automation Archives - AI News https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/tag/automation/ Artificial Intelligence News Tue, 28 May 2024 15:32:38 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/09/ai-icon-60x60.png automation Archives - AI News https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/tag/automation/ 32 32 Gil Pekelman, Atera: How businesses can harness the power of AI https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2024/05/28/gil-pekelman-atera-how-businesses-can-harness-the-power-of-ai/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2024/05/28/gil-pekelman-atera-how-businesses-can-harness-the-power-of-ai/#respond Tue, 28 May 2024 15:32:37 +0000 https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=14888 TechForge recently caught up with Gil Pekelman, CEO of all-in-one IT management platform, Atera, to discuss how AI is becoming the IT professionals’ number one companion. Can you tell us a little bit about Atera and what it does? We launched the Atera all-in-one platform for IT management in 2016, so quite a few years... Read more »

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TechForge recently caught up with Gil Pekelman, CEO of all-in-one IT management platform, Atera, to discuss how AI is becoming the IT professionals’ number one companion.

Can you tell us a little bit about Atera and what it does?

We launched the Atera all-in-one platform for IT management in 2016, so quite a few years ago. And it’s very broad. It’s everything from technical things like patching and security to ongoing support, alerts, automations, ticket management, reports, and analytics, etc. 

Atera is a single platform that manages all your IT in a single pane of glass. The power of it – and we’re the only company that does this – is it’s a single codebase and single database for all of that. The alternative, for many years now, has been to buy four or five different products, and have them all somehow connected, which is usually very difficult. 

Here, the fact is it’s a single codebase and a single database. Everything is connected and streamlined and very intuitive. So, in essence, you sign up or start a trial and within five minutes, you’re already running with it and onboarding. It’s that intuitive.

We have 12,000+ customers in 120 countries around the world. The UK is our second-largest country in terms of business, currently. The US is the first, but the UK is right behind them.

What are the latest trends you’re seeing develop in AI this year?

From the start, we’ve been dedicated to integrating AI into our company’s DNA. Our goal has always been to use data to identify problems and alert humans so they can fix or avoid issues. Initially, we focused on leveraging data to provide solutions.

Over the past nine years, we’ve aimed to let AI handle mundane IT tasks, freeing up professionals for more engaging work. With early access to Chat GPT and Open AI tools a year and a half ago, we’ve been pioneering a new trend we call Action AI.

Unlike generic Generative AI, which creates content like songs or emails, Action AI operates in the real world, interacting with hardware and software to perform tasks autonomously. Our AI can understand IT problems and resolve them on its own, moving beyond mere dialogue to real-world action.

Atera offers Copilot and Autopilot. Could you explain what these are?

Autopilot is autonomous. It understands a problem you might have on your computer. It’s a widget on your computer, and it will communicate with you and fix the problem autonomously. However, it has boundaries on what it’s allowed to fix and what it’s not allowed to fix. And everything it’s allowed to deal with has to be bulletproof. 100% secure or private. No opportunity to do any damage or anything like that. 

So if a ticket is opened up, or a complaint is raised, if it’s outside of these boundaries, it will then activate the Copilot. The Copilot augments the IT professional.

They’re both companions. The Autopilot is a companion that takes away password resets, printer issues, installs software, etc. – mundane and repetitive issues – and the Copilot is a companion that will help the IT professional deal with the issues they deal with on a day-to-day basis. And it has all kinds of different tools. 

The Copilot is very elaborate. If you have a problem, you can ask it and it will not only give you an answer like ChatGPT, but it will research and run all kinds of tests on the network, the computer, and the printer, and it will come to a conclusion, and create the action that is required to solve it. But it won’t solve it. It will still leave that to the IT professional to think about the different information and decide what they want to do. 

Copilot can save IT professionals nearly half of their workday. While it’s been tested in the field for some time, we’re excited to officially launch it now. Meanwhile, Autopilot is still in the beta phase.

What advice would you give to any companies that are thinking about integrating AI technologies into their business operations?

I strongly recommend that companies begin integrating AI technologies immediately, but it is crucial to research and select the right and secure generative AI tools. Incorporating AI offers numerous advantages: it automates routine tasks, enhances efficiency and productivity, improves accuracy by reducing human error, and speeds up problem resolution. That being said, it’s important to pick the right generative AI tool to help you reap the benefits without compromising on security. For example, with our collaboration with Microsoft, our customers’ data is secure—it stays within the system, and the AI doesn’t use it for training or expanding its database. This ensures safety while delivering substantial benefits.

Our incorporation of AI into our product focuses on two key aspects. First, your IT team no longer has to deal with mundane, frustrating tasks. Second, for end users, issues like non-working printers, forgotten passwords, or slow internet are resolved in seconds or minutes instead of hours. This provides a measurable and significant improvement in efficiency.

There are all kinds of AIs out there. Some of them are more beneficial, some are less. Some are just Chat GPT in disguise, and it’s a very thin layer. What we do literally changes the whole interaction with IT. And we know, when IT has a problem things stop working, and you stop working. Our solution ensures everything keeps running smoothly.

What can we expect from AI over the next few years?

AI is set to become significantly more intelligent and aware. One remarkable development is its growing ability to reason, predict, and understand data. This capability enables AI to foresee issues and autonomously resolve them, showcasing an astonishing level of reasoning.

