Process automation is moving from the factory floor to the world of knowledge work. But robots can't do it alone. Companies that calibrate smart people with smart machines are already achieving higher productivity and superior business results.
Accenture makes major investments in IT automation capabilities to advance to more intelligent and touch less IT operations, and business efficiency. Read more.
Companies are blurring the line between business and personal—blazing a new trail for future growth. Accenture outlines five critical tech trends, from artificial intelligence, extended reality to data veracity and explains how Oracle can help enterprises embrace them.
When, Where & How AI Will Boost Federal Workforce Productivityaccenture
Accenture developed an economic model to understand how AI will impact the U.S. federal workforce, through automation and augmentation. Learn more: https://accntu.re/3hsRG8O
Accenture makes major investments in IT automation capabilities to advance to more intelligent and touch less IT operations, and business efficiency. Read more.
Companies are blurring the line between business and personal—blazing a new trail for future growth. Accenture outlines five critical tech trends, from artificial intelligence, extended reality to data veracity and explains how Oracle can help enterprises embrace them.
When, Where & How AI Will Boost Federal Workforce Productivityaccenture
Accenture developed an economic model to understand how AI will impact the U.S. federal workforce, through automation and augmentation. Learn more: https://accntu.re/3hsRG8O
Open Insurance - Unlocking Ecosystem Opportunities For Tomorrow’s Insurance I...Accenture Insurance
For early adopters, open insurance offers new revenue streams, increased customer engagement and continued market relevance.
Learn more: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/insurance/open-insurance
How Companies Can Move AI from Labs to the Business CoreCognizant
APAC and Middle East organisations have big expectations from AI, but they’re only just getting started. To realise the full potential of AI-led innovation, they must rapidly, but smartly, scale their deployments and embrace a strong ethical foundation, keeping a close eye on the human implications and cultural changes required to convert machine intelligence from lofty concept to business reality.
Convergence Analysis of Regional Logistics Efficiency in Chinaijtsrd
This paper uses the data envelopment analysis DEA method to measure the logistics efficiency of Chinas different regions from 2011 to 2018, and on this basis, tests the s convergence and ß convergence. The results show that there is no absolute convergence trend in the whole country and the eastern region, but there is absolute convergence in the central and western regions. After adding human capital, government intervention, opening up, industrial structure as the control variables, there are obvious signs of conditional convergence in the countrys overall logistics efficiency. The improvement of human capital and the reduction of government intervention play the most significant role in promoting the convergence of logistics efficiency. This shows that if appropriate policies are adopted the Central and Western regions can narrow the logistics efficiency gap with the Eastern regions. Owusu Esther Agyeiwaa | Gang Tian "Convergence Analysis of Regional Logistics Efficiency in China" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-2 , February 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd38385.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/other/38385/convergence-analysis-of-regional-logistics-efficiency-in-china/owusu-esther-agyeiwaa
Accenture's Technology Vision 2021 details emerging technology trends that will help companies get back on track & build their future post COVID-19. Read more.
Automation Technology Series: Part 2: Intelligent automation: Driving efficie...Accenture Insurance
5 Shares
Advances in digital technologies are transforming the way insurance companies operate and how they serve their customers. Automation of previously manual processes is a key element of this transformation, and is critical to driving greater efficiency and a superior customer experience.
Robotic process automation (RPA)—the use of software to mimic the actions a person would perform on a PC—can deliver significant benefits to insurers and can be implemented without complex system integrations. A successful RPA implementation can yield a 40 to 80 percent reduction in processing costs, and up to an 80 percent reduction in processing time.
Gender Pay Parity Prototype for the 'Gig' Economy - Accenture LabsAccenture Technology
The Accenture Labs’ Gender Pay Parity Prototype provides a set of services that work together to promote fairness during the hiring process.
It is designed to extend any online talent sourcing platform with functionality to promote equitable pay and hiring processes.
Read our news release: https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-demonstrates-technology-prototype-to-promote-gender-pay-parity-at-the-white-house.htm
Engineering the Next-Gen Digital Claims Organisation for Australian General I...Cognizant
In recent years, insurers have invested in technology platforms and process improvements to improve
claims outcomes. Leaders will build on this foundation across the claims landscape, spanning experience,
operations, customer service and the overall supply chain with market-differentiating capabilities to
achieve sustainable results.
Banks are facing a world where profit is being compressed by:
• Historically low interest rates
• COVID-19 related credit losses
• Patchy economic recovery
• Fintech competition
The good news? Research shows that elevating their operational maturity helps banks outmaneuver the threats that tomorrow poses.
Accenture 2017 Global Risk Study: Banking Key Trends Infographicaccenture
To keep pace in a decade of disruption, banking industry respondents in the Accenture 2017 Global Risk Management Study are investing in technology, integration and talent to drive value from their risk functions. View the top challenges impacting risk function effectiveness and how banks are responding.
Learn more about Banking results from the 2017 Global Risk Study: https://accntu.re/2jHhdS7
Industry X.0 in Action at Hannover Messe 2019accenture
Our Industry X.0 demonstrations at Hannover Messe 2019 will showcase a five-step journey showing how our IX0 framework enables the transformation of entire industries, brought to life by real industry examples. Learn more.
