How RPA is redefining jobs and business processes

The rise of robotics and artificial intelligence now seems inevitable, say many experts. Analysts believe that the invention of smart machines is going to be the biggest impact on humanity.

Robotics and AI are emerging as upcoming trends that aim to invade all aspects of our lives. Along with our personal lives, these revolutionary technologies have also penetrated the enterprise world.

According to a recent report by IDC, robotics is considered to be one of the key drivers for digital transformation in the enterprise world. This would not only open new revenue streams but will also change business operations and drive innovation.

Also read: Robotics will make way for automation

The report states that the BFSI sector, in particular, is more drawn to use robotics tools to address new challenges created by the digital age. Customer service management is another area that is going to be impacted heavily due to the evolution of robotics.

Another report by NASSCOM states that automation is one of the fast emerging levers to create the best breed of Business Process Management (BPM) outcomes. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is now gaining popularity as an unassisted automation approach that offers high-value creation with significant cost savings and provides better service delivery and manageability.

Although the current impact of RPA on BPM spending is low, it grew more than 100 percent CAGR over the last two years and is ultimately expected to impact 30-40 percent of the total BPM spend.

K S Vishwanathan, Vice President at NASSCOM, in the report, said that the global business environment is going through a fundamental shift, and therefore the BPM industry needs to align its value proposition and underlying solution elements to stay relevant and thrive in this dynamic business environment.

Analysts also believe that the emergence of robots and smart operating systems in organizations will lead to the creation of a robotics officer role. According to an IDC survey, by 2019, 30 percent of Indian organizations will hire a chief robotics officer (CRO).

Automation Anywhere along with Accenture is also working towards creating solutions that would automate business processes. They have recently released a cloud-based enterprise-grade RPA solution, BotFarm, which would provide control over the way digital bots are created, deployed and managed.

CIOs believe that automation is the reality, and the use of automated tools will soon become part and parcel of their business.

Manish Sharma, senior MD, Global Delivery and Solution Development for Accenture Operations, in the release, said that the RPA support as-a-service delivery model provides agility and efficiency that is required to transform business operations.

Driver of disruption

Indian firms are also aggressively looking to embrace RPA as a way to move forward towards digitization. According to reports, 35 percent of Indian enterprises, especially in utilities, healthcare and logistics sector, will explore the use of RPA by 2019.

CIOs believe that automation is the reality, and the use of automated tools will soon become part and parcel of their business.

Dhananjay Prasad, CIO at Hero BPO and Hero Mindmine believes that adopting newer technology trends is the first step for BPOs towards digitization. This can be done through automating the omnichannel way. Hero BPO has set up a center of excellence lab with a few developers who work towards building chat bots.

The combination of AI and robotics, capable of mimicking repetitive tasks previously performed by humans, ends up saving a lot in terms of both time and money. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that businesses of all shapes, sizes and verticals have started to adopt RPA to some degree.

IT leaders believe that RPA will be a positive thing for human workers, as it will eliminate much of the mundane and repetitive workload from their daily routines, and allow them to focus on more intelligence-driven engaging tasks and projects.

As RPA becomes more mainstream, it will create new business opportunities, develop new roles, and create more demands. Those who embrace these changes will ultimately be the ones that come out prosperous and successful in the end.