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Robert Zirk: There's no question that automation is changing the way customers and brands interact with each other.

There's customer-facing chatbots, agent-facing assist bots and robotic process automation or RPA. And to give you an idea of just how rapidly this sector is growing, Grand View Research estimates the market for RPA, which as of 2022 sits at around $2.3 billion, will reach more than $30 billion by 2030.

Now more than ever, businesses are looking to implement automation to reduce costs, improve accuracy and scale how they deliver their customer experience.

And with change comes uncertainty. There are perceptions that automation will render jobs obsolete, that brands implementing automation can set and forget their deployments, or that automation is only an option for big brands with big budgets.

But that's not the case, according to the automation experts we spoke with. So today on Questions for now, we'll ask: What do people get wrong about automation?

Welcome to Questions for now, a podcast from TELUS International where we ask today's big questions in digital customer experience. I'm Robert Zirk.

To start out, we need to define what automation is. According to Nigel Devaraj, senior product manager for hyperautomation solutions at TELUS International, automation means completing repeatable tasks and reducing the need to interact with multiple systems in what are often referred to as swivel chair processes. As an example, think of the idea of entering data manually into one system, then swiveling your chair around to enter that same data into a different system.

Nigel Devaraj: The automation could be triggered based on an event or it could be triggered by a human being based on an activity they're performing, meaning "go validate this task" or "pull information for me." That is what automation is. And if you look at customer service, the world of CX, automation is really about streamlining day-to-day activities. We're talking about reducing swivel chair processes or eliminating swivel chair processes and simplifying the work or the activities involved in servicing our customer.

Robert Zirk: While the roots of automation date as far back to around 270 BC, it was the Industrial Revolution that marked the invention of the very first automated industrial process - that was the automatic flour mill in 1785.

That was well before we even had the term "automation" to describe it, which only started to become prominent in the mid to late 1940s.

But let's fast forward to one of the types of automation that's most applicable to customer experience today: robotic process automation or RPA.

Chandrakant Binwani: In terms of leap from using technology in customer service itself, the biggest thing that has happened in the past decade or so, the technology that most of you may be familiar with, is RPA.

Robert Zirk: That's Chandrakant Binwani, former director of intelligent automation solutions at Automation Anywhere, which is one of the leading software developers in the robotic process automation space.

Chandrakant Binwani: It's essentially a software robot doing what a human does today with mouse and keyboard sitting in front of a screen. So what has happened is now when you call in, instead of that CSR...

Robert Zirk: ...a customer service representative...

Chandrakant Binwani: ...having to do all those things manually, and remember they have to do this many times, they get so many calls day in and day out, so they have to do this repeatedly. Now they actually can use automation, RPA.

Robert Zirk: Some potentially automateable tasks can include gathering customer information, searching the knowledge base and completing after call work, like summarizing the outcome of the call and completing follow-ups with the customer.

Chandrakant Binwani: From an agent perspective, it helps them with their productivity, with their experience. They can focus on talking to you, connecting with you, understanding your problems, simplifying your experience, improving your experience as well as simplifying and improving the experience of the CSR.

Robert Zirk: The technologies that shaped what we know today as RPA became more widely used in tandem toward the late 1990s. These include screen scraping, which pulls data to be used for other applications; workflow automation, which could be anything from performing calculations to repeating functions through software macros; and some forms of artificial intelligence, like image or text recognition.

It wasn't until 2012 that the term to describe the confluence and advancement of these technologies, "robotic process automation", was created. Since then, RPA has increasingly been adopted by businesses, with a 2020 Deloitte global survey of executives showing that 78% say that they're already implementing RPA.

Chandrakant shared some of the benefits of RPA from a customer perspective.

Chandrakant Binwani: You are now getting answers faster. You're getting quality service. There is no incorrect information from a quality perspective that's been serviced. Bots will do their job perfectly every single time. That's one big change that I've seen.

The other change that has happened is even before you hit the customer service, which is you interact with chatbots. Now chatbots are automation, essentially. They respond to you in natural language and in plain simple English. But, behind the scenes, they actually are taking a lot of work off the agent now. They can collect a lot of information even before you get to an agent, which is very important, critical. It avoids, again, those wait times when you call a customer service agent, they having to ask you and collect all that information.

Robert Zirk: It's not only about speed, but accuracy. Think of how frustrating it can be to a consumer when they find out they have to be transferred only to have to be transferred yet again or even to end up getting disconnected altogether. So automation can help ensure the person the customer is speaking with is the person who's able to help the most effectively with their concern or issue. Or even bypass that process entirely, if it's more efficient and something that the customer prefers to do.

Chandrakant Binwani: Imagine what has happened in the past decade or so. Earlier there was only one channel available. Users or customers used to call to get their queries answered.

