Automation is helping businesses around the world seek efficiencies that come from replacing manual tasks with machine-operated ones. A new study UiPath in collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit claims that organizations around the world currently making extensive use of automation technologies.
The gains of automation
In fact many organizations today are adopting automation technology like AI and RPA for business growth and to encourage greater creativity, productivity and innovation from employees.
Globally, over 90 percent of businesses already use technology to automate business processes, companies in every industry surveyed – including manufacturing, healthcare and financial services – find value in it. Furthermore, nearly one-in-ten businesses (88 percent) worldwide believe that automation will accelerate human achievement.
84 percent of respondents globally report that the c-suite is the driving force behind automation initiatives for their business, with automation responsibility rolling up to the CEO (22 percent), CTO (29 percent) and CIO (17 percent). Over 70 percent of c-suite respondents also report that RPA and AI are a high or essential priority to meet their strategic objectives, predicting that it will make them more competitive as a business.
While automation maturity is at its highest in the U.S, India is the most satisfied nation with automation technologies, finds the study. Eighty six percent of respondents from India, sees enormous benefits resulting from automating business processes, as against the global average of 73 percent.
In the US, 61 percent of organizations in the U.S. make extensive use of automation. Closely trailing behind the U.S. is France (60 percent) and Germany (57 percent), while automation in Canada is lagging with only 28 percent of companies having extensively adopted it.
Manufacturing and IT lead
Business process automation has advanced the furthest in manufacturing, with 61 percent of respondents in the industry citing extensive use, perhaps not surprising given its long history with earlier generations of automation technology. By contrast, government and public sector institutions have made the least headway among surveyed sectors, with only 35 percent extensively using it.
Among businesses automation, most have automated highly repetitive back-office functions. Automation of functions is most extensive in IT, operations and production, customer service and finance.
Typical candidates for automation in IT have been processes such as password management and the logging of service requests, while in operations, maintenance scheduling is frequently automated. However, in two years, those surveyed believe customer service, marketing and R&D functions will be important to automate.
Possible barriers
However, the C-level offices believe that automation comes not without its challenges. Like any new technology, there will be factors holding companies back from complete implementation. For automation, data privacy and security concerns top the list. This has been especially articulated by public companies and healthcare executives.
Nonetheless, the EIU study concludes that automation will accelerate human achievement and that 80% believes that automation is most effective when it complements humans, not replaces them.
