Given today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, many countries are realizing the importance of automation to remain competitive. As a result, there is a growing recognition that automation initiatives must be overseen and supported by senior management to successfully navigate the digital age.
The concept of appointing a Chief Automation Officer has gained traction as the role of automation in transforming business processes and increasing efficiency is increasingly recognized. Although process automation is recognized as a fundamental part of digital transformation strategies for 70% of organizations, according to a Wall Street Journal report, it is important to approach this with caution.
The technology industry is constantly evolving and trends change quickly from one innovation to the next. Rather than hastily creating roles driven by industry hype, it is really important that the executives at the most influential levels provide strong support and leadership for advanced automation programs. This approach should be reinforced by deep business acumen and a robust network to effectively create significant change.
If you are serious about automation, it needs to be embedded in a primary leadership layer that is not temporary, and there needs to be a person who is able to integrate and federate tasks or projects across the organization.
Our Automation Champion must be a leader who drives digital transformation by optimizing resources and is able to keep pace with evolving customer demands and dynamic market and technology dynamics. They are also the path to efficiency and agility, streamlining workflows and enabling the business to allocate resources to higher-value activities while ensuring compliance with internal and external policies.
To succeed and realize the full potential of intelligent automation (IA), organizations must foster collaboration with their sales, finance, compliance, legal and other departments as they use automation to increase productivity and revenue opportunities across the organization. This requires strategic vision, cross-departmental collaboration and a deep understanding of the organization’s digital infrastructure.
This is where your product and IT support teams become indispensable because – with a top-down mandate from your CIO/CTO and CEO – everyone is focused on faster, tangible results and can leverage synergies as internal communication channels are more open and there are fewer obstacles to overcome. And if you work in an ever-changing, fast-moving market, automation gives you more flexibility and a better ability to manage and direct customer conversations in a results-oriented way as you scale digital workforces.
Global SVP of Product and Strategy at SS&C Blue Prism.
Why C-level executives need to prioritize automation
The success stories of companies that have embraced automation underscore the transformative potential of strategic automation initiatives. For example, some companies have identified intelligent automation as a solution to increase efficiency and bridge process gaps. By prioritizing automation at the executive level and investing in teams, these companies were able to streamline their operations so that frontline employees could now focus on providing exceptional customer service.
That’s all great, but the path to automation excellence requires more than just deploying a digital workforce or implementing robotic process automation (RPA) tools. A non-traditional IT approach that considers business and operations can help build a diverse team with a unique mix of skills, including a deep understanding of technology, business acumen, and change management expertise.
Such teams can align automation initiatives with business objectives and drive organizational change by continually identifying areas ripe for automation, prioritizing initiatives based on their potential impact, and gaining executive buy-in for automation investments. In addition, they play a central role in fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement where automation is viewed as a strategic enabler for business growth.
Building your “E-Suite”: A future-proof approach
Bringing automation directly to the boardroom signals a paradigm shift in corporate management, but also raises questions about the skills and qualifications required.
While the CAO role sounds great in principle, you will need a broad range of skills in technology, business strategy and change management, which can be gained through a background in process management and IT systems, as well as a diverse network and knowledge of the business and IT environment.
In most cases, your CIO and/or CTO is the orchestrator of automation initiatives, driving alignment between technology investments and business goals and understanding both the technical aspects of automation and the strategic imperatives that drive business transformation. They may choose to designate a dedicated role within their leadership team, but have the overall mandate, scope of influence and knowledge to drive true transformational and cross-departmental change.
Going forward, automation will play an increasingly important role in your business as it evolves. With the advent of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), RPA, and process orchestration, the range of automation projects will only increase. Consequently, companies that invest in developing automation capabilities and place automation leadership at the highest levels of management will be best positioned to succeed in the digital age.
The importance of top-down thinking and support underscores the strategic role of automation in driving digital transformation and business success. This enables companies to accelerate innovation, optimize operations and gain a competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
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