Accenture leaders author book on the world of intelligent automation
Drawing on their collective 75+ years of expertise in intelligent automation, three leaders from global consultancy Accenture – Bhaskar Ghosh, Rajendra Prasad and Gayathri Pallail – have authored a new book on how intelligent automation can drive performance and value across organisations.
As organisations continue to execute compressed transformation strategies and increase their investments in automation technology, the new book is a strategic, practical guide to using intelligent automation to reinvent business processes, jumpstart innovation, enhance customer experiences and free up capacity for employees to focus on more complex, value-added work.
The book, titled ‘The Automation Advantage’ Embrace the Future of Productivity and Improve Speed, Quality, and Customer Experience Through AI’ is published by McGraw-Hill and available on Accenture’s website.
While automation has been used by organisations for centuries, intelligent automation brings in cognitive technology such as artificial intelligence to guide better business decisions and bring new opportunities to light. IDC research found that up to 40% of companies worldwide increased their use of software bots and other forms of automation in response to the pandemic, and spending on automation software is expected to reach $42.6 billion by 2025.
The authors kick off the book explaining how intelligent automation works – and how it works best – providing business leaders with a proven roadmap for optimally deploying intelligent automation at scale to drive business excellence and growth. They cut through myths and misunderstandings to blaze a trail for any business leader looking to develop an intelligent automation strategy, create new value and realise growth – all with a human-centric approach
“The Automation Advantage can help any business leader better understand how to scale automation across the enterprise and use artificial intelligence to empower people and transform business,” said Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture.
Bhaskar Ghosh is Accenture’s Chief Strategy Officer, Rajendra Prasad is the firm’s Global Lead for Automation, and Gayathri Pallail is a Managing Director for Automation Deployment. Ghosh and Pallail are based in India, where Accenture has close to 200,000 employees. Prasad is based in the US.
Opportunities in industrial automation
The authors also dispel many common myths regarding automation. The book lists steps to overcome barriers and build a customised framework and approach that identifies opportunities for automation across the organisation, and how to design specific automation solutions that align technology transformation with business goals.
“We’re seeing a dramatic evolution from the era of industrialised automation to a new era of intelligent automation, with the focus shifting from costs savings to new goals around customer experience, business excellence, service improvements, innovations, and smarter strategic decisions,” said Ghosh.
“Infusing automation with intelligent technologies has become one of the most powerful ways companies can boost their top-line performance by using new tools to operate more efficiently, upskill and enhance the performance and productivity of their people, and drive significant bottom-line savings.”
Recent research from Accenture underscores just how important automation has become to business success and sustained growth. While the Covid-19 pandemic may have impacted companies’ technology strategies and performance, many companies stepped up investments in intelligent automation and other technology in order to leap beyond their peers and grow their businesses five times faster.
These leading companies listed automation as the most important technology to enable digital transformation for the majority (77%) of key business processes.
