AI: A Revolution in Business Process Automation

Different factors contribute to the success of a business, including those cog-in-the-wheel processes that seem too insignificant or irrelevant.

But in reality, even the smallest task plays a fundamental role in the grand scheme of things, although it doesn’t add much actual value to the end result. Any product or service would fall apart or at least fall flat if that single tiny task wasn’t done properly.

The trouble is that there are way too many small, repetitive, mundane tasks and processes that have to be taken care of daily. They’re time-consuming and resource-intensive, which means that an organization needs an army of people to function.

Or they could automate their business processes. Also known as digital transformation, business process automation picks up the slack and streamlines business operations through technology.

AI is a critical ingredient in this equation because it takes business process automation one step further and makes it smart.

Here’s how this powerful technology revolutionizes automation.

What Makes AI so Revolutionary in BPA?

Business process automation allows us to work smarter, not harder, by implementing different technologies and tools. By putting all those repetitive, boring, low-level tasks on autopilot, we can focus on more creative tasks that require critical thinking.

However, traditional BPA doesn’t require human intervention only when it’s performing rule-based tasks. In other words, this kind of automation works smoothly only when programmed in advance. If a change occurs, this kind of system isn’t capable of adjusting to the new circumstances.

On the other hand, AI-powered BPA learns from the available data and gets more intelligent with time. As a result, AI provides business process automation with decision-making capabilities, meaning that such an intelligent system will not only automate repetitive tasks and speed up the entire process, but also adapt to changes and overcome challenges.

No wonder that 54% of business executives say that their adoption of AI resulted in a significant boost in productivity in the workplace.

Let’s discuss the implementations of business process automation enhanced by AI in different industries:

Finance and Banking

According to McKinsey, companies that have adopted artificial intelligence and business process automation practices in this industry have experienced a profit margin of over 10%.

There’s no room for mistakes when it comes to dealing with other people’s money, so many institutions leverage intelligent business process automation for preventing fraud.

This sophisticated technology analyzes bank clients’ activities, spending habits, and location, creates a pattern, and looks for unusual or suspicious events. For example, if the same credit card is used in two different countries within a short period of time, the AI alerts a human agent who can then take necessary measures.

It would be virtually impossible for financial institutions to manually keep track of and analyze all these transactions and behavioral patterns, which is why AI is indispensable for this purpose.

Customer Support

This is one of the most competitive industries, and still, stats say that companies lose $1.6 trillion a year due to poor customer service.

Needless to say, companies go out of their way to deliver on their promises and offer their customers the best support and care. However, this means being available 24/7, which is a luxury that only the biggest brands can afford.

Conversational AI platforms can be a solution to this challenge, as companies can build their own AI-powered chatbots that can answer customers’ questions or refer them to the right person who will help them solve a particular issue.

Unlike early bots that were capable only of producing predefined and scripted phrases, modern ones can mimic human conversation, identify underlying intent, learn from previous interactions, personalize interactions, and much more.

These intelligent algorithms can be implemented in different fields, such as insurance, in which companies are leveraging chatbots for a number of purposes, including customer-facing interactions and back-office operations.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

AI and business process automation are among the biggest disruptors of this industry, expected to reach the market size of $12,256 billion by 2022.

Reducing inefficiencies in logistics is the main goal of intelligent business automation. If we bear in mind that, for example, a simple order requires a lot of paperwork and a number of communications between different departments, it’s obvious a manual approach is sluggish and inefficient.

Intelligent tools can be used to optimize every segment of the supply chain, demand forecasting, including inventory, invoicing, shipment, and delivery.

Some use cases include warehouse robots helping with moving, sorting, and transporting packages through facilities, delivery drones that are used for delivering goods to inaccessible and unsafe places, and tools for extracting and processing structured data from invoices and other documents.

HR and Recruitment

Finding and engaging top talent is crucial for the growth of every company.

And yet, despite the fact that a number of candidates apply for a single position, only a couple of them have the potential to be the right fit. And it’s up to HR and recruitments to sift through hundreds of applications, CVs, and resumes in an attempt to identify candidates worth interviewing.

That’s a lot of work, and given that 42% of resumes companies receive come from candidates who don’t meet job requirements, it can be a huge waste of time. Automating the task of screening resumes and shortlisting candidates frees up recruiters’ time, allowing them to focus on coming up with more personalized job interview questions.

Other parts of the workflow that can be automated are scheduling interviews as well as digitizing them. AI can be trained to assess candidates based on their facial expressions, choice of words, and speech patterns, thus helping recruiters pick the best person for the job.

Finally, after the hiring process has been successfully completed, AI-powered automation can be leveraged for onboarding new employees. This way, they will learn the ropes of their new job smoothly, at their own pace, and in their own time without limiting themselves to regular business hours.

Conclusion

AI has truly revolutionized business process automation and taken it to the next level by reducing operational costs and improving employee productivity. But the true value of this innovative technology is its potential to learn new from the existing data and become more intelligent and autonomous.