfirst into macro-izing every process I could, even linking the most common ones to keyboard shortcuts for instant recall. I'm not afraid to admit that I may have over-automated some things in those early years. :)

At my next job, I took things a step further, writing custom macros that created basic layouts for common pages in e-learning courses at the click of a button. I also crafted a somewhat massive macro in Microsoft Word that would parse through e-learning courseware scripts to estimate runtime and provide time/cost estimates for production. This tool was a time-saver and a game-changer, allowing for more accurate project planning and resource allocation.

Today, as a co-founder of RIPE, the pursuit of automating our processes has been foundational. The landscape of automation has evolved dramatically with the ubiquity of artificial intelligence. Much of what we used to manage with presets and hard-coded subroutines can be handled by AI. Today's business automation can adapt to custom use-cases without the need for overly specific programming.

We're not looking to replace human creativity and intuition with AI bots at RIPE; instead, we're integrating AI-driven automation to enhance our capabilities (and the capabilities of our clients) to perform the most efficient and high-quality work possible. By continuing to embrace automation, we’re keeping up with technology and leveraging it to free up our human brains for higher-level thinking, problem-solving, and innovation that truly makes a difference.

Getting chummy with automation has been a real transformative journey for me personally and professionally. It’s a testament to the power of technology to not only improve how we work but to elevate what we can achieve. Its essence isn’t just about doing things faster; it’s about doing them better, with greater creativity and precision. A definite win.