To succeed in this new era of rapid transformation, manufacturing enterprises must recognize the major changes underway and harness digital technology.
Deep dive into the Trend 5 of the Technology Vision 2015 - Workforce Reimagined - and discover as the digital revolution gains momentum, humans and machines must do more together.
Reinventing the Last Mile: Win the Race to the Top (AU)accenture
A pivotal moment has arrived for traditional postal organisations. As retailers race to the top to win customer loyalty and market share, they are transforming their supply chains to enable the fast and free shipping that customers not only want, but expect. However, traditional postal organisations have not responded accordingly, and are now putting their future survival at risk. But by joining the race to the top—and taking advantage of their enviable position to offer the solutions retailers are looking for—they can transform their networks and win the last mile for decades to come.
Intelligent automation allows your business to not only do things differently, but to do different things. Discover 3 lessons learned to guide your intelligent automation path:
Open Insurance - Unlocking Ecosystem Opportunities For Tomorrow’s Insurance I...Accenture Insurance
For early adopters, open insurance offers new revenue streams, increased customer engagement and continued market relevance.
Learn more: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/insurance/open-insurance
How Companies Can Move AI from Labs to the Business CoreCognizant
APAC and Middle East organisations have big expectations from AI, but they’re only just getting started. To realise the full potential of AI-led innovation, they must rapidly, but smartly, scale their deployments and embrace a strong ethical foundation, keeping a close eye on the human implications and cultural changes required to convert machine intelligence from lofty concept to business reality.
Convergence Analysis of Regional Logistics Efficiency in Chinaijtsrd
This paper uses the data envelopment analysis DEA method to measure the logistics efficiency of Chinas different regions from 2011 to 2018, and on this basis, tests the s convergence and ß convergence. The results show that there is no absolute convergence trend in the whole country and the eastern region, but there is absolute convergence in the central and western regions. After adding human capital, government intervention, opening up, industrial structure as the control variables, there are obvious signs of conditional convergence in the countrys overall logistics efficiency. The improvement of human capital and the reduction of government intervention play the most significant role in promoting the convergence of logistics efficiency. This shows that if appropriate policies are adopted the Central and Western regions can narrow the logistics efficiency gap with the Eastern regions. Owusu Esther Agyeiwaa | Gang Tian "Convergence Analysis of Regional Logistics Efficiency in China" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-2 , February 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd38385.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/other/38385/convergence-analysis-of-regional-logistics-efficiency-in-china/owusu-esther-agyeiwaa
Accenture's Technology Vision 2021 details emerging technology trends that will help companies get back on track & build their future post COVID-19. Read more.
Automation Technology Series: Part 2: Intelligent automation: Driving efficie...Accenture Insurance
5 Shares
Advances in digital technologies are transforming the way insurance companies operate and how they serve their customers. Automation of previously manual processes is a key element of this transformation, and is critical to driving greater efficiency and a superior customer experience.
Robotic process automation (RPA)—the use of software to mimic the actions a person would perform on a PC—can deliver significant benefits to insurers and can be implemented without complex system integrations. A successful RPA implementation can yield a 40 to 80 percent reduction in processing costs, and up to an 80 percent reduction in processing time.
Gender Pay Parity Prototype for the 'Gig' Economy - Accenture LabsAccenture Technology
The Accenture Labs’ Gender Pay Parity Prototype provides a set of services that work together to promote fairness during the hiring process.
It is designed to extend any online talent sourcing platform with functionality to promote equitable pay and hiring processes.
Read our news release: https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-demonstrates-technology-prototype-to-promote-gender-pay-parity-at-the-white-house.htm
Engineering the Next-Gen Digital Claims Organisation for Australian General I...Cognizant
In recent years, insurers have invested in technology platforms and process improvements to improve
claims outcomes. Leaders will build on this foundation across the claims landscape, spanning experience,
operations, customer service and the overall supply chain with market-differentiating capabilities to
achieve sustainable results.
Banks are facing a world where profit is being compressed by:
• Historically low interest rates
• COVID-19 related credit losses
• Patchy economic recovery
• Fintech competition
The good news? Research shows that elevating their operational maturity helps banks outmaneuver the threats that tomorrow poses.
Accenture 2017 Global Risk Study: Banking Key Trends Infographicaccenture
To keep pace in a decade of disruption, banking industry respondents in the Accenture 2017 Global Risk Management Study are investing in technology, integration and talent to drive value from their risk functions. View the top challenges impacting risk function effectiveness and how banks are responding.
Learn more about Banking results from the 2017 Global Risk Study: https://accntu.re/2jHhdS7
Industry X.0 in Action at Hannover Messe 2019accenture
Our Industry X.0 demonstrations at Hannover Messe 2019 will showcase a five-step journey showing how our IX0 framework enables the transformation of entire industries, brought to life by real industry examples. Learn more.
To succeed in this new era of rapid transformation, manufacturing enterprises must recognize the major changes underway and harness digital technology.
Deep dive into the Trend 5 of the Technology Vision 2015 - Workforce Reimagined - and discover as the digital revolution gains momentum, humans and machines must do more together.
