Book Summary of The Automation Advantage: Embrace the Future of Productivity and Improve Speed, Quality, and Customer Experience Through AI

The Automation Advantage (2021) provides a roadmap for building automation and AI in a modern organisation. From the different stages a business must go through on its automation journey, to the best ways to reassure employees worried about job destruction, The Automation Advantage shows leaders how to prosper in a future world.

Genres

Technology and the Future, Management and Leadership, Computer Science, Machine Theory, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation

Recommendation

The goals of automation are shifting. In the past, automation aimed to improve efficiency by replacing human workers with machines that performed tasks faster and more cheaply. In the new era of “intelligent automation,” machines use artificial intelligence (AI) to augment human decision-making, problem-solving, strategizing and creativity. Rather than focusing purely on productivity gains, today’s intelligent automation supports a business’s overall market strategy. This book presents a blueprint for instituting an automation system across your organization.

Introduction: What’s in it for me? Automation will continue to change the world – Here’s some guidance for how you and your organization can succeed in this technological future.

Over the coming decades, it’s looking likely that automation and AI will continue to transform the working world. And not just in the predictable ways – in manufacturing and heavy industry. Whole sectors, where these technologies are still in their infancy, from journalism to medical science, will be changed unrecognisably. If businesses fail to adapt with the times, they could be swept aside. Because, just as it revolutionized manufacturing, automation is reshaping other areas of work.

In these summaries, you’ll be given guidance and strategies for how to ensure that you and your business are not only able to adapt, but are also able to benefit from these technological advances. You’ll see things from the perspective of a leader, looking to integrate automation and AI in their organization. And, last but not least, you’ll learn how automation and AI can leverage the talents of human beings, rather than simply replacing them.

We’ll be taking you through this summary to The Automation Advantage by Baskhar Ghosh, Gayathri Pallail, & Rajendra Prassad. Though the content is geared toward a more intermediate or advanced listener/reader, you may be able to follow as a beginner to the world of automation and AI.

This is a rich, in-depth work with lots of valuable nuggets of wisdom, and so, in the interest of expediency, I’m going to walk you through the most powerful ideas that ultimately distinguish this title from others in its field. And so what you’re going to get here is a focus on the fundamental steps to developing your automation and AI integration, setting up a roadmap for automation maturity, and insights on why a human-centric approach to your automation strategy is essential.

In these summaries, you’ll learn

• what happened when an Italian newspaper employed a virtual assistant;
• what learning to ride a bike has to do with developing your automation strategy; and
• why a human-centric approach is crucial to ensuring a sustainable automation and AI integration.

Automating your systems and AI technologies should make business sense.

Let’s begin by defining a term which’ll come up frequently in these summaries: Intelligent automation. When the authors use the term, they mean: the use of machines to automate tasks like data analysis, and decision-making, including the follow-up actions and learnings that stem from those. Yes, these are typically tasks that are still performed by humans, which might set a few alarm bells ringing in people's minds. But don’t waste that energy worrying – Ghosh, Pallail, & Prassad’s work shows us how we can make intelligent automation benefit teams and businesses in our ever-changing technological landscapes.

Take the example of one of Italy’s leading newspapers, Il Secolo XIX. Long at the forefront of innovation in the newspaper business, pioneering color printing, a digital presence and integrated newsrooms, Il Secolo XIX nevertheless faced serious challenges.

The leadership realised that if they didn’t change fast to keep up with the digital world, they’d fall behind. They knew that they needed to produce high-quality, cost-effective journalism to sustain and grow their readership.

Their solution? They introduced something called a virtual assistant. The AI technology would quickly check pieces of journalism for grammatical errors, while also scouring the internet for surprising links. This meant that journalists at Il Secolo XIX could reference sources and previous news items that might’ve escaped their attention – the end product being in-depth, expansive pieces of writing that readers would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

It meant that they could spend their time writing great journalism, while the machine did the tiring research and proof-reading. Rather than making the human writers at Il Secolo XIX redundant, the virtual assistant simply allowed them to do their jobs better.