We anticipate a dual advancement: a rapid acceleration in AI’s intelligence and a substantial enhancement in its empathetic interactions, as demonstrated in the latest OpenAI release. This evolution will transform how humans engage with AI.

Our work exemplifies this shift. When non-technical users interact with our software to solve problems, AI responds with a highly empathetic, human-like approach. Users feel as though they are speaking to a real IT professional, ensuring a seamless and comforting experience.

As AI continues to evolve, it will become increasingly powerful and capable. Recent breakthroughs in understanding AI’s mechanisms will not only enhance its functionality but also ensure its security and ethical use, reinforcing its role as a force for good.

What plans does Atera have for the next year?

We are excited to announce the upcoming launch of Autopilot, scheduled for release in a few months. While Copilot, our comprehensive suite of advanced tools designed specifically for IT professionals, has already been instrumental in enhancing efficiency and effectiveness, Autopilot represents the next significant advancement.

Currently in beta so whoever wants to try it already can, Autopilot directly interacts with end users, automating and resolving common IT issues that typically burden IT staff, such as password resets and printer malfunctions. By addressing these routine tasks, Autopilot allows IT professionals to focus on more strategic and rewarding activities, ultimately improving overall productivity and job satisfaction.

For more information, visit atera.com

Atera is a sponsor of TechEx North America 2024 on June 5-6 in Santa Clara, US. Visit the Atera team at booth 237 for a personalised demo, or to test your IT skills with the company’s first-of-kind AIT game, APOLLO IT, for a chance to win a prize.

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation ConferenceBlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

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Jay Migliaccio, IBM Watson: On leveraging AI to improve productivity https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2023/05/15/jay-migliaccio-ibm-watson-on-leveraging-ai-to-improve-productivity/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2023/05/15/jay-migliaccio-ibm-watson-on-leveraging-ai-to-improve-productivity/#respond Mon, 15 May 2023 15:36:09 +0000 https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=13067 IBM has been refining its AI solutions for decades and knows a thing or two about helping businesses leverage the technology to improve productivity. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer was used to beat World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. At the time, all too familiar headlines suggested that computers would soon replace humans. Over two... Read more »

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IBM has been refining its AI solutions for decades and knows a thing or two about helping businesses leverage the technology to improve productivity.

In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer was used to beat World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. At the time, all too familiar headlines suggested that computers would soon replace humans. Over two decades later, AI has proven to be an assistive tool that benefits us every day.

IBM Watson’s first commercial application was announced a little over a decade ago in February 2013 for utilisation management decisions in lung cancer treatment. In the years since, we’ve seen it used to deliver game-changing advancements in healthcare, weather forecasting, education, science, and much more.

AI News caught up with Jay Migliaccio, Senior Product Manager for Watson Orchestrate, to learn how IBM is now using its vast experience to help businesses with their digital transformations.

AI News: So, Jay, can you tell me how IBM is helping businesses to improve the productivity of their workforces?

Jay Migliaccio: Yes, Ryan. Thanks so much for the invite and for asking me here.

IBM is expanding its suite of offerings in the area of digital labour. Digital labour leverages AI and automation to help workers become more productive. And, much like human labour, digital labour performs work on business systems through “skills”.

Digital labour skills enable digital labour to interact with business applications, much like you and I would interact with a system of record or system of engagement. We can do this now through digital labour. And, what’s new and unique, is that digital labour leverages the human-centric interaction style.

So, we’ve introduced natural language and we’ve also introduced intelligent orchestration to be able to execute not just single skills, but actually multiple skills to be able to achieve higher-level tasks.

AN: Generative AI is a hot topic in the market at the moment. Do you see that being used practically in the workplace and what risks should businesses be aware of?

JM: Yeah, great question. I actually do use it myself in the workplace, I occasionally have to develop software tools and simple scripts and I have had it generate a number of scripts for me successfully. So I’m impressed not just with its ability to generate verbal and written content, but also code content. I for sure believe it will become increasingly useful in the workplace.

Current generative AI platforms have been trained on the internet, so remember your results may vary. I know anytime I Google or search for things on the internet I take the results with a grain of salt.

I believe that enterprises, as they go to look and adopt generative AI systems, they’ll lean more towards AI that they can trust. Therefore, we need to work on being able to create that trust element in generative AI solutions.

AN: What is the value of Watson Orchestrate for developers?

JM: When we talk about developers, I’m talking about automation developers. And that’s by and large developers that are integrating apps and business apps and business systems to work together.

For the most part, those developers have been integrating business systems to business systems. Now what we can do with Watson Orchestrate is we can introduce the human into the loop.

These automation developers now have a platform where they can build and integrate their automation workflows and they can bring a human experience into these automation workflows for everyday human workers.

Watson Orchestrate provides a platform for creating human-centric workflow automation, designed to interact with humans in our native communication style which is spoken or written word.

AN: How does Watson Orchestrate learn from user interactions?

JM: There are a couple of ways Watson Orchestrate is monitoring the behaviour of humans and learning from them. 

Perhaps most important is its ability to interpret the natural language through which humans are communicating. Today it’s the written word, but in the future spoken word. Watson Orchestrate can not just do a pattern match based on existing known sentences, but it can actually understand the intent of those utterances. 

