In the relentless pursuit of operational efficiency and innovation, businesses of all sizes and across industries strive to achieve more with fewer resources, fueling innovation and granting them agility, scalability, and the potential for exceptional value while optimising resource usage. Historically, automation has been the cornerstone of cost reduction, enhanced productivity, and accelerated growth for enterprises. However, the concept of automation has evolved significantly, heralding the era of intelligent automation.

Intelligent automation transcends traditional mechanised processes; it now plays a pivotal strategic role. It’s no longer a choice but a necessity for organisations looking to improve decision-making, expedite time-to-market, elevate customer experiences, and fully harness their employees and processes. Join us in exploring intelligent automation, where we dive into its promises and profound implications, reshaping the landscape of modern enterprises.

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What is Intelligent Automation?

Intelligent Automation (IA), often referred to as cognitive automation, is a strategic fusion of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and more, aimed at optimising decision-making processes within organisations. This powerful approach simplifies workflows, boosts operational efficiencies, and liberates valuable resources. Its applications are far-reaching, spanning diverse industries. Intelligent automation heavily relies on AI-based technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, structured data interaction and intelligent document processing, earning it the label of cognitive intelligence.

Businesses across various sectors, such as banking, finance, insurance, utilities, and more, reap substantial benefits from intelligent automation. It often plays a pivotal role within broader digital transformation strategies. IA’s scope spans from user-friendly intelligent chatbots to complex provisioning engines that dynamically allocate or de-allocate virtual environments based on real-time workload data.

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How Does Intelligent Automation Work?

Intelligent automation is engineered to enhance operational efficiency within businesses. Imagine a company with 600+ new starters per month. In this scenario, the HR department manually inputs each person’s details into two separate systems, traditionally consuming 20 minutes per person. With the implementation of a new system, these two systems can seamlessly communicate, enabling the swift transfer of data to a single system, significantly reducing the time required for this task to just 5 minutes per person.

The key components of intelligent automation encompass business process automation software, operational data, and AI services. These AI algorithms are trained on operational data, enabling them to perform a wide range of tasks. Notably, intelligent automation introduces an element of tranquillity and precision into the often chaotic daily operations of businesses. At the same time, machine learning algorithms continually evolve to discern patterns in business data and propose enhancements to workflows.

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Intelligent Automation Components

Each organisation should develop a tailored, intelligent automation strategy that prioritises components based on its unique circumstances. The most common components are:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is the brain and driving force behind intelligent automation. It focuses on cognitive tasks, including optical character recognition (OCR), natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and intelligent character recognition (ICR). AI enables efficient structured and unstructured data analysis, enhancing decision-making and developing valuable knowledge resources.

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA): RPA acts as the body of intelligent automation, automating repetitive, rule-based tasks like data entry and order processing. By mimicking human interactions, RPA frees employees from mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic and innovative work. EY found that RPA can provide cost savings ranging from 20%–60% of baseline FTE costs for financial services.

• Business Process Management (BPM): BPM, often called workflow automation, streamlines processes, eliminating inefficiencies and reducing operational costs. It identifies areas for optimisation, enhancing both employee efficiency and customer experiences.

• Data Analytics: Data plays a pivotal role in decision-making, business strategy, and customer understanding. Data feeds other components in the intelligent automation lifecycle, undergoing RPA and AI processing. Its constant collection, governance, and automation enable businesses to extract value efficiently and improve operations continually.

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Intelligent automation seamlessly integrates these components, proficiently executing repetitive tasks while enhancing human decision-making. This harmonious fusion offers organisations the means to streamline processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.

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Benefits of Intelligent Automation

Intelligent automation platforms yield extensive benefits transcending industries. Their impact resonates throughout an organisation, propelling productivity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and decision-making agility to new heights. This transformation doesn’t intend to replace human expertise but rather liberate human resources for strategic, nuanced pursuits that foster business growth.

Here are some of the key benefits:

• Cost Reduction: Intelligent Automation offers substantial cost savings benefits, typically ranging from 40%to 75%. These savings can be realised within several months to a few years, as reported by Forbes.

• Time Savings: Streamlined and automated processes demand fewer manual interventions, freeing employee’s time so they can tackle more strategic challenges. RPA can fully automate repetitive back-office tasks, further liberating resources for strategic endeavours.

• Error Mitigation: Repetitive, high-volume tasks often create fertile ground for human errors. Automated rule-based processes mitigate this risk while rigorously enforcing built-in governance and compliance protocols.

• Data Optimisation: Gartner estimates that poor data quality costs individual businesses $9.7 million annually. IA empowers companies to enhance data collection, processing, storage, reconciliation, and analysis, maximising the value of their business data.

• Enhanced Customer Experience: IA technologies collectively elevate customer experiences by expediting time-to-market and facilitating improved product and service offerings, underpinned by a deeper understanding of customer needs. Elevated customer satisfaction translates into higher retention rates and sustained growth.

• Increased Agility: IA equips businesses with the agility to monitor and swiftly respond to evolving market dynamics and customer preferences, preserving their competitive edge.

• Regulatory Compliance: In industries subject to stringent regulatory policies, IA’s task automation capabilities foster a more consistent approach to compliance, instilling confidence in adherence.

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How to Implement Intelligent Automation

• Visualise Your Goal: Begin by defining your end goal. What high-volume tasks can AI take on to remove bottlenecks and enhance performance?

• Technology Infrastructure: Acquire or develop the necessary technology infrastructure to design, track, and customise processes. Look for partners that offer adaptable algorithms to suit your specific needs.

• Strategy and Partnerships: Formulate a strategy and establish partnerships. In-house experts should be engaged to optimise the accuracy and value of intelligent automation, as it may replace human decision-making and client interactions.

• Prepare for Scale: Ensure your IT infrastructure and cloud partners are prepared to scale up and evolve with your automation initiatives.

• Change Management: Prepare your workforce for changes in roles and responsibilities. Redefine your organisational structure and culture to align with automation. As routine tasks are automated, employees can focus on higher-value tasks and client relationships.

• Execution and Iteration: Execute your automation plan and be ready to iterate. Machine learning algorithms should continually improve so capture and implement enhancements. Monitor user feedback and be prepared to make adjustments, as intelligent automation benefits from constant feedback and refinement.

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Conclusion

The future of business is poised for remarkable transformation through intelligent automation, where companies achieve unparalleled efficiency and effectiveness while addressing the evolving needs of customers, employees, and society at large.

Embracing the journey to the pinnacle of operational maturity, the fifth stage, promises substantial competitive advantages. Regardless of your industry or business, it’s the opportune moment to evaluate your intelligent automation readiness and establish a roadmap for the future.

Beebot AI’s Intelligent Automation Platform seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technologies, including interactive interfaces, Conversational AI, RPA, a mobile app and AI-driven analytics. It’s your gateway to cost reduction, scalability, and the enrichment of user experiences.

To delve deeper into the world of intelligent automation and discover how our cutting-edge solutions can revolutionise your business processes, contact us at info@beebotai.com or at 0161 823 1000. Elevate your automation journey with Beebot AI today and unlock the future of efficiency and innovation.