The Changing Landscape: Navigating Data Automation and AI to Unlock Hidden Business Potential

March 13, 2024

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the question that continuously comes up is: Do people truly understand the transformative potential of automation when it comes to harnessing the power of data? Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping industries and contributing to economic growth, while simultaneously transforming the nature of work. When used properly, businesses can transform their processes, elevate efficiency, and drive significant value through automation.

Acceleration: AI and Automation

Automation and AI are not new concepts, but recent advancements have brought the technology to the forefront of people’s minds because of the accessibility it now offers. As Juan Perez, CIO of Salesforce noted in Harvard Business Review in April 2023, the technology is no longer a “nice to have”; it’s a must have, because automation tools improve both business and employe performance.”

In Adastra’s most recent Data Professionals Market Survey Forecast, 94% of North American respondents are expecting their company to do more with AI in 2024 and further 88% consider the utilization of their data as a competitive differentiator. It is also noteworthy to point out that on a scale of 1-10, 86% of data professionals agree that incorporating generative AI has resulted in significant cost savings.

Understanding the Opportunity: Automating Anywhere

The scope of automation is expanding. It can help transform repetitive, monotonous tasks that humans have had to traditionally engage in. From online retailers automating order placement and inventory forecasting to manufacturing companies enhancing billing and finance systems, the applications of data automation are constantly showing us how to become more efficient. The key to unlocking the most value lies in identifying repetitive, low-value, time-consuming tasks and implementing automation to not only improve productivity but also reduce errors. By doing so, data automation elevates workers by removing mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on the more strategic and fulfilling aspects of their roles.

An example of this would be the in-take of prescriptions for large chain pharmaceutical dispatch centres, where scanning and interpreting handwritten prescriptions can be both time-consuming and error-prone. Automation, whether through image and optical character recognition or advanced language models, streamlines these processes. This ensures accuracy and frees up pharmacists for more valuable work.

Another example is making a hotel reservation on Expedia. Automation eliminates potential errors in the manual process of hotel check-ins. Once you book online the information is transferred directly to the hotel. This makes check-in easier and reduces the chances of an issue with a reservation, resulting in ease of use for the customer.

Benefits of Data Automation

As AI and automation become integral parts of the workplace, the nature of work undergoes significant changes. McKinsey’s analysis of over 2,000 work activities across 800 jobs reveals that certain activities can be automated much easier than others. Manual activities in predictable environments and data-related tasks will benefit the most from automation. Approximately five per cent of job occupations could be fully automated by current technologies. Overall, most workers will need to collaborate with technologies, which will require retraining but not full replacement.

While some workers may face displacement, there will also be a surge in demand for labour and new job opportunities. The same research by McKinsey projected that there will be an increase in labor demand, ranging from 21 per cent to 33 per cent of the global workforce by 2030. It is approximately 555 million to 890 million jobs. Some of the most significant job gains will be seen in emerging economies like India, where the working-age population is experiencing rapid growth.

A Salesforce survey from 2022 reported that over 90 per cent of respondents indicated that automation solutions significantly enhanced their productivity, along with 85 per cent noting a positive impact on collaboration. Additionally, nearly 90 per cent expressed trust in automation tools, relying on them to perform tasks more efficiently, reduce errors and accelerate decision-making.

Automation and AI will require some workers to shift their skills. Demand for advanced technological skills, such as programming, will continue to rise. There will also be a growing need for newer skills in AI such as prompt engineers, compliance managers, instructors for other members in organizations, security engineers and many more. The key lies in understanding the shifts, acquiring the right skills and embracing the transformative potential of automation and AI.

IT Bottleneck

The bottleneck is most IT departments today continues to grow. Business opportunities and the value add being driven by data automation have never been greater, but this is adding to the backlog in many organizations’ IT departments. Combined with a shortage of talent, most businesses are now embracing citizen enablement through vigorous retraining campaigns, allowing more members of their organizations to participate in frontline data automation and data discovery efforts.

The Transformative Power of Data Automation: A Case Study

Adastra took on a challenge presented by one of Europe’s largest automotive manufacturers. Production costs needed to be reduced without compromising quality and to optimize existing machinery.

Adastra examined the company’s energy consumption patterns, leveraging statistical data analysis to extract actionable insights. The adopted solution included a user-friendly interface for machine operators and a cutting-edge IoT cloud monitoring system for real-time energy consumption monitoring.

Adastra’s solution resulted in a 15 per cent reduction in the energy consumption of the existing production machinery, translating into significant cost savings for the automotive manufacturer without compromising product quality.

The Hidden Value of Automation: Efficiencies, Consistency and Data Quality

One of the challenges organizations face is the lack of time to analyze inefficiencies and harness the true value of automation and AI. When implemented, it can bring about efficiencies, consistency and less errors. Clean data is crucial, and automation presents an opportunity to streamline data cleaning processes, ensuring high-quality data.

By strategically implementing automation, organizations can unlock hidden efficiencies, enhance consistency, and ensure that analytics talent is being used most effectively in the ever-evolving landscape of data analytics and AI.