Additionally, it can extract entities from those utterances. So, when you use proper nouns in a sentence, it can understand that’s an entity that it would use as part of an automation. It can match the intent of the utterance to existing skills that it has and can react accordingly. It can understand the intent of the utterance and then take action on those skills. Increasingly, it can sequence multiple skills together.

Also, we are working on systems for empowering Watson Orchestrate to monitor the user’s behaviour. And, just like any modern SaaS application today that has recommendations based on your behaviour, we’re working on recommendation engines to recommend to employees how they can use Watson Orchestrate to be more productive in the future.

AN: Talking about AI more generally, what new ways of working are today’s advancements enabling?

JM: As I just alluded to, we’re increasingly empowering systems to understand human natural language to a much more complex and sophisticated extent. Natural language interpretation has grown way beyond the basic pre-programmed bot experience.

I’m sure everybody has had an experience on a website where there’s a bot responding to your basic questions. What we’re trying to do is make that bot much more intelligent. The current generation of digital labour can understand your intent, extract entities from your utterances, and, most importantly, take action on your behalf.

AN: On the flip side, what are some of the main dangers of automation tools and how do we overcome those?

JM: I’m not sure if this is a specific category of danger, but I suppose I would put it under the law of unintended consequences. Anytime you work with technology, there can be outcomes that you don’t expect.

For example, if we think about the automobile as an automation tool for moving humans around – the intent, of course, was to move a human from A to B faster, and maybe more reliably. But the net result is occasionally we have accidents.

Much like the way we build transportation systems to constrain and reduce the potential for accidents, we have to do the same thing in our business systems with digital labour. Certainly, we’re going to want to start small and just do very selective, very specific tasks that are well-curated and well-defined.

We’ll need to create guardrails that guard against unintended and unexpected behaviour. One of the ways we’re doing this in Watson Orchestrate is to empower the digital labour to act on the user’s behalf and therefore leverage the user’s credentials when interacting with business systems.

As an employee, I’m given certain access to a business system based on my role. Therefore, we know when the digital employee performs actions on my behalf it also has those existing restrictions and permissions for those business systems.

Another option is monitoring behaviour and monitoring for unintended consequences. And, lastly, integrating governance and creating policies that permit or restrict the behaviour of digital employees.

AN: Are you a believer in the metaverse? If so, how much work do you think we will be doing in it?

JM: Yeah, great question. Metaverse for me is a very loose term. Here we are digitally speaking – we’ve never met before, you could be an avatar for all I know. So, in that sense, I’m a believer in the metaverse.

For me, like most innovative technologies, it will start on the fringe and work its way into the mainstream. You can look at entertainment and gaming and see very metaverse-like experiences being used there.

I’ve seen examples of the metaverse being used for deep meditative experiences. If you want to go into deep meditation, you can put on your virtual headsets and enter a metaverse world that is very different from the physical world we live in.

And I also can see the metaverse being initially used for education purposes. I think it’s a great way – a sort of low-risk way – to introduce people to new environments and new ideas at scale.

I don’t think we’re gonna go to the metaverse to go to work. I don’t see that as something coming in the near term.

AN: I can only promise I’m not an avatar for the time being. I might bump into you at Digital Transformation Week, next week. You’ll obviously be in attendance, what will you be sharing with the audience at the event?

JM: Yeah, Digital Transformation Week I will be talking about our view on the digital labour market and some of our solutions. I will also be sharing some of the stories about the early adopters of IBM’s digital labour solutions.

You can watch our full interview with Jay below:

Looking to revamp your intelligent automation strategy? Learn more about the Intelligent Automation Event & Conference, to discover the latest insights surrounding unbiased algorithyms, future trends, RPA, Cognitive Automation and more!

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SAS: Finland leads in hyperautomation awareness, UK languishing https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2022/04/12/sas-finland-leads-hyperautomation-awareness-uk-languishing/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2022/04/12/sas-finland-leads-hyperautomation-awareness-uk-languishing/#respond Tue, 12 Apr 2022 16:25:12 +0000 https://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=11873 Research from analytics firm SAS has found that Finland appears to be leading in hyperautomation awareness while a number of large countries are falling behind. Hyperautomation brings together AI, robotic process automation, and multiple business processes on a cloud platform to help organisations make better decisions more quickly. “Organisations will require more IT and business... Read more »

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Research from analytics firm SAS has found that Finland appears to be leading in hyperautomation awareness while a number of large countries are falling behind.

Hyperautomation brings together AI, robotic process automation, and multiple business processes on a cloud platform to help organisations make better decisions more quickly.

“Organisations will require more IT and business process automation as they are forced to accelerate digital transformation plans in a post-COVID-19, digital-first world,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, Research Vice President at Gartner.

Businesses that adopt hyperautomation as part of their digital transformation journeys will gain a competitive edge over rivals.

“We know from our own research that companies are already using hyperautomation to drive efficiency, customer service and innovation,” commented David Shannon, Head of Hyperautomation at SAS UK & Ireland.

However, it seems organisations in some countries are exploring how it could help their business more than others.

For its research, SAS analysed online search data for 24 countries to determine awareness of hyperautomation and where demand seems to be growing fastest.

