Intelligent automation streamlines processes that were otherwise comprised of manual tasks or based on legacy systems, which can be resource-intensive, costly, and prone to human error. The applications of IA span across industries, providing efficiencies in different areas of the business.

• Automotive: The automotive industry is impacted greatly by the improvements manufacturers can make by using intelligent automation. With IA, manufacturers are able to more effectively predict and adjust production to respond to changes in supply and demand. They can streamline workflows to increase efficiency and reduce the risk of error in production, support, procurement and other areas. With the use of robots they are able to reduce the need for manual labor and improve defect discovery, providing a higher quality product to customers at a lower cost to the business For example, a Volkswagen engine production plant in Germany uses “collaborative robots" that work with the production team to handle a physically demanding step in the engine-assembly process. This helps prevent injury, speed processes, ensure accuracy, and ease the physical burden on employees.
• Life Sciences: Drug production is highly regulated and requires precise calibration of equipment and measurement of product. It also requires a tremendous amount of data collection, collation, processing, and analysis. A drug trial cannot be considered successful without trusted analysis and results. A manual approach could lead to calculation errors and take volumes of resources and considerable manpower to accomplish. By contrast, the production of Covid-19 vaccines in record time is an example of how intelligent automation provides automated processes that improve production speed and quality. Prior to the use of artificial intelligence and the resulting efficiencies, “…it used to take 40-plus scientists with doctorate degrees 25 years or more to discover a single marketable drug.”
• Healthcare: The healthcare industry is using intelligent automation with natural language processing (NLP) to provide a consistent approach to data collection, analysis, diagnosis and treatment. The use of chatbots in remote healthcare appointments requires less human intervention and often a shorter time to diagnosis.
• Insurance: With IA, the Insurance industry can virtually eliminate the need for manual rate calculations or payments and can simplify paperwork processing such as claims and appraisals. Intelligent automation also helps insurance companies adhere to compliance regulations more easily by ensuring that requirements are met. In this manner, they are also able to calculate the risk of an individual or entity and calculate the appropriate insurance rate.

The value of intelligent automation in the world today, across industries, is unmistakable. With the automation of repetitive tasks through IA, businesses can reduce their costs as well as establish more consistency within their workflows. The COVID-19 pandemic has only expedited digital transformation efforts, fueling more investment within infrastructure to support automation. As remote work also surges, roles will continue to evolve. Individuals focused on low-level work will be reallocated to implement and scale these solutions as well as other higher-level tasks. Middle managers will need to shift their focus on the more human elements of their job to sustain motivation within the workforce. Automation will expose skills gaps within the workforce, and employees will need to adapt to their continuously changing work environments. Middle management can also support these transitions in a way that mitigates anxiety to ensure that employees remain resilient through these periods of change. Intelligent automation is undoubtedly the future of work, and companies that forgo adoption will find it difficult to remain competitive in their respective markets.