Now there is self-service. You can actually log into the website and you can do a lot of things that you had to call for earlier yourself. That's also powered by automation. And now if you're unable to solve yourself using those self-service channels, there is, you know, a pretty good option of chat available.

Now you can chat, either with a customer service agent or again with automation, chatbots powered by this automation that we are talking of. They can answer your queries, they can help you without having to call someone again. And then, again, if even that is unable to solve your queries, that's when you call, and even when you call, your first experience is with automation. There are voice bots collecting the required information so they're able to route to the right agent to be able to help you. So again the automation, the experience that you have, automation powers a lot of that without you realizing.

Robert Zirk: Automation can even enhance the customer experience in more proactive ways, as Nigel mentions.

Nigel Devaraj: I think we are getting more comfortable using automation for not just that repetitive task, but part of that is data validation and really how automation's transforming customer experience is using automation to deliver a personalized service to the customer. So using automation to gather data, cross-reference it, and really provide a personalized recommendation to a customer. Like the concept of a concierge service, that is really what's making a big splash in terms of leveraging automation for customer experience. This is what's happening in the world of CX and you leveraging automation to really transform how you deliver services.

Robert Zirk: Beyond personalization and efficiency, automation helps ensure a consistent interaction that underpins a positive customer experience.

Nigel shared a case study from TELUS International's work with a customer that offers an array of home appliances that have a wide range of error messages and codes.

Nigel Devaraj: We've used automation where we cross-reference the customer calling in with the type of models registered, possible error messages, using that to actually coach our team members to actually reduce the number of questions we ask the customer and spend less time looking for information so they can actually deliver the customer a better service. So this has drastically reduced things like average handle time, dramatically improved CSAT scores for customers.

And average handle time was not just "okay, I could get the information faster and provide the most accurate information in the fastest way," but also getting to the point where we're using automation to actually close the ticket. There's a whole summary process, there's an email that needs to go out to the customer. Leveraging automation to actually take all those activities, things our team members didn't enjoy doing, but it's very important.

Robert Zirk: From the customer perspective, automation that's properly implemented can greatly improve the overall experience.

Nigel Devaraj: CSAT is one of the big ones in terms of customer satisfaction because they're getting more effective responses, faster responses and our agents can actually spend more time providing that empathetic experience. And it could also mean that, at the end of the day, our customers...

Robert Zirk: ...the brands TELUS International supports...

Nigel Devaraj: ...on the backend that we might not directly see, they're getting better customer reviews on their website.

Robert Zirk: And automation can also help create a positive experience from the agent perspective as well. Nigel points out that employees are more apt to embrace automation as it reduces workloads and stress, and they often contribute to improving automation processes.

In fact, a TELUS International survey conducted by Pollfish showed that eight out of 10 employed Americans said bots have enhanced their work environment since early 2020.

Nigel Devaraj: If you think about where we actually use automations to enable our agents, we've done that as a program to support our customers - across multiple customers, actually. We've reduced, we call it nesting time. Basically, we reduce the amount of time a new agent needs to spend learning that account before they can actually be on their own supporting that customer, because automation actually takes some of the fear away, takes some of the learning curve away, and really helps them to become more confident in doing that.

Robert Zirk: Nigel explained automation can also help increase capacity for team supervisors, allowing them to focus on other tasks. He noted one case where automation reduced the amount of time supervisors needed to provide direct support to their team members by 90%.

Nigel Devaraj: We also find automation helps our team and it reduces their stress. They're happier because they're not having to worry about these little mundane activities because we leverage automation to actually take care of those mundane activities for them and they can really focus on the end customer service. We talked about call wrap ups, right? No agent that I've met really enjoys that activity. We've got to fill these and we've got to classify it, categorize it appropriately. Using automation to do some of that takes some of that stress, the day-to-day stress of doing the job, away and they have a much more enjoyable experience.

Robert Zirk: According to a study commissioned by UiPath and conducted by Forrester, 86% of organizations that used RPA saw greater efficiency. Two thirds said that it increased the insights they had on their customers. 57% noted improved customer service. And that same percentage of respondents reported improved employee engagement.

But despite the benefits that automation can provide, Chandrakant knows that there are still quite a few misconceptions about automation in the workplace, with perhaps the largest one being that automation will completely replace humans in the workforce.

Chandrakant Binwani: It is, I would say, unlikely to replace all human jobs.

Human interaction is important. It is important for building trust. It is important for addressing complex issues and even providing that personalized service.

Automation is not about replacing human workers. Rather, it is about augmenting their abilities and streamlining the processes that we talked about, breaking down those application silos, process silos.

I think it is really important to note that automation can take different forms, from simple software applications that automate routine tasks to more advanced robotics and artificial intelligence. The impact of automation on the workforce can vary depending on the type and extent of automation implemented. And I think it also depends on the industry and specific job roles that are affected.

