With the rise of ChatGPT and large language models, GenAI has been soaking in the limelight. Hailed by some as a once-in-a-generation technology, it promises to fundamentally redefine how work gets done in the office and at home. Every business leader I’ve talked to recently has a line item on their priority list to figure out how to get in on that promise before their competition does.
We’ve seen this before. The move to the cloud, the rise of automation (especially RPA), and so much more. Before diving headfirst into water of unknown depth, let’s look to the past to see what we’ve learned. We know two things:
- These technologies did have a permanent impact on the business world for the better.
- There was quite a bit of trial and error, including growing pains that arguably still exist today.
If I were a betting man, I’d say we’ll look back in 5 years and come to the same conclusion about AI. But unless you’re living off the grid, you’ve already heard about the positive impact that AI will have over and over again.
So, let’s focus on the growing pains – and how to prepare for them. Here are 5 problems that we already see business leaders facing or we predict that they will see – and how process intelligence can solve for them.
(In case you’re one of those people living off grid, we recommend checking out the Forrester Wave for Process Intelligence Solutions to understand what Process Intelligence is.)
1. Deploying AI Because it’s the Cool Thing to do
AI is undoubtedly cool – and also – undoubtedly powerful. But neither of these inherently translate to top-line or bottom-line value. When deploying any technology, and specifically AI, you must know exactly how that technology drives forward corporate strategies and goals. And you must know how you’re going to measure success, whether through KPIs, OKRs, or some other framework. Well defined business outcomes are imperative for successful technology adoption.
Process Intelligence software does exactly that, contextualizing operations with the greater business outcomes that they provide. Technology is mapped to the processes it supports, and in turn those processes are mapped to the key value drivers of the company – like customer satisfaction or cost. This chain is easily visualized for gathering support or reporting on for leadership.
2. Leaving Space for Shadow IT
There has long been the notion that lines of business and IT teams are at odds with one another. This has led to teams employing “shadow IT” or investing in technology for their specific business purposes without letting IT know, or going outside the standards of what is IT approved. This has cost implications because of duplicated tech stacks, and security concerns from lack of central management. From the first growing pain, we know that AI needs to be laser-focused on business outcomes. Those outcomes can only come to fruition from a top-down managed approach that sees AI strategically implemented across the organization, rather than haphazardly.
Process Intelligence translates the top-down AI strategy into the processes that it supports and the teams that it affects. It enables collaboration between leadership, lines of business, and IT teams to align on the use and benefit of AI.
3. Keeping the Focus Too Narrow
Too often technology is implemented without the bigger picture in mind. Sure, automation might speed up your team’s part of the process, but that sends work downstream faster than those teams were prepared for. That new backlog might cause an even bigger bottleneck in the process, degrading customer experience or time to market. Additionally, in a day when collaboration is more important than ever, you won’t make any friends by piling work onto your adjacent teams without warning. AI promises to improve productivity even more than automation, making the consideration of adjacent processes and teams more important than ever.
Process Intelligence allows you to simulate the impacts of deploying new technology before investing in it upfront. You can see the positive and negative consequences of a change, measure the ROI, understand regulatory implications, and understand if a bottleneck is just moving further down the line. This empowers you to have more effective, holistic conversations with the teams you work with.
4. Losing Track of Technology in a Regulated Environment
Even without regulation mandating accountability, companies should be concerned about their intellectual property leaking outside of company walls. Use of GenAI for customer correspondence or contract formulation pose a serious risk to that IP. On top of that, regulators have already passed AI governance laws with more to come. They demand to know how AI is classified, where it’s used, how it prevents bias, and so much more.
Process Intelligence helps capture critical information about technology, including where it’s used in the business and for what purpose. Regulatory constraints are also captured and documented directly within process models, so that every employee can operate in a risk-informed manner.
5. Fix the Process Before Augmenting It
During the automation heyday, companies that blindly deployed automation were faced with a stark reality. If a process was broken to begin with, deploying automation was throwing gasoline on a fire. It made the process faster, which meant amplifying existing problems. AI is no different. To be effective it requires a good training set guided by a foundational understanding of your customer journeys and employee experiences.
Process Intelligence allows you to discover how your operations run today, including bottlenecks, opportunities for improvement, and unmitigated risk. It allows your organization to get your processes ready to harness the power of AI.
In conclusion, AI is here to stay and its power to revolutionize business as we know it is unquestioned. Established players that fail to embrace it will themselves fail, while new challengers have a chance for faster market entry than ever before. Process Intelligence technology is key to ensuring a successful AI deployment and generating meaningful business outcomes.
If you’re considering deploying AI to improve your business, from the call centre to sales and marketing, iGrafx can help. To understand AI’s true impact on productivity, cost, and compliance, book a demo or schedule a proof of concept with us today.