The AI & Intelligent Network Podcast Episode 21-25 Key Learnings

We highlight top intelligent automation insights from leading corporate enterprise practitioners from episodes 21-25

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Seth Adler
Seth Adler
06/27/2018

As you may know, the AI & Intelligent Automation Network releases a new podcast episode each week.

Here, we highlight top intelligent automation insights from episodes 21-25. Our aim is to provide a voice for the business discipline of intelligent automation. Through personal conversation, we’ve already had the pleasure of interacting with some incredible practitioners in this field. Episodes 21-25 feature case study anecdotes from Ericsson, Danske Bank and BNP Paribas to name a few. Within each of these conversations, we’ve garnered dozens of key learning points from each executive’s personal career.

So here are our favorite learnings from episodes 21-25. You can tune in to listen to the rest of the series here or subscribe on iTunes.

Episode 21:

Christian Wolf

Head of Organization Management

Wüstenrot & Württembergische

“The number one goal is to help the people, to do the job, which we've hired them to do. So, we always ask them, "What are the things you don't like in your job?"

Chris is approaching intelligent automation as additive as opposed to reductive. Yes, he’s interested in optimizing the enterprise, but he’s interested in doing that through optimizing the carbon-based intellectual property he’s already got in house. How can he through intelligent automation help them do more for the enterprise?

The above quote followed Chris’ description of a project where he and the team had to reduce department backlog within 4 months. They thought about how to help folks not work 10-12 hours each day…and the answer was RPA. They did in fact finish in time- but understand that it was 4 years of backlog that was reduced in those 4 months.

That’s work that would have been long-term disruptive to accomplish but instead, it’s done. And again, it’s a project that is day-to-day additive- not reductive. So as opposed to becoming the corporate enterprise equivalent of the uroboros, Chris is focused on digital innovation.

Episode 22:

Alexander Hubel

Head of Automation & AI Transformation

Ericsson AB

“Secure executive sponsorship because with that funding comes and access to executive leadership comes and it all becomes so much easier.”

Are you still trying to go at intelligent automation as a purely disruptive force within your enterprise? Notes from the field suggest that approach is fraught with danger. We’ve passed the inflexion point from ‘early days’ to ‘mass adoption.’

And so if you’ve not already done a PoC, then got a few bots working and ensuring you’ve secured executive sponsorship, you’re very much behind. And if you’re currently in purgatory- you’ve done all of the above but you still don’t have executive sponsorship- you’re falling behind.

The good news is that all data points suggest that you don’t only save cost for the enterprise, you increase pace of work and you have the opportunity to innovate and ensure digital transformation is occurring through intelligent automation.

But if you’re executive leadership is still kicking and screaming that they can’t see the light, check your message…and then if necessary, see what else might be out there for you. But first see the following quote from Susanne.

Episode 23:

Susanne Skaarup

Head of Dept: Digitalisation & Automation, Customer Service Delivery

Danske Bank

“Start with the small processes, get some learning. Engage the organization and create awareness about robotics. Ensure that you have good monitoring of your robots. Build a strong governance around it and have your methodologies and standards in place from a central point of view to ensure the quality of the work.”

The above quote perfectly encapsulates what needs to be done. Get an understanding of what should happen specifically within your organization. Then get success under your belt. Then communicate, communicate and communicate.

Susanne visited 80 departments to ensure that the entire enterprise understood the potential of intelligent automation and how it could benefit them. So Susanne emphatically can check the what’s in it for me box.

On governance, whether your approach is centralized or decentralized, you still need to build a strong governance to ensure that best practice remains best practice.

Episode 24:

Marcin Nowakowski

Program Manager/Change Manager

BNP Paribas

“It usually takes months and years bring in the automation to life, because we live in a complex world, we live in a global companies, which employ thousands of people, hundred of servers, that kind of stuff. And it's not so easy to change it. There is not much discussion about change management.

There is much discussion on, ‘we will come and provide you with the solution in two weeks, six weeks, move your people upstream, and save FTEs.’

But nobody's talking much about monitoring it and providing the proper change management. And if you go into change management then you see that you've got to deal with technology people, communication, risk, finance, etc.,- for entire project. You need business continuity and that pumps up the thing. So, I don't think it's fast, it takes time.”

The whole quote is there because Marcin debunks the ‘quick’ implementation myth by explaining how many aspects of your organization need to be involved. And for that many aspects of your organization to be involved, you’ve got to engage in some impressive change management.

We’ve done our best at AIIA to absolutely focus your heart and mind on the change management piece. So much so, that our survey zeros in on just that subject.

Episode 25:

Vytis Ciemnolonskis

Digital Risk & Payments, Director Operations

Western Union

“We created a lot of excitement around intelligent automation which got us rolling with the automation or with training the robot. But then we started to bring more people from technology, from information security, because we had to create robot accounts. We had to put technology infrastructure in place. And then things got more interesting.”

Further to the above, Vytis and his team realized in real-time that the ‘simple implementation’ was much more complex than anticipated. While Vytis worked well with his technology team- there was a certain amount of communication that still had to take place. The quote above brings to mind the ‘us vs. them’ that others showcase in conversations- mostly inadvertently.

Intelligent Automation can expedite projects that would have taken years if you went through a traditional IT roadmap. But that’s comparing today to yesterday. Collaborate by having a conversation that positions both pieces of the organization in the same mindset with the same goals. Everyone wants to accomplish the mission of the enterprise. Rather than approach this divisively, approach with affinity. Kumbaya, my corporate enterprise practitioner brothers and sisters, Kumbaya.

21. Identifying Your Number One (1) Goal

22. Executive Funding & Access

23. Governance To Ensure Quality of Work

24. Business Continuity

25. Organizational Affinity 

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