In the modern era of work, automation technologies form the foundation of successful and future-fit organisations. Not only do they allow businesses to speed up and streamline operations, but they also drive innovation and help organisations respond to change and build business agility. This is especially important as recent turbulence in the business landscape and increasingly competitive markets have made the demand for efficient and resilient business processes greater than ever.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by Kyocera Document Solutions found that 90% of organisations in Australia and New Zealand are already using some form of business automation (BA) technology to improve their processes. But while many organisations are embracing automation, only 16% are taking advantage of the particular enhancements that AI in process automation offers. Clearly, there is still a long way to go, but while organisations bear an enormous responsibility, there is also an exciting opportunity to lead the way in this venture.
As with all BA technologies, AI-powered automation transforms core business functions and empowers organisations to move away from time-consuming and error-prone ways of working. However, the use of AI also offers some additional advantages. In this article, we uncover the three significant benefits of AI in process automation.
1. Adaptable machine learning
Adaptable machine learning enables organisations to rapidly and accurately gather, process and analyse business information by using AI to read, gather and update data as required. This means you can wave tedious, time-consuming and manual data entry goodbye.
For example, some forms of process automation may have a fixed, inflexible understanding of data points. However, with AI, they can be trained to retrieve specific data from any location. This could be information from an order form, invoice, legal document - you name it! Even if the document layout changes, the AI function in process automation uses its advanced recognition capabilities to analyse and learn from past actions. This means it can capture critical information regardless of its location in a document, enabling workflows to carry on uninhibited.
And as a bonus, while machine learning manages this information and takes action, it frees employees to focus on more strategic, revenue-driving tasks
2. Scalable technology
AI in process automation enables businesses to constantly build upon their tech stack to handle higher volumes of work. This means that organisations can scale their customer or client base without needing to drastically increase staff numbers to manage the inevitable increase in administration, such as invoicing. Instead, AI makes managing all this information seamless – in fact, it’s even able to adapt to the increasing number of variations you will likely see with the increase in documents.
For example, AI recognises user corrections or iterations made on previous documents, reads them and then takes appropriate actions for similar forms in the future. This means far fewer errors and far greater workflow productivity. What’s more, your team won’t waste their valuable time completing manual updates to manage hundreds of variations - no matter how rapidly your business grows.
3. Growing scope
While some BA technologies perform specific, narrowly-defined tasks, AI in process automation has a greater capacity for complexity. This is highly beneficial in business environments with strict compliance regulations that are subject to change.
AI can analyse information and even detect anomalies, such as unusual quantities on a customer’s invoice, compared to previous ones. The beauty of AI in this space is that all of these actions are automated and don’t require clear-cut definitions or coding expertise. In fact, AI can even collate and interpret unstructured and non-digital data, such as information on hand-written documents. This revolutionises business processes by enabling teams to operate efficiently and effectively, and make way for seizing new business opportunities.
The business automation story is entering the next phase as it expands its role in our tech stacks and transforms the way we work. Download our new whitepaper, An Automated Future, to learn how business automation will shape Australian and New Zealand organisations in 2023–25.
