Automation won’t improve business processes unless companies apply the technologies strategically, and spend as much time on the people left behind.

Report At a Glance:

• Automation of business processes is rapidly scaling up, with fallout from the coronavirus likely accelerating adoption. Bain & Company’s survey of executives worldwide finds that companies report cost savings from automation of roughly 20% on average over the past two years.
• Other reported benefits include improved process quality and accuracy, reduced cycle times and improved compliance.
• But the path to benefits is bumpy. Some 44% of respondents said their automation projects have not delivered the expected savings. The major barriers all involve execution—notably, competing business priorities, insufficient resources or lack of skill.
• Best-practice companies overcome these execution barriers by grounding automation in the corporate strategy and customer experience; devoting significant time to what comes after automation; and actively managing automation as a transformative change.