Reinventing the Last Mile: Win the Race to the Top (AU)accenture
A pivotal moment has arrived for traditional postal organisations. As retailers race to the top to win customer loyalty and market share, they are transforming their supply chains to enable the fast and free shipping that customers not only want, but expect. However, traditional postal organisations have not responded accordingly, and are now putting their future survival at risk. But by joining the race to the top—and taking advantage of their enviable position to offer the solutions retailers are looking for—they can transform their networks and win the last mile for decades to come.
Intelligent automation allows your business to not only do things differently, but to do different things. Discover 3 lessons learned to guide your intelligent automation path:
Increases in capital and labor are no longer driving the levels of economic growth the world has become accustomed to and desires. Fortunately, a new factor of production is on the horizon, and it promises to transform the basis of growth for countries across the world.
Accenture analyzed 12 developed economies and found that AI has the potential to double their growth rates by 2035.
AppSphere 15 - Capgemini Autonomics: PaaS for Automating Business OutcomesAppDynamics
Fortune 1000 organizations have traditionally outsourced maintenance and management of their application ecosystem to service providers in offshore models. As the value of labor arbitrage decreases because of diminishing cost benefits, organizations are shifting their attention to digital labor. The new value drivers for service delivery are velocity, quality, predictability and intelligent automation. Autonomics has arrived as a vehicle to achieve these new value drivers and serves as a central nervous system for companies to transform into a digital enterprise. Capgemini has launched an Autonomic Platform-as-a-Service that leverages best of breed technology partners such as AppDynamics that integrates and extends APM with process automation to create a new digital service delivery model.
This deck was originally presented at AppSphere 2015.
Tom Davenport, Distinguished Professor at Babson College and renown author made this presentation as part of the Cognitive Systems Institute Speaker Series on February 11, 2016.
Artificial Intelligence Application in Oil and GasSparkCognition
Visit http://sparkcognition.com for more information.
To access and listen to the on-demand version of the webinar, go here:
http://sparkcognition.com/ai-oil-and-gas-webinar-video/
Learn how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are being effectively applied in Oil & Gas right now, how they will become even more prevalent, and how they can impact your bottom line and transform your business.
We'll cover:
• Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Understanding of why Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are revolutionary in how they can help the Oil & Gas industry. This technology is already being used to prevent downhole tool failures or events like stuck pipes, pinpointing the ideal drilling locations during exploration and discovery, predicting pipeline pump failures, identify frack truck pump failures, etc.
• Real world examples of how other clients are using AI/ML today
MOOCs, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Pedagogical AgentsGeorge Veletsianos
Open courses are a sociocultural phenomenon. This phenomenon represents symptoms, responses, and failures facing Higher Education. In this talk, I examined open courses and MOOCs from a variety of angles and discussed the degree to which MOOCs have portrayed education as a product that can be packaged, automated, and delivered. Empirical research on the design and development of pedagogical and intelligent agents that may be used in MOOCs was also presented. More information here: http://www.veletsianos.com/2014/06/05/moocs-automation-artificial-intelligence-seminar/
HfS Webinar Slides: Smart Process Automation in Enterprise BusinessHfS Research
Global businesses must cut operational cost and improve agility, and Smart Process Automation - which combines workforce orchestration, RPA and cognitive automation - delivers on this imperative.
Experts from HfS Research, WorkFusion and Ascension Health discussed how to solve for business outcomes through more integrated automation technologies.
Participants will learn about:
- How SPA relates to the HfS Research Intelligent Automation Continuum
- How this new breed of automation improves on legacy solutions
- The role machine learning plays in SPA
- Use cases for SPA in shared services organizations and specific industries
- How WorkFusion’s SPA platform delivers
- A practical path forward for end users at the enterprise level who wish to explore SPA to achieve their operational mandates
View the replay here: ow.ly/RDwv301FeR3
HfS Webinar Slides: Standard Bank Case Discussion - Improving Customer Experi...HfS Research
This webinar replay shares how Standard Bank transformed its onboarding process by deploying Smart Process Automation. Standard Bank’s insights will enable organizations to clearly make the case for Automation as part of their service delivery strategies.
Learn from practitioners and experts on Smart Process Automation from HfS Research, WorkFusion and Standard Bank as they share their experiences about improving business outcomes through more integrated automation technologies.
Watch this replay and learn:
How did Standard Bank approach the automation of key processes—how did the deployment work and what were the results?
What can you learn from a leading service buyer about the future of Smart Automation?
How do Cognitive Computing and Machine Learning enhance the quality and agility of service delivery?
What is the impact of Smart Automation? What are the main use cases and insights?
Watch the webinar replay: http://www.hfsresearch.com/pointsofview/hfs-webinar-standard-bank-case-discussion-improving-customer-experience-through-rpa-ai-powered
This second machine age has seen the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), or “intelligence” that is not the result of
human cogitation. It is now ubiquitous in many commercial products, from search engines to virtual assistants. aI is the result of exponential growth in computing power, memory capacity, cloud computing, distributed and parallel processing, open-source solutions, and global connectivity of both people
and machines. The massive amounts and the speed at which structured and unstructured (e.g., text, audio, video, sensor) data is being generated has made a necessity of speedily processing and generating meaningful, actionable insights from it.