Here are the top 10 countries for hyperautomation awareness:

CountryAnnual total searches (2021)Potential reachGeneral awareness (% of potential reach)*10,000
Finland2,1204,640,0004.57
Sweden2,8609,580,0002.98
Switzerland2,1707,910,0002.74
Ireland1,1904,770,0002.49
Australia4,16020,600,0002.01
Singapore3,73019,900,0001.87
Austria1,7109,140,0001.87
Netherlands5,58031,300,0001.78
Belgium1,76011,000,0001.6
Germany10,93074,500,0001.46

The UK is in 12th place with just 1.25 people in every 10,000 searching for hyperautomation. However, that’s still ahead of countries including the US, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan, which were all in the bottom 10 out of the 24 countries analysed by SAS.

Spain and Italy at least make appearances in the list of the 10 countries where search has grown fastest—meaning they’re best placed to push their way into the top 10 for awareness before long.

Here are the 10 countries where search has grown fastest:

Country20202021YoY Growth (%)
Turkey1,3302,17063.2%
Sweden1,8902,86051.3%
Spain1,9102,84048.7%
Italy2,8404,19047.5%
Poland1,3702,00045.9%
Germany7,53010,93045.1%
Netherlands3,9005,58043.1%
South Africa1,3701,91039.4%
India29,73040,57036.5%
Austria1,2701,71034.6%

With the UK all the way down in 18th place on the list with an increase of 20.4 percent, it’s clear that far more awareness is required for the country to have much chance of becoming a hyperautomation leader.

“While search data can’t tell us everything, it’s a useful barometer to test the mood of nations. Awareness has grown rapidly in some countries in just three years, indicating where demand could be strongest,” added Shannon.

“Automation has enabled businesses of all sizes to transform their operations, and hyperautomation is the next step in the journey. Now is the time for them to build it, and other advanced technological solutions, into their digital strategies.”

(Photo by Josh Redd on Unsplash)

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California and London throughout 2022.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

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Rob Mellor, WhereScape: On data warehouse automation https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/12/09/rob-mellor-wherescape-on-data-warehouse-automation/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/12/09/rob-mellor-wherescape-on-data-warehouse-automation/#respond Thu, 09 Dec 2021 13:25:18 +0000 https://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=11489 Leading analysts and organisations have begun recognising data warehouse automation as being key to running a truly data-driven business. AI News caught up with Rob Mellor, GM & VP, EMEA at WhereScape, to discuss this industry shift. AI News: Only earlier this year did Gartner really begin recognising data warehouse automation after publishing a paper... Read more »

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Leading analysts and organisations have begun recognising data warehouse automation as being key to running a truly data-driven business.

AI News caught up with Rob Mellor, GM & VP, EMEA at WhereScape, to discuss this industry shift.

AI News: Only earlier this year did Gartner really begin recognising data warehouse automation after publishing a paper on the subject. Is this indicative of a shift in how companies view automation?

Rob Mellor: At WhereScape, we feel the increased recent activity from Gartner around data warehouse automation is reflective of an industry shift. Organisations are beginning to realise that automation is really necessary if companies are to be truly data-driven.

By using a tool to automate repetitive and mundane tasks such as hand-coding, developers can be more productive and focus on adding features specific to their unique business requirements. This means their business can react faster to BI trends.

This is obvious to companies who have been data-driven for some time and are enjoying the results. However, we are now seeing Data Automation tools crossing the chasm into the mainstream, and so Gartner has moved to inform those who are considering tools like WhereScape for the first time and help those familiar with automation tools to choose the best one for their needs.

AN: What is the difference between modern data warehouse automation and ETL (extract, transform, load) tools?

RM: ETL tools are typically server-based, data integration solutions for moving and manipulating data from its sources to a target data warehouse. When ETL tools first emerged four decades ago, the servers that databases ran on did not have the computing power of today, so ETL solutions were developed to alleviate the data processing workload. They typically provided additional database and application connectivity and data manipulation functions that were previously limited in database engines.

Instead of using the older ETL method, today some vendors take an ELT approach. With ELT, data transformation happens in the target data warehouse rather than requiring a middle-tier ETL server. This approach takes advantage of today’s database engines that support massively parallel processing (MPP) as well as its availability within cloud-based data platforms such as Snowflake, Amazon Redshift and Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse.

While ELT certainly represented a step forward in thinking compared to ETL, both types of data movement solutions still only cover a small portion of the data warehousing lifecycle. This means that organizations must rely on many disparate tools to support everything else involved in designing, developing, deploying, documenting and operating their data warehouses and other data infrastructure.

In comparison to the limited scope of ETL and ELT tools, data infrastructure automation encompasses the entire data warehousing lifecycle. From planning, data discovery and design through development, deployment, operations, change management — and even documentation — automation unifies it all.

AN: What are the main factors driving the adoption of data warehouse automation?

RM: Given the broad reach of Data Automation tools across the data warehousing lifecycle, we hear an array of reasons from companies looking to adopt them. Here are some of the most common reasons.

The small to medium size businesses we speak to typically look for automation tools to allow them to standardise their current data warehouse and scale the business effectively. They might typically start with custom data warehouse solutions, the knowledge of which is limited to one individual and so makes it hard to democratise the use of data to colleagues, especially non-technical staff.