This is a great example of how leadership saw an opportunity to not only improve their key metrics, like maintaining and growing their audience, but adapt so that the journalists could do their best work, at scale. It also shows us the necessity and value of aligning business strategies with intelligent automation and integrated AI. So, let’s get practical – how can you set your business on the right path by integrating intelligent automation with your business strategies and systems? Well, as a leader in your business, you have to begin by asking yourself the right questions: Where do you want to take your business or organization? What does the future look like for your industry? Will developments there affect how your business’ value is defined a few years down the line?” In answering these key questions, you can then implement a clear strategy that will allow your leadership teams to think through all the components and systems, resources and boundaries that need to be reviewed and aligned. Basically, what you need to remember here is that while the goal of automating repetitive work and freeing up human potential is a great one, it must also make business sense. For automation and AI integration to really take off at your organization, you need to have a serious strategy.

Business strategy is a key part of introducing successful automation.

So what needs to be done? Firstly, you need to understand how, through automation, your organisation intends to get a competitive edge; you need to be clear how it’ll give you that edge.

This might even involve a complete overhaul of your business model.

So, as you’re considering embarking on the journey, ask yourself questions like: “Will my organisation be bringing in automation or AI to compete on price, and focus on market-share gains? Or is the intention to out-innovate competitors, leave them in the dust technologically, with an eye on the long-term advantage that brings?”

Then, you need to narrow down which automation projects your business will focus on. Automation is a difficult and energy-intensive process, so you need to be sure that the right projects have been prioritized. If there is more than one automation project in development, ask yourself which of those presents the best business case? That’s one you should focus on. In addition, leadership in business and IT must ensure that they work closely when establishing the organization’s automation and AI integrations. Think of it this way: If your service-oriented business is taking a financial hit because customers loathe the experience of the service via your app, it won’t matter how sophisticated your tech architecture is, if it doesn’t address their needs. You have to identify what the pain points are for your customers, and use those findings to inform your next actions in tweaking the tech architecture. Once automation has been adopted, companies then need to keep improving it. It’s very tempting to think, right, we’ve automated one important area, now we can relax. But this is a serious mistake.

To remain competitive, businesses must treat each day as if it’s day one at a start-up. In terms of tech, they must continually innovate. The losses from missing out on tech innovation far outweigh those you might experience if you adopt new tech, which have not been thoroughly vetted. Yes, it’s risky to jump in head-first, but sitting out might mean missing out on the competitive edge of your business being seen as “current.”

Outlining your automation roadmap, and setting your business up for successful automation and AI integration.

Creating an automation roadmap will help you clearly identify how you can implement, track, and innovate your integration strategy. It should be developed on two levels simultaneously: One with a focus on business results, and the other on the journey to better automation maturity in your company. Let’s get into the business results roadmap now – We’ll cover the strategic model for a successful automation maturity process in a moment. Okay. The authors structured the business results process into three main phases. The first is titled, Establish. For this phase, you should explore and pinpoint where there’s potential for automation, across your business applications. The next phase is Scale. As the name implies, here’s where you develop, activate, and scale your solutions. Finally, in the third phase – Operate – you’re ready to widen your geographic coverage to better observe true value realization, and update your intelligent automation strategies based on your learnings. Remember this level of processes should be interwoven with your processes for ensuring successful automation maturity. So, as we delve into this part of your strategic roadmap, keep this front of mind. Okay; so now you’ve reached the point where you’ve aligned your business strategy with your automation and AI goals, what’s next? Integrating automation and AI into your organization. This is a methodical process, and to embark on that journey means passing through different developmental stages.

Think of them as like the different stages of learning to ride a bike. First, you must learn to walk. Next, perhaps, you learn to master a tricycle. Then, a bike with stabilizers. After taking these steps you’re likely to be able to finally ride a bicycle with confidence. The same can be said for a business looking to automate: you have to go through the paces – without that first step, you’re not likely to ever make real advances. You need to start at the foundational stages where you examine the current state of your infrastructure and gaps for improvement, before setting a sustainable and successful automation strategy that’s agile enough to grow with your business. These are the building blocks to successful automation and AI integration.

First is the tools driven stage. At this point, you’re focused on solving isolated, but recurring problems, specifically in the areas of implementation and where there’s room for improvement. This means that automation efforts here are generally fragmented, and siloed, with a limited overall value.

Next is the process driven stage. This is when closer, or external evaluation of current automation infrastructure reveals or exposes inefficiencies in processes that don’t generate value for the company or organization’s bottom line. Once these are examined, look for opportunities to optimize by paying close attention to the points of overlap and connection in your products and services.