Technological Unemployment and the Robo-EconomyMelanie Swan
Technological Unemployment (jobs outsourced to technology) is coming and the challenge is to steward an orderly and beneficial transition to more intense human-technology collaboration
The Robot and I: How New Digital Technologies Are Making Smart People and Bus...Cognizant
Our latest study shows that when enterprise robots are applied to automating core business processes, they can extend the creative problem-solving capabilities and productivity of human beings and deliver superior business results.
The following whitepaper discusses the ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) can help businesses
connect with and manage employees more efficiently, specifically as it pertains to workers who do not
use computers in their everyday work. In this whitepaper, you will learn how AI-driven systems:
• Can be deployed in workforce management
• Reduce friction and create a more unified workforce
• Provide deeper insights into workforce productivity and sentiment
Link: https://www.staffcircle.com/artificial-intelligence-modern-workplace/
In the first edition of Connections, we talk about the Trends you can expect in the BPO industry and the Allsec-Kronos Partnership. We also discuss the impending possibility of RPA in your Accounts Payable process.
IT that matters in the new machine age prioritizes cybersecurity, innovation, time-to-market and customers over cost-cutting, according to our latest study. Here’s what the future looks like for IT infrastructure, including our HEROES framework to guide you along the way.
Investing in AI: Moving Along the Digital Maturity CurveCognizant
Digitally mature businesses are more likely to consider themselves at an advanced stage of AI adoption, according to our recent study, enabling them to turn data into insights at the scale and precision required today.
The Age of Artificial Intelligence and the Reinvention of the Tax Function VasudhaSharma33
As a tax professional working in the industry, experts suggest AI will redefine your role, optimize productivity and open doors to more satisfying - and valuable - work.
Tax and accounting professionals are already seeing the benefit of new AI-driven opportunities. Routine tasks (such as invoicing) are increasingly automated. As well, real-time views of workflows thanks to cloud technology makes identifying productivity risks and spotlighting new opportunities easier than ever before.
Your role as a tax professional in industry is on the verge of transformation as well. AI might be a disruptive force, but its power can be harnessed to enhance the corporate tax function in new and innovative ways. With the help of advanced technologies, you’ll be able to more readily predict outcomes, identify and troubleshoot problems as they occur, and play a leading role in building strategies for growth. AI-based tools will lessen the burden of data management and analysis, and industry tax professionals will be empowered with deeper data-driven insights that help them steer the business forward with confidence and clarity.
Deloitte global intelligent automation survey looks at the impact of COVID-19 on automation strategies and the use of cloud and automation-as-a-service to ensure scalability and rapid deployment.
COVID-19 has increased the need for intelligent decisioning through AI, but ROI is not guaranteed. Here's how to accelerate AI outcomes, according to our recent study.
Evolution of AI ML Solutions - A Review of Past and Future Impact.pdfChristine Shepherd
Need to incorporate technologies that drive unparalleled advancements? If yes, leveraging AI and Machine Learning services helps enterprises to streamline operations and also usher in a new era of possibilities and societal benefits. Whether it's designing novel solutions, creating intelligent products, or optimizing workflows, AI and ML serve as catalysts for innovation, propelling enterprises into the forefront of their respective industries.
6 use cases of machine learning in Finance Swathi Young
The use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning is increasingly adopted in multiple industries. Question is, does a regulated industry like Finance adopt AI/ML? the answer is a huge YES! Here we take a look at 6 different use cases:
* Chatbots
* RoboAdvisors
* Risk scoring
* Fraud Detection
* Insurance claims
* Underwriting
* regulatory compliance
EO Briefing 2015 is structured in three chapters. The first chapter examines the impact of digital technologies, particularly the Internet of Things (IoT) on business. The IoT presents an array of challenges and new revenue possibilities but the question is which companies will be able to capitalise on this opportunity. This an especially crucial question as C-suite executives see competition rising sharply in 2015.
The Future of Work in the Information AgeTrefor Smith
The combined influence of new technologies, new generations with their refreshing attitudes to more traditional workplace ways, and an abundance of data on our behaviour has, and continues to
To help prepare for the next phase of work, I examined ten key trends in workplace culture and outlined how they can help you and your team in the years to come.
The Work Ahead: Soaring Out of the Process SiloCognizant
In this edition of our series, we look at how business leaders can turbo-charge operational efficiency and propel massive revenue growth and cost savings by digitizing their business processes.
The Work Ahead in Intelligent Automation: Coping with Complexity in a Post-Pa...Cognizant
Intelligent automation continues to be a top driver of the future of work, according to our recent study. To reap the full advantages, businesses need to move from isolated to widespread deployment.
Using Adaptive Scrum to Tame Process Reverse Engineering in Data Analytics Pr...Cognizant
Organizations rely on analytics to make intelligent decisions and improve business performance, which sometimes requires reproducing business processes from a legacy application to a digital-native state to reduce the functional, technical and operational debts. Adaptive Scrum can reduce the complexity of the reproduction process iteratively as well as provide transparency in data analytics porojects.