WhereScape offers a templated, best practice approach for the design and implementation of effective data warehouse solutions, enabling more robust architectures to be built faster. All actions taken are fully documented with full data lineage, which saves many hours of repetitive work. Automation then handles the day-to-day and change management, so it does not take up a large portion of developers’ time.

Larger companies want all of the above, but they often look to WhereScape when embarking on a data warehouse modernisation project involving a switch in architecture or database. They want an automation tool to handle the complexity and ensure the new architecture works the first time.

Two big examples we have seen recently are a switch to Data Vault modelling, or a cloud migration project. These complex, large-scale projects can be prone to human error. WhereScape has specific tools and enablement packs for these projects, so while it may be the first time the company has implemented a project like this, the automation tool is fine-tuned in accordance with many previous similar projects. The benefit of this experience ensures the implementation works as it should the first time and so can save many months of work.

An overarching reason to adopt Data Automation tools is a desire to increase developer productivity, handing accurate business insight to those that need it, faster. This increases trust in IT and means the business can be more ambitious in its data-driven projects.

Automation tools also enable agile principles by increasing communication between IT and the business. For example, using a drag and drop GUI to design data infrastructure means that visual prototypes can be produced in minutes, ensuring all requirements have been understood before the build takes place.

Typically, we find data teams look for an automation tool to solve a specific problem, then expand its usage to other areas once they see a leap in productivity and understand what this can mean for the future of their organisation.

(Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

WhereScape sponsored this year’s AI & Big Data Expo and shared their invaluable insights during the event. The next events in the series will be held in Santa Clara on 11-12 May 2022, Amsterdam on 20-21 September 2022, and London on 1-2 December 2022.

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Olivia Bushe, FlowForma: Why your company needs business process automation https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/11/26/olivia-bushe-flowforma-why-your-company-needs-business-process-automation/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/11/26/olivia-bushe-flowforma-why-your-company-needs-business-process-automation/#respond Fri, 26 Nov 2021 11:10:40 +0000 https://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=11430 Could you tell us a little bit about FlowForma and what it offers? FlowForma is the leading provider of enterprise-class, no-code business process management and automation tools, dedicated to making intuitive and affordable process automation tools that empower businesspeople to work smarter and faster. We are business process management, automation, workflow and digital transformation experts that enable... Read more »

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Could you tell us a little bit about FlowForma and what it offers?

FlowForma is the leading provider of enterprise-class, no-code business process management and automation tools, dedicated to making intuitive and affordable process automation tools that empower businesspeople to work smarter and faster. We are business process management, automation, workflow and digital transformation experts that enable business users across all sectors to digitize, transform and automate complex business processes without software code.

Our solution, the FlowForma Process Automation tool, is an award-winning, 100% no code, app for Microsoft Office 365, that is revolutionising traditional workflow management and digital process automation. The three-in-one tool (forms, workflow, document generation) uniquely empowers businesspeople to rapidly digitize business processes, without any coding and minimal IT involvement.

Are there any digital process automation trends you’ve noticed developing and how do you envisage this will change in 2022?

Over the past year we have discussed at length with prospects, clients and during events, about how 2021 has been the “year of killing paper”, due to problematic paper, spreadsheets and email chains. Moving into 2022, process automation remains just as crucial and critical for businesses and organisations. It’s no longer a nice to have, it’s imperative for companies to continue to survive and thrive. With this in mind there are three areas that I see becoming ‘hot topics’ for the year ahead. These are:

  1. Digitizing For Impact

I’ve noticed a trend amongst our customers and community that they are focusing on digitizing for outcomes, they’re not just digitizing for the sake of it. Our customers are digitizing strategic cross departmental processes, that are delivering increased productivity and driving better customer and employee experiences. Our customers can measure their return from digitizing and it is causing a snowball effect across their organisations.

  1. Digitizing At Speed

No IT team can keep up with the demand for digitization. No code process automation is trending in 2021 and will only continue to grow in popularity. Businesspeople want to be empowered to seamlessly digitize, adapt and improve their processes. Agile automation is the new norm and businesspeople are the super powers to ensure rapid and agile automation.

  1. Integrations

We’ve observed an increasing trend within our community, our customers are integrating FlowForma Process Automation with more and more existing systems and databases. Our community can connect their business processes to hundreds of apps, so the possibilities are completely endless from setting up triggers, to kicking-off processes with data from other apps or sending data from FlowForma Process Automation to your teams favorite applications.

To what extent do you think automation is an important part of any digital transformation strategy?

‘Forrester’s Q2 2021 Global Digital Process Automation Survey’ tells us that the primary reason for process automation and optimisation now and two years from now, is to accelerate digital transformation. I acknowledge that a lot of organisations don’t always know where to start on their digital transformation journey, which is why I say that digital process automation is an ideal place to start. With a no code tool like FlowForma Process automation, organisations could have >50 process digitized within 12 months, with results that speak for themselves.

How can digital process automation help drive business efficiencies and cost saving within organisations?

There are several benefits of process automation that are vitally important for the growth and sustainability of businesses, but one that applies to all is saving time and money. However, many organisations have yet to make significant inroads on their efforts to digitize their processes. Paper and email continue to be a burden in many key business processes. The cost is significant.

