Intelligent Automation – What the Future Holds

Intelligent automation and hyperautomation aka end-to-end process automation have been taking industries by storm. Thanks to the advent of democratized Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) solutions, intelligent automation and hyperautomation have become easily accessible to companies of all sizes. IPA solutions harness both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) providing powerful automation capabilities. It’s no surprise that Gartner even ranked hyperautomation among its Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2021.

The ability of IPA solutions to automate the processing of unstructured content and automate even complex processes have opened the floodgates to countless use cases. In a nutshell, IPA allows the automation of mundane tasks that are highly-repetitive and data-intensive.

These span functions such as:

·       Document processing and understanding

·       Invoice processing

·       Form processing

·       Customer support via intelligent email and chatbots

·       IT support

·       Finance – bank reconciliations, AP and AR process automation

·       Procurement operations

These are just some of the functions that can be automated with IPA solutions. Such functions are not confined to particular industries – so this wide range of use cases and the ability of IPA solutions to overcome the ubiquitous challenge of processing unstructured content have led to a meteoric rise in the popularity of IPA solutions. Intelligent automation is being adopted for modern enterprise operations, hospitality operations, healthcare, loans and mortgages, real estate, auto dealerships or practically any other industry you can think of.

IPA solutions enable organizations to improve efficiency, accuracy and scalability of processes and this can provide tremendous ROI of up to 300%.

COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerated Adoption of IPA

The recent global pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of modern enterprises. They needed a more robust, sustainable way to continue operations and intelligent automation is the answer to this challenge. The necessity to keep team members safe while ensuring business continuity expedited the surge in the adoption of IPA solutions across industries. The fact is, this technology empowers organizations to be more resilient in the face of adversity  so that they can weather uncertainties or any other disruptive events. 

Democratized IPA Solutions Leveled the Playing Field

The advent of low code to no code democratized IPA solutions have leveled the playing field making this technology accessible and affordable to companies of all sizes. You don’t need any specialist knowledge or a budget that breaks the bank to get these democratized solutions up and running. It’s just a matter of a few weeks. This development has been a true game-changer in the intelligent automation space that has had a ripple effect across myriad industries.

Just the Tip of The Iceberg

IPA solutions are one of the fastest-growing software categories. In 2019, the global hyperautomation market was valued at $ 492 million and it is estimated that by 2027, it will reach $22.8 billion.  This is an astounding rate of growth and it indicates that the current stage of adoption of IPA solutions is just the tip of the iceberg with intelligent automation set to gain massive adoption across industries.

Gartner expects that by 2024, organizations will lower operational costs by 30% by combining hyperautomation technologies with redesigned operational processes. Studies indicate that up to 50% of tasks performed in a business fit the profile of highly-repetitive, data-intensive tasks that are good candidates for intelligent automation and even hyperautomation. This is a goldmine of opportunity for harnessing intelligent automation.

The Next Step – A Higher Degree of Complexity

Many companies focus on relatively simple intelligent automation that enables digital workers to perform tedious, data-intensive tasks that were performed by humans. A lot of these tasks are in the data entry and data validation space.

The next step is to automate highly complex processes with humans in the loop if required. The ability to automate highly complex processes that span multiple systems is going to be highly advantageous for modern businesses. It enables a more accurate, efficient and ultimately more intelligent mode of operations that drives better business outcomes. For instance, quote automation with IPA solutions has led to higher sales and greater customer delight aside from merely improving accuracy and turnaround time for generating quotes.

The ability to automate complex processes will payoff massively for modern enterprises. Firms have realized tremendous ROI from well-chose use cases. Therefore, it is essential to harness this disruptive technology for a competitive edge. Mapping and charting these complex use cases that can be automated using IPA solutions is the next step to maximize the value of intelligent automation.

Intelligent automation will continue to evolve and bot-as-a service will be the new normal. The current stage of democratized IPA solutions is a stepping stone to the future of superpowered enterprises where intelligent automation is ubiquitous. Therefore, it is imperative for modern enterprises to harness this disruptive technology with an eye on increasingly complex use cases, not just automating the data-intensive grunt work. We urge you to consider strategies for enterprise-wide hyperautomation that will maximize the value of your automation initiative and provide a strong foundation for future success.