In fact, automation can lead to creation of jobs as businesses expand and grow.

Robert Zirk: That's exactly what happened when ATMs began rolling out in 1969. Despite similar concerns that these machines would completely replace human bank tellers, the number of tellers more than doubled by the 1980s, just over a decade later.

And consider that a 2020 MIT report found that more than 60% of jobs in the year 2018 didn't exist in the year 1940. Nigel notes that it's much more likely that human roles will evolve rather than be replaced.

Nigel Devaraj: The human empathy, in terms of dealing with an interaction and just the emotion, cannot be replaced by technology. And so we need that and we need to use technology appropriately. And it's all about, at TELUS International, we love to keep the humanity in the loop as we introduce technology and things like generative AI solutions.

Robert Zirk: Human in the loop means ensuring human interaction and oversight occurs alongside the use of technology solutions. Ideally, this creates a feedback loop that allows the technology to get better over time for greater accuracy.

To be successful, automation requires a combination of people, process and technology. So it's important for leaders to get ahead of any changes involving automation so that there's no miscommunication or misunderstandings among team members.

Nigel Devaraj: This is part of that change management. Companies need to spend time educating their team members on what is the impact, why they're implementing automation and what that means to them.

In some cases it means retooling the human team member to do something else where they can actually add more value and take the repeatable task. In other things, automation's here to make your job better, make it easier, take some of those mundane activities away from you.

If you don't go through the process and put the effort into managing that change, getting your employees to embrace it wholeheartedly, then automation will fail because people are going to either try and work around that or they're just gonna be unhappy with it because they think "That's replacing me."

Robert Zirk: Providing support and training can help dispel those notions. And that's something that's increasingly necessary. In the aforementioned TELUS International survey of American workers conducted by Pollfish, around one third of respondents said their employer didn't provide adequate education or training to build the skills they need to work alongside bots.

Nigel Devaraj: We're talking about augmenting your skills, right? Making sure your human team members have the necessary skills, are trained, and actually transform their job to work with automation versus having them do the same thing. You might be having them do the same thing, but now they have to interact and work with it. There is a paradigm shift. Making sure that you actually spend time to augment your team's skills are very important in terms of getting the digital worker and the humans working together, and then optimizing your workflow.

So, you know, at TELUS International, when we go in and when we are brought into an automation project, we spend a lot of time upfront. Yeah, we have the technical expertise to come and deliver automation. But we like to spend a lot of time upfront understanding your business, understanding the impacts, what this means to your team and how we support that. And we can't implement change, but we can support you, we can make recommendations for a company in terms of things that you need, other actions you need to take beyond the simple technology.

Robert Zirk: As Chandrakant notes, another misconception is that automation is only within reach for larger businesses.

Chandrakant Binwani: Obviously, there are costs associated with implementing automation. The long term benefits, though, I would say outweigh the costs. Automation has become increasingly accessible, easier to implement. And thanks to technologies, like what we do at Automation Anywhere, our automation success platform, it makes it super easy now for anyone to be able to have automation for their processes in the organization.

While large companies, I would say have more resources to invest in automation, smaller companies also benefit from automation. There are a variety of automation tools available today that can be tailored to fit any budget, any need from a business perspective.

Robert Zirk: But Nigel cautions that just because automation can be cost-effective doesn't mean that you just deploy it once and never tend to it again.

Nigel Devaraj: It's something that needs to be continuously managed. That's why we use the concept of a digital agent. We love to ask our customers to try and embrace the technology, name it, make it part of their team because it's something that needs, just like a human being, needs to be maintained, needs to be cared for. It needs to be monitored. So it's something you start off slow and you just build on it. I think that's the best way possible. And that also doesn't have you fully committed and allows you to test and modify as you go along.

Robert Zirk: We think of lifelong learning for human employees, right? So there has to be a digital equivalent for the digital coworkers, for the automation side.

Nigel Devaraj: Exactly. It's no different. It's just technology, meaning it can work all day long for you, but it does need to be cared for.

Robert Zirk: Despite the benefits of automation that we've spoken of, an Ernst & Young study shows that between 30% to 50% of robotic process automation projects fail globally. Nigel outlined a few reasons for why this happens.

Nigel Devaraj: One of the main reasons is lack of clear objectives, not understanding the business objectives and goals. If that's not clearly defined, the automation project is gonna fail.

The next one is going big, meaning you start with the most complicated thing and you're trying to do all of it at once. The concept of crawl, walk, run cannot be overemphasized when you're starting with automation. Start with something simple. Get a quick win. Everybody embraces that quick win and then start building on it versus trying to run out of the gate.

And by the way, not everything should be automated. Some things should just be optimized. Automation's a better solution for more of the long term, that repeatable activity. The ROI is better there and you actually get more value as a company than just a quick fix. There's nothing worse than adding automation that does not add value.

