IT Briefcase: Senior Vice President in Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work Writes About Working and Thriving With Intelligent Automation

“In today’s digital age, robots will be valued more for their knowledge work than their physical labor,” writes Robert H. Brown. “And rather than robots replacing human workers, a new paradigm of complementary collaboration it taking shape: making smart people smarter by augmenting uniquely human capabilities (like creativity, teamwork, inventiveness, empathy and drive) and acting as an interface between humans and digital smart machines.” Excerpts:

“More sophisticated than simple “automation,” robotic process automation—or RPA—mimics human actions at the user interface (that is, desktops and workstations) and interacts with multiple applications, just as a human would. Moreover, given the massive volumes of data generated in their wake, these smart robots can substantially improve the accuracy of data and insights into how processes are running. In this way, they act as a force-multiplier to the people involved, delivering greater value by capitalizing on their uniquely human talents, as opposed to rote tasks.

While RPA as a term is technically accurate, it can fall short in describing the powerful interplay of smart robots and smart data (including artificial intelligence and machine learning). We use the term “intelligent process automation” (IPA), and it’s about to be adopted on a massive scale. The impact of IPA will be felt in many different types of process work, across multiple industries – in customer support, mortgage approvals, personal finance, workplace safety, insurance claims management, smart drug trials, human resources, product development, finance and supply chain.

To understand what the future holds for intelligent process automation, Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work surveyed 537 North American and European organizations. Our findings reveal significant new trends, as well as opportunities for businesses who can quickly prepare for them. For example:

- Intelligent process automation is already saving businesses substantial amounts of money.

- Reported five-year increases in IPA seem low (10% to 20%); this may signal a lack of understanding by business leaders about the “long tail” of manual process steps that haven’t been automated by core systems: process workarounds that require people to toggle between multiple systems and screens to achieve “last-mile” integration of data.

- About half of respondents think IPA will significantly improve processes in the next three to five years. However, most are focused on streamlining processes rather than rethinking the process itself.

- Respondents who are furthest along with IPA (who we call “progressives”) are seeing higher cost reductions and revenue growth.

Here are a few checklist items to begin the assessment:

- Perform an automation readiness assessment. 

- Analyze your business at the process level. 

- Help your workforce evolve toward the work of tomorrow. 

Smart automation, working in conjunction with smart people, will refocus us on what we do best: working smarter by amplifying human grit, creativity, determination, decision-making, adaptability and the will to succeed.”

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