It Takes an Ecosystem: How Technology Companies Deliver Exceptional ExperiencesCognizant
Experience is evolving into a strategy that reaches across technology companies. We offer guidance on the rise of experience and its role in business modernization, with details on how orgnizations can build the ecosystem to support it.
The Work Ahead: Transportation and Logistics Delivering on the Digital-Physic...Cognizant
The T&L industry appears poised to accelerate its long-overdue modernization drive, as the pandemic spurs an increased need for agility and resilience, according to our study.
Enhancing Desirability: Five Considerations for Winning Digital InitiativesCognizant
To be a modern digital business in the post-COVID era, organizations must be fanatical about the experiences they deliver to an increasingly savvy and expectant user community. Getting there requires a mastery of human-design thinking, compelling user interface and interaction design, and a focus on functional and nonfunctional capabilities that drive business differentiation and results.
The Work Ahead in Manufacturing: Fulfilling the Agility MandateCognizant
According to our research, manufacturers are well ahead of other industries in their IoT deployments but need to marshal the investment required to meet today’s intensified demands for business resilience.
The Work Ahead in Higher Education: Repaving the Road for the Employees of To...Cognizant
Higher-ed institutions expect pandemic-driven disruption to continue, especially as hyperconnectivity, analytics and AI drive personalized education models over the lifetime of the learner, according to our recent research.
Profitability in the Direct-to-Consumer Marketplace: A Playbook for Media and...Cognizant
Amid constant change, industry leaders need an upgraded IT infrastructure capable of adapting to audience expectations while proactively anticipating ever-evolving business requirements.
Green Rush: The Economic Imperative for SustainabilityCognizant
Green business is good business, according to our recent research, whether for companies monetizing tech tools used for sustainability or for those that see the impact of these initiatives on business goals.
Policy Administration Modernization: Four Paths for InsurersCognizant
The pivot to digital is fraught with numerous obstacles but with proper planning and execution, legacy carriers can update their core systems and keep pace with the competition, while proactively addressing customer needs.
The Work Ahead in Utilities: Powering a Sustainable Future with DigitalCognizant
Utilities are starting to adopt digital technologies to eliminate slow processes, elevate customer experience and boost sustainability, according to our recent study.
AI in Media & Entertainment: Starting the Journey to ValueCognizant
Up to now, the global media & entertainment industry (M&E) has been lagging most other sectors in its adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). But our research shows that M&E companies are set to close the gap over the coming three years, as they ramp up their investments in AI and reap rising returns. The first steps? Getting a firm grip on data – the foundation of any successful AI strategy – and balancing technology spend with investments in AI skills.
Operations Workforce Management: A Data-Informed, Digital-First ApproachCognizant
As #WorkFromAnywhere becomes the rule rather than the exception, organizations face an important question: How can they increase their digital quotient to engage and enable a remote operations workforce to work collaboratively to deliver onclient requirements and contractual commitments?
Five Priorities for Quality Engineering When Taking Banking to the CloudCognizant
As banks move to cloud-based banking platforms for lower costs and greater agility, they must seamlessly integrate technologies and workflows while ensuring security, performance and an enhanced user experience. Here are five ways cloud-focused quality assurance helps banks maximize the benefits.
Getting Ahead With AI: How APAC Companies Replicate Success by Remaining FocusedCognizant
Changing market dynamics are propelling Asia-Pacific businesses to take a highly disciplined and focused approach to ensuring that their AI initiatives rapidly scale and quickly generate heightened business impact.
Realising Digital’s Full Potential in the Value ChainCognizant
When we spoke with executives across Europe who lead digitising efforts, they described a diverse range of deployments, but digital can, and must, deliver far more than it has so far. In this ebook, we explore how businesses can explore digital's full potential across their value chain.
Realising Digital’s Full Potential in the Value Chain
Talent Augmentation: Through Intelligent Process Automation, Smart Robots Extend the Capabilities of Smart Humans
1. Part II
Digital
Business
2020:
Getting there
from here!
Talent Augmentation
Through Intelligent Process
Automation, Smart Robots Extend
the Capabilities and Creativity
of Smart Humans
CognizantiAn annual journal produced by Cognizant
VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 1 2015
4. Cognizanti • 4
Process automation is
moving from the factory floor
to the world of knowledge
work, but ‘robots’ can’t do
it alone — they need smart
people to ask good questions,
solve problems creatively,
connect to people and
manage data. Companies that
calibrate smart hands with
smart machines are already
achieving higher productivity
and superior business results.
From The Six Million Dollar Man to Aliens
to Iron Man, pop culture has consistently
adhered to the sci-fi motif of robotics aug-
menting human grit, creativity, determina-
tion, decision-making, adaptability and the
will to succeed. But the fictional counter-
narrative exists in the popular imagination
as well, with humans and robots also depicted
as fierce adversaries, waging a battle for
superiority.
In reality, there are strong arguments for both
sides. In a 2014 Pew Research Center study,
technology experts were evenly divided as to
whether robotic devices and a less tangible
form of robots – networked and automated
artificial intelligence (AI) applications – will
displace more jobs than they create by 2025.1
The truth, as usual, is in the middle. We now
see a new and important type of robotics
emerging that we call intelligent process
automation (IPA). With IPA, smart machines
augment and extend people’s uniquely human
capabilities – empathy, creativity, problem-
solving and drive – to deliver superior business
results built on AI and machine learning.