Delaying digitization is ultimately costing you worker productivity time, money, lack of real-time process data/decision making and ultimately poor experiences. The risk of not automating your business processes is having competitors become more agile, responsive, and innovative. Failure to make the move to digital will mean you risk missing important competitive opportunities to enter new markets, capture new customers, and innovate with new products and services.

To give you an example, a large European hospital removed 915,000 sheets of paper a year by bringing patient referral letters online with associated savings amounting to nearly a quarter of a million euro! From just digitizing one process the returns are staggering.

What advice would you give to any companies that are about to begin implementing digital process automation?

Getting kicked off with a process automation solution is much easier than what people may think. First and foremost you need a clear idea of what it is you want/need to digitize – start small, you can scale bigger after you notch a quick win under your belt. Once you have that idea of what success looks like, I always tell clients the three best practices to consider when beginning their journey. These are:

  1. Don’t be afraid of change.

The pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same. Embracing process automation may sound scary, but once you get through the change the resulting efficiencies and value will quickly pay off as you gain an edge over your slower moving competitors.

  1. Appoint a champion.

Newly digitized processes or new ways of working require senior support; appoint an internal champion, the more senior the better. With a Digital Process Automation champion in place, a plan can be put in place to communicate the initiative, identify obvious processes for digitization, training and a strategy for automation – this approach results in rapid adoption and success rates.

  1. Unchain your change agents.

Businesspeople know what processes need automation and where improvements need to happen, but they often lack the support and buy in they need to really innovate. Using a no code approach can unchain these change agents and speed the pace of process automation. Unlock the benefits of a business developer program today, such as wide-spread automation, cost savings, and continuous process improvement.

Are there any particular sectors you work with the most, or plan to work with?

The FlowForma Process Automation tool is a vertical software solution which can be deployed by businesspeople across any industry. However, in recent years we have seen a clamber for digital processes in what are traditionally heavily paper intensive industries, such as; Construction, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Public Sector, and Education.

In particular the Construction sector has seen a vast increase in the need to remove old broken paper processes, due to inaccurate data being captured, poor visibility of where processes lie, and even paper being lost along the way are just some of the common pain points organisation are suffering from in this industry. Other areas such as Healthcare are challenged with compliance and regulations, and so supporting paper-lite initiatives in this sector helps organisations and hospitals to improve communication, visibility and productivity across all departments, which ultimately results in clinicians increasing the time spent with their patients.

Over the past year, we have developed a unique set of fully editable and customisable process accelerators for organisations in some of these industries. These templates are there for customers to adapt and deploy at speed in order to get users up and running fast. More details on these templates can be found on the FlowForma website.

What plans does FlowForma have for the year ahead?

We’re very excited for the year ahead, 2022 will see FlowForma continue to enrich it’s no code process automation tool and we’ve some very exciting new features soon to be released, so stay tuned. FlowForma Process Automation is used by over 200,000 users across the globe, what’s most exciting for us, is hearing our users feedback and the amazing ROI that they are achieving from process automation, so keep an eye out for amazing outcome focused case studies from us in 2022.

Looking to revamp your digital transformation strategy? Learn more about the Digital Transformation Week event taking place virtually 30 November – 1 December 2021 and discover key strategies for making your digital efforts a success.

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CEBR: Automation increases US/UK business revenues, boosts economic resilience https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/11/16/cebr-automation-us-uk-business-revenues-economic-resilience/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/11/16/cebr-automation-us-uk-business-revenues-economic-resilience/#respond Tue, 16 Nov 2021 14:11:58 +0000 https://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=11385 Research conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), in conjunction with SnapLogic, has found that automation is having a profound impact on the monthly revenues of UK businesses. Within three months of investment in automation technologies, UK companies saw an average increase of five percent – or £14 billion – per month.... Read more »

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Research conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), in conjunction with SnapLogic, has found that automation is having a profound impact on the monthly revenues of UK businesses.

Within three months of investment in automation technologies, UK companies saw an average increase of five percent – or £14 billion – per month.

The impact on US businesses was even higher. Over the same three-month period, US companies witnessed an average year-on-year increase in revenue of seven percent—equivalent to an extra $195 billion per month.

Unsurprisingly, businesses that invested more heavily in automation displayed more resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If the US entered the pandemic with similar levels of automation as Singapore, the report suggests the country could have reduced its GDP contraction by $105-212 billion.

The UK, meanwhile, could have prevented its 2020 GDP contraction by around £10-14 billion if it matched the automation levels of the US.

“Our new research confirms a significant positive relationship between automation and economic resilience,” said Josie Dent, Managing Economist at CEBR.

“The adoption of automation, spurred on by the recent pandemic, has helped organisations shield themselves from disruption and quickly position themselves for accelerated growth.”

Rather than destroy jobs, as some fear, automation is boosting employment.

US companies saw an average annual increase in employment of seven percent – equivalent to 7.2 million jobs – within three months of adopting automation technologies.

Over the same period, UK counterparts created an average increase of four percent in jobs—equivalent to around 676,000 roles.

The report suggests that automation has the potential to boost productivity in the UK by 15 percent in the long-term. The healthcare, social work, and transportation industries were noted as particularly benefiting from automation.

“Automation has also led to job creation and greater worker productivity, a significant contrast to the economic picture seen in the period following the global financial crisis,” explained Dent.

The pandemic and clear benefits of automation have driven more businesses than ever to invest in relevant technologies.