Following the foundational and optimizing stages, your business should be ready to explore robotic process automation. Simply put, what you’re doing at this point is automating repetitive tasks, which generate quick wins, using software programs. For instance, looking at the customer service experience at a bank, from initial query to sophisticated answer – all of these can be provided by a chatbot.

The penultimate stage is the data driven one. With useful and reliable data, your business can benefit hugely from the insights they reveal. Solid data will allow you to be able to – for example – better predict product experience, which means you can shift your focus from the goal of reducing cost, to one where you’re looking at improving efficiency and being agile and responsive to the ever-changing needs and behaviors of your consumers or clients.

For instance, by running algorithms over different data sources, it’s possible to learn about a consumer’s purchasing behaviour. The business can then send personalized product offers to that person. So, pay a close mind to your data.

Finally, the top level of maturity in automation is intelligence driven automation. This is when computing power is set up to perform complex functions or tasks that have traditionally been limited to human beings. So, sensing or comprehending ambiguities, learning these, and then acting on them. To be clear, here’s an example: When AI in insurance companies in the US were able to detect patterns in claims management operations, it was able to flag fraudulent ones, which costs the industry billions, and directly impacts premiums in the average household, forcing them to pay between $400 and $700 per year for these false claims.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to start at the beginning — You have to learn to walk before you can even consider riding a bike. So, if you want your business to reach the final level of maturity in automation and benefit from advances in technology, don’t skip on all the necessary stages. Follow this guide and take your organization into a sustainable and profitable future.

For many organizations, there are obstacles to automating. To implement automation, leaders need to reassure and inspire their workforce.

Next, let’s dig into the practical implementation of intelligent automation in your business. Right off the top, it needs to be said: If a business fails to adapt with the times, they could be swept aside; and many will fail to adapt. Change is hard, and in addition to that, there are several reasons for this inability to adapt. Some of them are self-imposed obstacles, and others are due to external factors. But without going into too much detail about those, what the important takeaway here is, when faced with obstacles to technological adaptation, like skills deficits in your teams, resistance from leadership, or reliance on outdated tech infrastructure, the answer is to build an entirely new system with automation and AI at its heart. Now, let’s address the people factor. Automation in the information age, means leveraging people’s talents. That’s a key difference with the first wave of automation – where, the reality is, machines did take lots of labour-intensive jobs. Fundamentally, automation today means saving time by getting machines to do the things they do better, while allowing people to focus on their uniquely human talents – like creativity and innovation.

In this regard, what exactly can leaders do? The most important thing is to build support for new tech by showing everyone how it’ll help them do their jobs better.

When attempting to “sell” the benefits of automation, it’s important to avoid getting side-tracked explaining its technological features. While this might excite software developers, it does nothing to reassure everyone else.

The following example illustrates this point well: When the fossil fuel company, Shell, wanted to introduce intelligent, head-mounted displays for their miners, they had to explain why this was necessary. Rather than hyping all the computing wizardry behind their head-mounted technology, managers at Shell chose to instead focus on the practical benefits.

Miners do dangerous work – digging through the bowels of the earth is no joke. Real-time assistance can mean the difference between life and death. And so, to sell their new tech, company leaders at Shell described situations when a miner could use the voice-controlled device to send an image of a technical problem, and receive real-time assistance. In the end, the new tech didn’t need much in the way of a sales pitch – the AI was absolutely welcomed.

Another way you, as a leader, can demonstrate the benefits of automation, is through this simple exercise. It involves just a pen and paper. For this exercise, ask your staff about all the different aspects of their job, drawing smiley, frowning, or neutral faces depending on how they feel about them.

Then, ask how they’d feel if all the aspects of their job that made them frown were automated. Quite suddenly, automation doesn’t seem like such a bad proposition!

In many organizations, there are obstacles to automating.

Intelligence automation integrations should be a holistic endeavour. Everyone at every level of the company from business and IT leadership to the operational staff, should be engaged and active contributors to this project. But in order to do this successfully, Ghosh, Pallail, and Prasad suggest the following model which can guide your decision-making processes as you go. These are the four Ss that’ll help you reach the highest automation maturity level: Simple, Seamless, Scaled, and Sustained.