Of course, the most common robots are
the ones that make cars, unload ships,
assemble products or vacuum floors. But
we are now entering a new era of human-
machine interface for repetitive and rote
processes. Increasingly astute software tools
have emerged as “the robots” for knowledge
work. Humans are now working smarter with
sophisticated software to automate business
tasks. More importantly, these process
systems are generating rich data that drives
meaningful insights, value and business
outcomes. And according to our recent
research, IPA is contributing at least 10% to
the revenue growth of early adopters.2
Through Intelligent Process
Automation, Smart Robots
Extend the Capabilities and
Creativity of Smart Humans
By Robert Hoyle Brown
Talent Augmentation
5. 5
Going Beyond ‘Swivel
Chair’ Workarounds
While virtually every existing business
process uses technology, there’s still a lot
of repetitive, manual data entry, searching
and collating that happens to get things
done. Many process steps haven’t been
automated by core systems, while others
rely on workarounds that require workers to
toggle between multiple systems and screens
to achieve last-mile integration of data. The
value of this type of “swivel-chair” work
can be pretty limited; if these tasks were
automated, costs would decline, while speed
and accuracy would rise. It would also mean
that the people essential to the process could
do more in less time.
In addition to collectively adding costs,
sometimes these unautomated tasks can
inject risk. For example, in insurance,
the cost of miscoding on claims adds up
to millions per year, not to mention the
decline in client satisfaction resulting from
multiple claims. It doesn’t have to be that
difficult; with automation applied, insurers
can achieve 80% first-pass accuracy through
auto-adjudication, and adding the technolo-
gies of IPA can raise that to as high as 99%
in our estimation.
These outcomes are welcome. But the true
“intelligence” value of digitization through
IPA lies in the rich data and metadata that
accumulates around process value chains.
When real-time insights are gleaned from
that data and fed back into the process –
through analytics, artificial intelligence
and machine learning – real transformation
can begin as smart people can explore data,
discover patterns and recommend appropri-
ate actions. Take the insurer that automates
its claims management process and then uses
the data from its daily audit logs to detect
hidden fraud patterns that could never be
discovered manually.
When it comes to knowledge work, robots
won’t dominate humans but, rather, will
work in tandem to make smart humans
smarter and businesses more agile.
Process Automation
Pays Dividends
To get a deeper understanding of “how far,
how fast” IPA developments will play out, we
recently surveyed 537 organizations in North
America and Europe.3
Our study reveals
that process automation is fast becoming a
force-multiplier to knowledge workers in the
banking, healthcare and insurance industries.
Key findings include:
OO Process automation is saving sub-
stantial amounts of money, today.
Automation is currently empowering
businesses to work smarter, and reduce
the number of people involved with the
process; nearly one-fifth of respondents
achieved greater than 15% cost savings
through automation in the past year
(see Figure 1, next page).
For some perspective, a decade ago the
non-interest operating expense of all
federally-insured banks was about $275
billion.4
If the findings in our survey were
applied, this expense could be reduced by
15%. That’s a stunning savings of about
$40 billion. Executives predict that the
number of people directly tasked with
performing process delivery will decrease
significantly in the coming years.
OO The data generated by automation will
radically improve process outcomes.
A far more profound benefit than cost effi-
ciency lies in the process data and metadata
generated by automation. Roughly 50%
of respondents see automation (and 44%
see analytics) as significantly improving
processes over the next three to five years.
OO Digital value chains can reform data-
rich processes. One-third of respondents
cite the direct improvement of data quality,
consistency and “believability” of data to
perform better analytics as an outcome of
their digital initiatives. In other words, you
have to “digitize to analyze.” That’s where
merely “adding a robot” or automating
an existing process falls short. Prompted
by innovative competitors, a full digital
re-think may be crucial to transform core
processes in the future of work. By using
next-generation technologies based on
social, mobile, analytics and the cloud (the
6. Cognizanti • 6
SMAC Stack), companies are completely
re-imagining customer, supplier and partner
interactions. And by igniting the digital
information surrounding these entities –
or Code Halo™ – organizations can realize
business process insights in far greater fidel-
ity than has ever been possible before.5
Clearly, many companies are already moving
in this direction, but much more can be done.
Getting there will require business leaders
and decision-makers to quickly seize IPA’s
vast potential. For example, while respon-
dents report that a large percentage of their
processes are currently automated (25% to
40%, in most cases), the expected increase in
process automation over the next five years
seems low (10% to 20%). It could be that
what a lot of leaders currently regard as “auto-
mation” is driven by core IT investments
(i.e., ERP, CRM, BPM and other enterprise
applications). While all of these can foster
automation, they will not help organizations
reach the level that IPA can.
Data Generated from
Automation Will
Substantially Improve
Process Outcomes
Interestingly, most respondents remain
focused on how IPA can streamline and
optimize processes rather than rethinking
process work (see Figure 2, next page).
