“Across sectors, business processes are undergoing the most profound transformation since companies replaced paper files with electronic records. A new suite of technologies, including robotic process automation (RPA), smart workflows, and artificial-intelligence techniques such as machine learning, natural language tools, and cognitive agents, promises to radically improve efficiency while eliminating errors and reducing operational risk. Research by our colleagues at the McKinsey Global Institute suggests that, across industries, there is already the potential to automate more than 30 percent of the tasks that make up 60 percent of today’s jobs. In finance and insurance, for example, workers spend more than half their time collecting and processing data, tasks that are eminently suitable for automation using techniques that are already available today. 

Many companies have identified significant opportunities to apply automation, and the results of pilot projects and technology demonstrators have been encouraging. So far, however, most have struggled to capture the full potential these new approaches by applying them at scale across their operations.

There are multiple reasons why implementing automation is challenging. Some of the technologies involved are still relatively immature, for example. Applying them outside a carefully controlled test environment can reveal unforeseen weaknesses and limitations. And with thousands of processes involving tens of thousands of employees, organizations find it difficult to build workable road maps for large-scale automation…”

Contributors: McKinsey & Company
Categories: SIG U Resource, Whitepaper
SRC Type: Artificial Intelligence, Disruptive Digitization, Robotic Process Automation (RPA)