How CIOs are leveraging AI-driven RPA

In today’s business landscape, where error, delay, and confusion are simply not acceptable, organisations must strive for quick, accurate, and efficient processes to achieve their goals promptly. However, relying solely on human workforce/personnel isn’t sufficient.

RPA is a transformative technology that automates routine and repetitive tasks, empowering businesses to enhance efficiency, minimise errors, and concentrate on strategic endeavours. But the real challenge lies in its implementation. When not fully embedded in a business’ digital ecosystem or without a true understanding of its strengths and fragilities, then the project is doomed to fail like 30-50% of RPA implementations (Source: Ernst & Young).

The integration of AI into RPA

Nearly all RPA vendors are now incorporating sophisticated AI layers into their software, significantly enhancing the software’s capabilities and offering users an initial introduction to AI through the RPA platform. This integration not only improves the efficiency and effectiveness of automation processes but also provides a seamless entry point for organisations looking to leverage AI technology in their operations. As a result, users can experience a more intelligent, adaptable, and powerful RPA solution that bridges the gap between traditional automation and advanced AI-driven processes.

Utilising AI-driven automation to increase revenue and optimise processes

Implementing AI-driven automation effectively is key to achieving desired optimised processes that lead to increased revenue, efficiency savings and excellent customer experience. Here are some examples:

#1: Sales and transaction automation

Sales are pivotal for revenue generation, and AI-driven automation can revolutionise sales operations:

• Automate tasks like CRM data updates, invoice preparation, and discount code application.
• Streamline sales processes, enhancing customer experience and revenue potential.

A multinational company faced challenges in processing thousands of invoices manually, leading to delays and errors. To streamline the process, they implemented an AI-driven invoice processing solution integrated with SAP ERP. This solution automated data extraction, invoice classification, and approval workflows, seamlessly updating financial records and triggering payments upon approval. Real-time reporting and analytics provided insights for continuous improvement, resulting in increased efficiency, accuracy, and cost savings. Additionally, timely payments improved vendor relationships, while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.

#2: Customer interaction enhancement

Exceptional customer experience drives revenue growth and AI-driven automation can elevate customer service:

• Introduce RPA in CRM processing for tasks like record updating and ticket distribution.
• Leverage chatbots to provide immediate assistance, enhancing customer satisfaction.

AI-powered chatbots are a great example of this. Upon landing on the website, the customer is greeted by an AI-powered chatbot. This chatbot utilises natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to understand the customer’s query and provide instant responses. For common inquiries like checking order status or product specifications, the chatbot can quickly provide accurate information, enhancing convenience and reducing customer wait times.

#3: Data manipulation and management

Efficient data processing is crucial for streamlined operations, and AI-driven automation ensures accuracy and efficiency:

• Automate data sorting, processing, and reporting, therefore reducing errors and enhancing insights.
• Eliminate manual data manipulation tasks prone to errors, ensuring data integrity and security.

In the dynamic landscape of retail operations, where a large retail chain receives diverse sales reports daily from its myriad stores in formats like Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, and text files, manual consolidation of this data for analysis proves cumbersome and error-prone. By embracing AI-driven automation, such as RPA, the company transforms its data extraction and consolidation processes. AI-powered RPA bots are tailored to seamlessly retrieve sales reports from email attachments or FTP servers, adeptly extracting pertinent details like sales figures, product categories, and store locations, subsequently standardising the data into a unified format. Moreover, AI-driven automation ensures data accuracy and reliability by meticulously validating and cleansing it, detecting any inconsistencies or missing values. Once processed, RPA bots autonomously update the company’s database or directly feed it into analytics tools for in-depth analysis. This automated data manipulation not only streamlines operations, saving time and reducing errors, but also empowers the company to make informed, data-driven decisions swiftly, thereby enhancing business performance and competitiveness.

The current state of RPA

RPA offers diverse benefits when fully utilised:

• Accessing legacy systems: Simplifies retrieval, maintenance and management of information stored in legacy systems.
• Collaboration enhancement: Seamlessly blends with existing resources.
• Labour-extensive task automation: Reduces organisational dependency on human resources, especially for peak periods such as year end/regulatory filing dates.
• Operational cost control: Minimises expenses by optimising workforce usage.
• Accurate data handling: Processes vast data sets with precision.
• Improved customer experience: Delivers prompt, customised services.
• Insight generation: Utilises AI and automation to derive valuable insights from data.

And recent trends highlight RPA’s significance:

• Increasing investments: A PwC survey reported that 37% of companies have already implemented AI in some form, and 84% plan to invest in AI within the next three years.
• Projected growth: The RPA market is projected to grow from $22 billion in 2025 to $30.85 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 39.9% from 2023 to 2030. This growth is driven by efficiency improvements, cost reductions, and advancements in AI and cloud technologies across various industries such as BFSI, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing​.
• Customer care automation: About 80% of organisations have deployed RPA in customer care, leveraging chatbots extensively.
• Strategic advantage: Over 900+ job types in the US contain some tasks that could be assisted by technology.