However, the data generated by the
increasingly astute technologies of process
automation and digitization is the real prize,
for businesses and workers alike. Solely
applying robotic automation to an “as-is”
process can fall short of the true competi-
tive differentiation many organizations could
achieve through process digitization.
That’s why when it comes to IPA, organiza-
tions need to cast a wider net. The reason:
Automation opportunities are emerging at
warp speed as the physical and digital worlds
Source: Cognizant Center for the Future of Work
Response base: Healthcare payers: 102; PC&L Insurers: 115; Banks: 153
Figure 1
Robots Enable a Money-Saving Assembly Line
Percent of decision-makers who expect to realize at least 15% cost savings
across front-office, middle-office and back-office functions as a result of
automation over the next three to five years.
Front-office and customer-facing functions
Middle-office or operational functions
Back-office or support functions
New business, underwriting &
customer service
Policy service and contract administration
Claims administration
Risk, fraud & compliance
Enrollment & billing services
Claims coding & processing
Overpayment recovery services
Fraud & abuse services
Medical management
Member/provider customer support
HORIZONTAL PROCESSES INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC PROCESSES
BANKS
PC&L
INSURERS
HEALTHCARE
PAYERS
55%
40%
43%
39%
46%
53%
49%
50%
41%
39%
39%
40%
47%
Customer
management
& sales
New product/
service
development
39%
36%
Finance &
accounting
40%
Supply chain
40%
Human
resources
34%
7. 7
blend as one. It seems as though nearly every
physical process is instrumented with sensors,
telematics and “things” that drive ever-grow-
ing feedback loops of data. With advances in
machine learning, artificial intelligence and
big data, companies enhance their ability to
predict rather than react to rapidly changing
demands and expectations. Examples include
real-time dynamic fleet optimization for
destination and delivery capacity for logistics;
analysis of driving behavior for dynamic
auto insurance policy pricing; and collation
of huge volumes of clinical data to optimize
pharmaceutical trials.
Businesses that are already embracing
these new technologies are capturing more
data, improving processes and generally
empowering workers to be more effective
at their jobs. In the words of Aaron Levie,
the co-founder and CEO of Box: “Adding
software to a broken process doesn’t make
you digital. The biggest challenge is reimag-
ining the process, not writing the software.”6
Respondents who are applying analytics
to processes in the customer-facing and
front-office realms are realizing at least 10%
revenue growth from doing so (see Figure 3,
next page). Additionally, one-third (32%) of
respondents were well aware of the analytics
value of digitized processes, citing improved
quality, consistency and believability of the
data they’re getting from digital process
initiatives; nearly a third (28%) said process
digitization led to easier data integration
across processes.
Process Analytics: Show Me the Meaning (Making)
Percent of
decision-makers
citing the current
use of analytics
for the following
outcomes
Reducing
costs
28
%
23
%
Understanding
customer
requirements
Better process
throughput
& quality
Streamlining
processes
Prioritizing
business needs
Better market
penetration &
segmentation
Enhancing
process accuracy
Optimizing
product portfolio
Creating new
products/services
43%
Source: Cognizant Center for the Future of Work
Response base: 537
Figure 2
8. Cognizanti • 8
Getting Started with IPA
Organizations must act swiftly to close
the gap between where they are now with
automation and where they hope to be over
the coming years. Here are a few pointers to
get started:
OO Perform an automation readiness
assessment. Make a detailed map of your
existing processes (new product/service
development, sales and customer rela-
tionship management, operations, etc.).
Scan the market for minimally invasive
automation technologies that would
produce efficiency gains, while remaining
receptive to new differentiating trans-
formation. Some simple questions to ask
prior to a process readiness assessment
include: “How do I get rid of paper-based
process inputs, such as invoices or claims,
and get my process truly digital from the
outset?” “Do the people delivering my
processes today add value or inject risk?”
“What are we learning about our business
or industry value chain as data is analyzed,
and does it help smart people to make
better decisions?”
OO Help humans evolve toward the work
of tomorrow. Give employees access to
digital processes and machines that help
them do their jobs better, smarter and
with more meaningful business impact.
Build your processes for humans, and
use IPA to catalyze productivity, not as
a wholesale worker replacement. After
all, in business, it’s not about the number
of people tied to “doing the process;” it’s
about outcomes and helping your smart
people work even smarter.
OO Assign “tiger/SWAT teams,” including
a mini-CIO. There are likely many
extremely valuable (and digitally-savvy)
resources that would jump at the chance
to become automation experts or join
an IPA tiger team. We’re also starting to
see more references to “chief automation
officers.” Rather than ask “what can be
automated,” forward-thinking practi-
tioners will instead ask “what needs to
stay human,” taking the starting point
that everything, theoretically, can be
automated. Physically co-locate these IPA
change agents in the operational delivery
arms of your business units. Keep them
Ramping up Analytics … to Ramp up Revenue
Percent of respondents realizing/anticipating at least 10% of
revenue growth achieved as a result of data analytics within the
following selected industry-specific processes.