• Simple: This is the point where you’re performing a kind of diagnostic check. Take a close look at your IT and connected business infrastructures. Wherever you see deficits or room for improvement, retool your applications and architecture with the goal of simplifying your functional units or modularity.
• Seamless: You have to make sure that your automation and AI integrations connect harmoniously with your core systems. You also need to ensure that your company culture supports and embraces these integrations, and are also energized by, and invested in their successful implementation.
• Scaled: Once you’ve engaged your automation system and strategy, you have to put it into action and see how it holds up under real-world conditions that’ll test its agility, robustness, and sustainability. So, don’t just go in and do a hard switch. Automation integration should be done in steady, mindful steps, which take into account all the elements of your business’ strategy, culture, and goals. For instance, talent development is key when it comes to scaling. Like the tech itself, everyone in your organization should be prepared to be agile and have growth potential, as the landscape evolves.
• Sustained: Once you’ve integrated your intelligence automation, the work doesn’t end there. You should set up processes for keeping up with developments in your industry, recognizing emerging possibilities, and observing how other businesses are exploring these developments or trends. And again, thinking holistically about your automation integrations, make sure you maintain a company culture where everyone can share their automation challenges and solutions. Following this model, along with the other suggestions we covered, can transform your business’ performance, and ensure its strategic purposes are met.

Successful automation and AI means constant innovation.

In today’s world, companies can’t afford to sit still. Such is the pace of technological change that anyone caught dawdling will be left in the dust by their competitors.

Whether that’s traditional booksellers waking up to Amazon’s digital store, or taxicab firms watching Uber’s success, those that choose not to innovate will lose out. The same is true of those looking the other way as automation and AI begins to take off.

Innovation means not being afraid of being a pioneer. For some companies, when it comes to automation and AI, this is a difficult step to take. They believe that it’s stupid to jump in head-first when the tech is still so new. After all, what’s the harm of waiting for things to settle before leaping in? Yes, it’s true that the pace of change means that whatever systems are in place right now will become obsolete soon. However, this can make it seem like it’s never the right time to begin. All the while, organizations that sit on the sidelines will fall further and further behind.

While there might be regrets about investing in soon-to-be-obsolete systems, the real risk is missing out on all the learning dividends that come with adopting the technology today.

And once automation has been adopted, companies then need to keep improving it.

The truth is, the automation journey never ends.

Final Summary

You’ve just read our summary to The Automation Advantage, by Bhaskar Ghosh, Gayathri Pallail, and Rajendra Prasad. These are the main takeaways: You have to make a clear plan for building a robust automation and AI integration and diligently follow those steps. The purpose for your organization’s automation plan should align and work in concert with your business strategy. Fear of job-destroying automation is an enormous problem – and one that emphasizes the need to explain how new tech should augment human talent, not replace it. Remember, without a human-centric approach to automation, it simply won’t be sustainable.

Finally, the most important lesson for those looking to introduce automation and AI: never, ever, stop innovating.

About the author

Bhaskar Ghosh is chief strategy officer at Accenture, where Rajendra Prasad is global automation and intelligent assets lead and Gayathri Pallail is associate director for automation strategy and deployment.

Bhaskar Ghosh, PhD, is Accenture’s Chief Strategy Officer. In this role, he directs the company’s strategy and investments, including ventures and acquisitions, all offerings and assets, and Accenture Research. In addition, Bhaskar has management responsibility for Industry X and driving responsible business and sustainability services. He previously served as advisor to the CEO and group chief executive of Accenture Technology Services. Ghosh is a member of the Accenture Global Management Committee.

Rajendra Prasad is the Global Automation Lead at Accenture and heads a team that has helped organizations across the globe successfully implement and scale their intelligent automation transformations. He has spent over two decades innovating and defining frameworks for driving efficiency and managing change in software engineering. Prasad holds multiple patents and built Accenture myWizard®, an AI-powered intelligent automation platform.

Gayathri Pallail is the Associate Director for automation strategy and deployment at Accenture. She has implemented enterprise-wide automation-based solutions and successful change management to enable seamless adoption for over 500 clients across industries. A conference speaker, Pallail is an innovator in automation analytics, prediction models, and tools to deliver automation effectively.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture
Preface: Sharing What Works
Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1 The Intelligence Imperative
CHAPTER 2 Beware the Barriers
CHAPTER 3 Start with Strategic Intent
CHAPTER 4 Choose Your Spots and Map Your Journey
CHAPTER 5 Plan the Plan
CHAPTER 6 Architect for the Future
CHAPTER 7 Inspire the Transformation
CHAPTER 8 Sustain the Gains
CHAPTER 9 Relevance, Resilience, and Responsibility

Notes
Index

Overview

From the global automation leaders at Accenture―the first-ever comprehensive blueprint for how to use and scale AI-powered intelligent automation in the enterprise to gain competitive advantage through faster speed to market, improved product quality, higher efficiency, and an elevated customer experience.

