Five Intelligent Automation Trends to watch out for in 2022
Chandra Ramarathnam | 28 January 2022
Intelligent automation is changing the way businesses operate – be it large, medium, or small enterprises. Digitalisation is gaining momentum and Gartner estimates the market for hyper-automation enabling technologies will reach $596 billion in 2022.
As more enterprises leverage the Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, below are some of the trends we see driving the digital future across industries and geographies.
SMBs adopt intelligent automation at a faster pace
Stepping into the third year of the pandemic, small and medium businesses are acutely aware of the need to adopt digital tools. According to a report published by the World Economic Forum, an increasing number of SMBs are interested in adoption digital technologies, with the most prominent use case being process optimization. 19% of SMEs said process optimisation was a key priority, compared with only 7 % in 2019. Now, with affordable automation options being made available and increasing democratisation of RPA, SMBs have many options to reduce costs, improve customer service and improve competitiveness.
Process Assessment and Discovery rises to become a strategic step for successful and sustainable automation
To adopt and scale automation, leaders need to prepare their organisation – culture, people and processes. Knowing where to start, which process to automate, and what tools to use are critical elements to achieve positive business outcomes. Process discovery and assessment frameworks offer an organisation actionable insight to make informed decisions, prioritise processes and create an automation pipeline. A recent survey by Deloitte showed 84 percent of organisations that responded believed process mining delivers value, but that the value was not always “direct value” that could be tied to tangible ROI.
IA to drive hyper-personalised and context-based digital customer journey
Customers expect personalised interaction in both digital and physical channels, with an increasing number of customers opting for digital customer service. Intelligent Automation brings together the relevant technologies to personalise customer interactions and streamline their journey. Gartner estimates that by 2022, 60% of large organizations will extend their CX technology and process goals by tying together disparate systems in a holistic approach focused on customer needs.
True transformation with intelligent automation ecosystem
Companies are enmeshed with multiple automation technologies, each working in its independent silo. Advancing from Automation CoEs, an intelligent automation ecosystem combines various technologies like RPA, AI, OCR, and more, to help businesses see the truly transformative potential of their automation projects. Forrester recently published a report on how a collection of automation technologies are converging to form an automation fabric – a place where digital business takes place.
Enterprises lean on IA to support staff shortages
About 40% of the working population changed or quit jobs last year during the “Great resignation”. This change continues to be observed in the first few weeks of January. Many large, medium, and small businesses have used this opportunity to launch or scale their automation programs, reducing their hiring costs and improving process efficiencies. With hybrid working here to stay, automated workplace tools boost employee morale and provided a positive employee experience.
- Chandra Ramarathnam