Source: Cognizant Center for the Future of Work
Response base: Healthcare payers: 102; PC&L Insurers: 115; Banks: 153
Figure 3
EXPECTED
IN 1-2 YEARS
3-5
YEARS
FROM ONE
YEAR AGO
Member/provider
customer support
Claims coding
& processing
New business,
underwriting &
customer service
Front office &
customer-facing
functions
42%
15%
8% 13%
13%
13%
17%
38%
36%
45%
25%
8%
BANKS
HEALTHCARE
PAYERS
PC&L
INSURERS
9. 9
thinking not just about IPA, but also
about the new process anatomy, data and
the “art of the possible,” including partici-
patory design/research principles.
OO Execute specific process projects – to
learn fast, or “fail fast.” Be specific –
don’t place resources and “hope for the
best.” IT resources landing in a business
unit without work assignments are often
quickly marginalized and abandoned.
Identify, develop and implement solutions
for process automation or digital business
transformation – fast – to successfully
outrun the competition.
IPA is here today – it’s quickly accelerat-
ing and disrupting the status quo. It sets
the scene for smart automation, built and
operated by smart people freed from the
humdrum who can focus on creating greater
business value.
Understanding the symbiotic relationship
between humans and robots is crucial to
understanding what the future holds. After
all, the human spark is, and will remain,
essential to how knowledge work is orches-
trated and managed. What’s different is that
technologies can now create more effective
knowledge workers while simultaneously
generating and capturing data that can
improve and even transform processes, along
with eliminating wasteful steps.
Despite a flood of hysteria about cyborg ter-
minators, organizations shouldn’t be worried.
Rather, they should embrace IPA’s immense
savings and revenue growth opportuni-
ties – because like the latest sci-fi movie, it’s
coming soon to a process near you.
Survey Methodology
Online panel-based research was conducted
with decision-makers from banking and financial
services, insurance and healthcare companies
across North America and Europe. The sample
also included companies from the pharmaceuti-
cals, retail, hospitality and technology industries.
The research was gathered from 537 respon-
dents, representing companies with $500 million
to $3 billion in revenue. The research instrument
was fielded by an independent research agency
(E2E Research) on behalf of Cognizant.
This article – which expands on themes explored
in “Why Smart Hands and Machines Will
Power the Second Industrial Age” (by Robert
H. Brown, Cognizanti, Vol 7, Issue 1, 2014)
– was adapted from the white paper “The Robot
and I: How New Digital Technologies Are
Making Smart People and Businesses Smarter by
Automating Rote Work,” Cognizant Technology
Solutions, January 2015, http://www.cognizant.
com/InsightsWhitepapers/the-robot-and-I-how-
new-digital-technologies-are-making-smart-peo-
ple-and-businesses-smarter-codex1193.pdf.
Note: Code HaloTM
is a trademark of Cognizant
Technology Solutions.
The human spark is, and will remain, essential
to how knowledge work is orchestrated
and managed.
10. Cognizanti • 10
Footnotes
1
In the Pew Research survey, 48% of respondents said robots and digital agents would displace
significant numbers of both blue- and white-collar workers by 2025, with many expressing
concern about the resulting income inequality, mass unemployability, and breakdowns in
the social order. Meanwhile, 52% said that while many jobs currently performed by humans
will be substantially taken over by robots or digital agents by 2025, they have faith that
human ingenuity will create new jobs and industries, just as it has done since the dawn of the
Industrial Revolution. For more on the study, see “AI, Robotics and the Future of Jobs,” Pew
Research Center, Aug. 6, 2014, http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/08/06/future-of-jobs/.
2
“The Robot and I: How New Digital Technologies Are Making Smart People and Businesses
Smarter by Automating Rote Work,” Cognizant Technology Solutions, January 2015,
http://www.cognizant.com/InsightsWhitepapers/the-robot-and-I-how-new-digital-technolo-
gies-are-making-smart-people-and-businesses-smarter-codex1193.pdf.
3
Ibid.
4
“Measuring Bank Performance,” http://wps.aw.com/wps/media/objects/3000/3072002/
appendixes/ch09apx2.pdf.
5
Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules of
Business, by Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring, published by John Wiley & Sons,
April 2014, www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118862074.html.
6
https://twitter.com/levie/status/599045909825982464.
Author
Robert Hoyle Brown is an Associate Vice-President in Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work and drives
strategy and market outreach for Cognizant’s Business Process Services business unit. He is also a regular
contributor to the blog www.Futureofwork.com. Prior to joining Cognizant, he was Managing Vice-President
of the Business and Applications Services team at Gartner, and as a research analyst, he was a recognized
subject matter expert in BPO, cloud services/BPaaS and HR services. He also held roles at Hewlett-Packard
and G2 Research, a boutique outsourcing research firm in Silicon Valley. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the
University of California at Berkeley and, prior to his graduation, attended the London School of Economics as
a Hansard Scholar. He can be reached at Robert.H.Brown@cognizant.com.
11. About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology,
consulting, and business process outsourcing services, dedicated to helping
the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfac-
tion, technology innovation, deep industry and business process expertise, and a
global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work.
To learn more about Cognizant, please visit: www.cognizant.com.
U.S. Headquarters:
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Tel: +1 979 691 7700
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Email: inquiryindia@cognizant.com
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Building No. 5, No.
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Email: inquiry@cognizant.com
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Cognizant Technology Solutions
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8/10 Upper McKinley Road Building
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