Many companies were already implementing limited levels of automation when the pandemic hit. But the need to rapidly change business processes and how organizations work resulted in the compression of a decade’s worth of digital transformation into a matter of months. Technology suddenly became the essential element for rapid organizational change and the creation of 360-degree value benefiting all stakeholders. Businesses are faced with the imperative to embrace that change or risk being left behind.

In The Automation Advantage, global enterprise technology and automation veterans Bhaskar Ghosh, Rajendra Prasad, and Gayathri Pallail give business leaders and managers the action plan they need to execute a strategic agenda that enables them to quickly and confidently scale their automation and AI initiatives. This practical and highly accessible implementation guide answers leaders’ burning questions, such as:

• How do I identify and prioritize automation opportunities?
• How do I assess my legacy systems and data issues?
• How do I derive full value out of my technology investments and automation efforts?
• How can I inspire my employees to embrace change and the new opportunities presented by automation?

The Automation Advantage goes beyond optimizing process to using AI to transform almost any business activity in any industry to make it faster, more streamlined, cost efficient, and customer-focused―vastly improving overall productivity and performance. Featuring case studies of successful automation solutions, this indispensable road map includes guiding principles for technology, governance, culture, and leadership change. It offers a human-centric approach to AI and automation that leads to sustainable transformation and measurable business results.

Review/Endorsements/Praise/Award

"This book is a practical guide for how to make an impact and realize value from automation. There is a strong focus on the real-world execution of an automation strategy that makes it an accessible must-read for both a business management and technology audience." - Mike Crisafulli, SVP of Software Engineering at Comcast

"Consistently creating value with technology is hard. The Automation Advantage makes it simple. The authors lay out a comprehensive path using modern techniques that will be appreciated by both the thinker and the practitioner." - Mark Spykerman, Chief Information Officer of AmerisourceBergen

"The pandemic has required businesses to hit the fast-forward button on adopting technology while becoming agile enough to be ready for what emerges next. The Automation Advantage couldn't have come at a better time, providing a comprehensive road map to launch automation and AI initiatives at scale and accelerating technology-driven transformation." - Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive of Accenture Technology, Chief Technology Officer of Accenture, and coauthor of Human + Machine

"A brilliant field manual for the coming Automation Age."
—Richard D’Aveni, Bakala Professor of Strategy at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and author of The Pan-Industrial Revolution

"As with any transformation effort, getting your people to embrace change can be challenging. The Automation Advantage clearly identifies common myths and barriers and how they can be addressed through a human-centric approach. This is NOT a book of strategy. It's a book of execution that will enable your organization with actions to take in order to succeed." - Andy Nallappan, Chief Technology Officer of Broadcom

"Successful intelligent automation requires you to get more than just the technology right. The Automation Advantage addresses this clearly and effectively by providing the guiding principles and steps for changing your organization's technology, governance, culture, and even leadership style." - Charlene Li, Senior Fellow at Altimeter and New York Times bestselling author of The Disruption Mindset

"The authors cut through the hype to explore why automation is the necessary discipline to ensure your processes provide the data—at speed—to achieve your business outcomes. The Automation Advantage takes us on a refreshing journey that aligns how enterprise operations leaders need to approach automation and AI in the virtual economy." - Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst of HFS Research

"A great book, with ample examples of automation at work. It cements all the ideas and discussions I have had on this topic with the expert automation team at Accenture." - Rajiv Kakar, Group Chief Information Officer of Thai Union

"A CIO needs vision, leadership, and the technical nous to execute successfully. A world with zero human touch application maintenance is absolutely attainable—a world with self-healing and self-configuring systems powered by AI. The Automation Advantage sets out a strategic approach to getting there, both from a technology and human perspective." - Ed Alford, Chief Technology Officer of New Look

"We are entering a world of autonomous enterprises where analytics, automation, and AI converge. The Automation Advantage definitively shows how organizations can improve decision velocity and precision decisions." - R "Ray" Wang, CEO of Constellation Research and author of Everybody Wants to Rule the World