Sep 5, 2018
In this IBM sponsored episode of SMACTalk, Daniel Newman goes solo on hosting duties and leads a show focused on the future of automated work. Joining Daniel for the discussion was Mike Gilfix, Vice President of Digital Business Automation at IBM, a software that digitizes business operations and provides them with intelligence around digital labor to upscale their business.
The show focused on how technology such as automation, AI, data and machine learning is going to make companies more successful and productive. During the show, Mike shared how IBM is making use of automation to improve their customer service touchpoint by changing the way they support their clients. They found that time to resolution of an issue is a main driver behind customer satisfaction. By leveraging automation technology interaction through chatbots and more, the process is simplified, creating a better customer experience.
Mike also discussed some of the biggest trends he is seeing around the realm of automation for work. First, there is a revolution happening in businesses today around knowledge work. This revolution is creating tons of changes in the way technology supports what they do and the way they conduct their processes. Technology is helping knowledge workers be more effective and better at their tasks, helping them make decisions and freeing up more time for innovation. This trend is driving new things such as robotic process automation and decision management. It’s changing the way people work and is here to stay.
Both Daniel and Mike shared how AI and automation technology will not steal jobs from employees but will instead likely create new opportunities. To get there, executives must think about the transition and how they can help employees make the leap into a new position with new responsibilities. Organizations will need to help change the culture of fear surrounding automation within their teams through communication.
Mike made the point that we’re not anywhere near running out of work to do. In fact, most businesses have large laundry lists of work they want to complete and not enough people to do it. Automation will help businesses get done what they want to get done by creating capacity.
One of the challenges for businesses is getting automation to work and minimizing failure. Mike discussed how most organizations don’t know where to start. They’re looking for the concept but have chosen basic technology to get them there. There is an opportunity to open up their eyes to the possibilities and see the true potential of automation. There’s also an opportunity here to help IT teams leverage technology to its full potential, aiding in operation changes within business.
Mike emphasized that automation will benefit both sides of the spectrum in both revenue generation and cost basis. If businesses want to improve their reach with consistency, accuracy, personalization and transparency, these things require automation technology. The tech will enable a new level of scale in businesses. New revenue generating opportunities will follow suit, allowing these businesses to become more competitive in this technology-centric world.
To learn more, read Daniel Newman’s recent blog post for IBM, “4 Exciting Things About the Future of Automating Work.”