Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 52 | Page 82

///////////////////////////////////// FINAL WORD From hype to reality – moving ahead with Intelligent Automation Intelligent Automation (IA) is slated to see an increase in utilisation over the coming year in the Middle East, promising improved customer experience, enhanced processes, increased revenues and costs savings. Matin Jouzdani, Associate Partner – Data and Analytics at KPMG Lower Gulf, tells Intelligent CIO concerns about the impact on employees will need to be mitigated in order for IA to yield the desired results. I ntelligent Automation (IA) is on the verge of entering the mainstream in the UAE, featuring towards the top of many organisations’ strategic and tactical agendas. Reasons to implement IA are manifold, including improved customer experience, enhanced processes, increased revenues and, of course, costs savings, to name a few. Technologies that rely on Artificial Intelligence and natural-language processing, such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), enhanced RPA and cognitive automation, can help improve processes and workflows, provide new insights and even help to make decisions that resolve customer issues. With much riding on the promise of IA, business leaders may want to consider scaling up efforts, while also broadening the scope of implementation to include additional functions and processes. Currently, challenges, including lack of the right skills, deficiency of resources, a dearth of enterprise-wide mandates and concerns about the impact on employees, will need to be mitigated in order for IA to yield the desired results. While there is investment in IA broadly, a recent global report by KPMG, The state of intelligent automation, found that only 10% of respondents are integrating solutions which include automation, 82 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com