In the US, companies spent an average of 13 percent of their annual revenue (amounting to $4.4 trillion) on automation-related technologies. In the UK, companies spent an average of 8 percent of their revenue, or £268 billion in total.

“This first of its kind report from Cebr demonstrates the power of automation to help businesses navigate widespread disruption, and shows how it can be used as a tool to accelerate growth in a post-pandemic age,” said Gaurav Dhillon, CEO at SnapLogic. 

“Businesses today need to equip themselves with enterprise automation technologies that will allow them to quickly adapt and execute business strategies in a rapidly-changing world.”

(Photo by Konstantin Evdokimov on Unsplash)

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Research finds 1.4 million UK jobs could be automated this year https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/03/15/research-finds-1-4-million-uk-jobs-automated-year/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/03/15/research-finds-1-4-million-uk-jobs-automated-year/#respond Mon, 15 Mar 2021 11:30:29 +0000 http://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=10387 According to a Faethm AI forecast, over 1.4 million jobs in the UK could be replaced by automation this year alone. Faethm’s mission is to prepare the world “for the future of work” by using an AI engine – trained on billions of workforce data points – to predict what jobs need reskilling versus upskilling.... Read more »

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According to a Faethm AI forecast, over 1.4 million jobs in the UK could be replaced by automation this year alone.

Faethm’s mission is to prepare the world “for the future of work” by using an AI engine – trained on billions of workforce data points – to predict what jobs need reskilling versus upskilling.

James McLeod, VP of the EMEA region at Faethm, said

“Employers and employees alike need to change their perspective. The future of work is already here and the introduction of technology does not affect work in a uniform way.

We must acknowledge where it supplements existing work and invest in a targeted reskilling approach that recognises the new roles technology is creating and ensures human and machine labour complement one another.

Doing so will not only help businesses add capacity and increase productivity, but also ensure they are looking after employees—making financially beneficial and morally responsible decisions and creating a digitally-adept workforce for the future.”

In its latest UK Workforce Forecast report (registration required), Faethm expects 4.8 percent of work – equivalent to 1.4 million full-time roles – to be automated over the next 12 months. A further 2.9 percent is predicted to be augmented by AI.

Adjusted for population, Wales (5.3%), Northern Ireland (5.2%), and the North of England (5.1%) have the highest proportions of jobs at risk of automation.

Nan Craig, Data Analyst at Faethm, commented:

“Even ordinary downturns tend to increase automation, as companies are tempted to replace expensive labour with cheaper automated systems. However, the new conditions created by COVID-19 – and the need to reduce human interaction in public places – are making automation more attractive than in an ordinary recession. 

In-person human labour is becoming more expensive, due to safety considerations around space, PPE, and the ability to take time off to self-isolate, whereas machines and automated systems, in comparison, can be added without increasing infection risks, at a comparatively lower cost.

Longer-term changes in consumer behaviour could make a difference too, as more interactions shift online, meaning businesses are more likely to be considering automation than without the COVID-19 crisis.”

Jobs in the wholesale, retail, and financial sectors are most at-risk. These sectors represent nine percent of the workforce – around five million people – and Faethm estimates that the equivalent of 932,000 full-time roles in these sectors could be automated.

Faethm’s research finds that many staple UK jobs are at risk from automation and may cease to exist in the future. However, around 382,000 jobs could be created by the introduction of new technologies.

As the country rebuilds from the pandemic, Faethm wants to see a focus on where AI can augment human jobs rather than replace them. Automation can handle more of the routine, mundane, and less enjoyable daily tasks while humans can focus on areas machines struggle with such as creativity, compassion, and interpersonal skills.

(Photo by Lyman Gerona on Unsplash)

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Opinion: What is real intelligent automation? https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/01/29/opinion-what-is-real-intelligent-automation/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/01/29/opinion-what-is-real-intelligent-automation/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2021 16:53:07 +0000 http://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=10227 Intelligent automation reduces costs, improves efficiency and allows businesses to initiate change through technology. When applied to business operations or customer services, it has proven to be an invaluable piece of technology as it improves productivity thus saving time in the process with quicker responses. With intelligent automation, manufacturing giant Siemens has driven 10 times... Read more »

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Intelligent automation reduces costs, improves efficiency and allows businesses to initiate change through technology. When applied to business operations or customer services, it has proven to be an invaluable piece of technology as it improves productivity thus saving time in the process with quicker responses. With intelligent automation, manufacturing giant Siemens has driven 10 times faster processes at a tenth of the cost.

However, some software vendors place commodity AI-like OCR or image recognition combined with robotic process automation (RPA) under the same umbrella as intelligent automation. Others label intelligent automation as just smart robots when in reality there is much more to it. The following three themes are essential to acquiring intelligent automation:

A customer-centric business architecture

It is key to have a business architecture that operates from the centre-out, instead of top-down or bottom-up. This way, businesses can start their technology structure in a customer-centric format that focuses on solely the customers’ needs. This format is preferable to adopting a top-down approach, as a technology foundation developed from the top-down around front-end channels can lead to siloes, which increases the costs and can also be time-consuming. This method requires changes made to the architecture to then be updated onto each channel, whether it be mobile applications, contact centres, or chatbots etc. because each one is hardcoded and independent from the others, it would need to be done in this manner. Likewise, a platform built from the bottom-up – from databases, mainframes, ERP systems, etc. is just as problematic, as they are also built around siloed products, not end-to-end customer journeys.

A centre-out business architecture captures the micro-journey – processes needed to reach each outcome, for example, like applying for a loan or resolving a billing inquiry. It further ensures that there are clear and consistent stages an organisation must incorporate for every customer query or case, and also that these variables are accessible to each employee working in any channel. For example, if a customer were to contact a company’s customer service line, the representative will be able to view information about the status of the customer’s query, regardless of which channel they used. By breaking down siloes, relevant and accurate information can be provided quickly to customers, and fewer gaps in customer service will eliminate delays to improve satisfaction. 

Unlike the top-down approach, in the event that a change is made to a microjourney, this will be automatically reflected across all channels, thus ensuring that there are fewer errors made which increases the level of customer satisfaction and by extension, customer loyalty. American Express implemented a centre-out approach and saw customer satisfaction triple as well as a 10 percent increase in cardmember spending.

Case management and AI 

Combining the decision-making capabilities of AI with case management is crucial to getting work completed. If AI can be likened to a brain – doing the thinking, case management is like a muscle, because it makes each step happen. For example, email bots can quickly comprehend the reason, sentiment and data in a customer query using natural language processing. With case management, the issue would be automatically resolved or it would be routed and flagged to the right employee based on the level of priority and urgency.  

A low-code approach

Finally, a model-driven, low code environment breeds the effective collaboration of both business and IT in the development process, as the use of visual forms of software helps technical and non-technical staff to work together smoothly. Moreover, all work is documented, versioned and auditable so that processes can be managed and traced.

By referring to one single information hub, business and IT teams can see all the parts making up an application, and each visual form. This allows workers to design each micro-journey, identify customer personas for each one and highlight the channels they’ll use to interact with them. Plus, all the systems and data necessary at each stage of each process can also be decided.

Fast deployment, fast results

By applying a centre-out approach to intelligent automation, organisations can achieve faster deployment and faster results. For companies to achieve real intelligent automation, a single unified platform that combine AI, robotics, and case management needs to be implemented to plan customer outcomes. Agile platforms that enable businesses to easily adapt in times of change is the key to success in a constantly evolving environment. Businesses have the means to retire poor technology and inefficient processes by investing in intelligent automation. Those that do will achieve greater results at a lower cost while delivering a boost in customer satisfaction.

(Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash)

Looking to revamp your intelligent automation strategy? Learn more about the Intelligent Automation Event & Conference, to discover the latest insights surrounding unbiased algorithyms, future trends, RPA, Cognitive Automation and more!

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Eggplant launches AI-powered software testing in the cloud https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2020/10/06/eggplant-ai-powered-software-testing-cloud/ https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2020/10/06/eggplant-ai-powered-software-testing-cloud/#respond Tue, 06 Oct 2020 11:11:17 +0000 http://artificialintelligence-news.com/?p=9929 Automation specialists Eggplant have launched a new AI-powered software testing platform. The cloud-based solution aims to help accelerate the delivery of software in a rapidly-changing world while maintaining a high bar of quality. Gareth Smith, CTO of Eggplant, said: “The launch of our cloud platform is a significant milestone in our mission to rid the... Read more »

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Automation specialists Eggplant have launched a new AI-powered software testing platform.

The cloud-based solution aims to help accelerate the delivery of software in a rapidly-changing world while maintaining a high bar of quality.

Gareth Smith, CTO of Eggplant, said:

“The launch of our cloud platform is a significant milestone in our mission to rid the world of bad software. In our new normal, delivering speed and agility at scale has never been more critical.

Every business can easily tap into Eggplants’ AI-powered automation platform to accelerate the pace of delivery while ensuring a high-quality digital experience.” 

Enterprises have accelerated their shift to the cloud due to the pandemic and resulting increases in things such as home working.

Recent research from Centrify found that 51 percent of businesses which embraced a cloud-first model were able to handle the challenges presented by COVID-19 far more effectively.

Eggplant’s Digital Automation Intelligence (DAI) Platform features:

  • Cloud-based end-to-end automation: The scalable fusion engine provides frictionless and efficient continuous and parallel end-to-end testing in the cloud, for any apps and websites, and on any target platforms. 
  • Monitoring insights: The addition of advanced user experience (UX) data points and metrics, enables customers to benchmark their applications UX performance. These insights, added to the UX behaviour helps improve SEO. 
  • Fully automated self-healing test assets: The use of AI identifies the tests needed and builds and runs them automatically, under full user control. These tests are self-healing, and automatically adapt as the system-under-test evolves.   

The solution helps to support the “citizen developer” movement—using AI to enable no-code/low-code development for people with minimal programming knowledge.

Both cloud and AI ranked highly in a recent study (PDF) by Deloitte of the most relevant technologies “to operate in the new normal”. Cloud and cybersecurity were joint first with 80 percent of respondents, followed by cognitive and AI tools (73%) and the IoT (65%).

Eggplant’s combination of AI and cloud technologies should help businesses to deal with COVID-19’s unique challenges and beyond.

(Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash)

Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this? Attend the co-located 5G Expo, IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo, AI & Big Data Expo, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London, and Amsterdam.

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