Robert Zirk: You need to consider how humans would interact with the automated processes you're proposing and whether automation is even the right answer for the problem you're trying to solve.

Nigel Devaraj: Automation is rather binary, right? You're gonna tell it there's a repeatable activity, perform this action or do this for me, fill out this form for me. But if the trigger event doesn't take into account all the different permutations, it's gonna fail. And then automation becomes a very poor experience. Nobody likes it. People abandon it. They don't want to use it anymore. So it really comes back to the fundamentals, going back and understanding business needs. The lack of analysis upfront is where we find a lot of failure.

Robert Zirk: Chandrakant stressed the importance of having a solid plan that accounts for every step of the processes that you plan to automate as well as the relevant technologies and their inherent complexities.

Chandrakant Binwani: Without proper planning, a lot of details are overlooked. Timelines can become unrealistic. A typical organization has hundreds, if not thousands of, systems. And when we are talking automation, they have to be able to integrate with all these systems. These may be disparate systems, some may be legacy old systems, some may be built with new technology, web based systems. And some may have what we call APIs for easy integrations while legacy systems may not expose those APIs for integration. So integrating new automation, right, or new automation technology with existing systems can be a complex process.

And I would say companies need to either update or replace existing systems to ensure compatibility. Now that's not really required with a platform like ours, Automation Anywhere Success Platform. Our platforms help you stitch together applications across the organization, whether they are legacy mainframe or new systems and all that. It provides a simpler way for employees to interact with automation. You don't have to learn a new system to be able to do that. If you're working, if you're used to one system, you have now access to automation within that system.

Robert Zirk: So how can you confidently get started on an automation project and choose the right processes to automate? Chandrakant highlights five factors: complexity...

Chandrakant Binwani: Processes that require routine repeatable tasks, I would say, are generally a good candidate for automation, while more complex or nuanced processes, right, may require human involvement to ensure quality, to ensure accuracy.

Chandrakant Binwani: Processes that are high volume and time consuming are good candidates for automation, while processes with low volume, with low demand may not be cost effective to automate.

Chandrakant Binwani: Customers may prefer to interact with a human representative for certain types of interaction. Those may involve complex problem solving or emotional support sort of use cases.

Chandrakant Binwani: Evaluate the potential return on investment of automating a process. Processes that can be automated save time, reduce cost and are good candidates for automation.

Robert Zirk: …and organizational strategy.

Chandrakant Binwani: I think it is really important to consider the strategic objectives of business when determining what processes to automate.

Robert Zirk: Above all, the most effective automation should empower humans to focus on delivering a consistent, empathetic customer experience.

Chandrakant Binwani: When we talk about automation and humans, I would say they both have complementary strengths. Humans, as humans, we excel at tasks that require emotional intelligence, right? Creativity. While bots or automation, digital coworkers, if I may, excel at tasks which require speed, accuracy, processing large amounts of data. If you think about it, by identifying these strengths and by leveraging them, humans and automation or digital co-workers can work together very efficiently.

In terms of training, I would say when it comes to automation, it can really improve that. Now, as a human, I don't need to be trained on every single process or every single task that I have to do for, say, an incoming call. I have a co-pilot which knows its jobs really well, which is very efficient at doing its job, and I can simply delegate some of my tasks to that co-pilot and I act as someone who kind of overlooks, reviews what the bot is doing rather than doing it myself.

Robert Zirk: Like many technologies, automation is the subject of ongoing development and continuous improvement, with intelligent automation incorporating further advancements in artificial intelligence like generative AI, as Chandrakant explains.

Chandrakant Binwani: Machine learning, natural language processing, they're all becoming part of every system, every application that we are building nowadays. This is enabling automation to take on more complex tasks and make more intelligent decisions.

Robert Zirk: Today, we're already seeing these advancements unlock new possibilities for how agents can provide a more helpful and efficient customer experience.

Chandrakant Binwani: I'll give you a simple example: looking for knowledge articles, right? To be able to respond to customer queries. Imagine replacing that plain, simple word search with a query that you can ask and generative AI actually going through a ton of documents that your organization has - FAQs, knowledge articles - and coming back exactly, precisely what you're looking for and what you've got to tell the customer on the call. That's huge, right?

Converting those chunk of documents, huge chunk of documents into something that you can easily interact with in natural language, in plain simple English. I think that's huge.

Robert Zirk: And Nigel highlighted the ability for intelligent automation to further enhance personalization in customer experience, but that these innovations also raise important ethical considerations.

Nigel Devaraj: I'm excited about personalized automation that's happening. I'm excited for mass adoption of that, but that raises concerns about security, privacy and how a company manages all of that. What does automation mean in terms of fairness, transparency, all of that kind of stuff? And we're not talking about just generative AI because generative AI is being injected in a lot of automation, especially when you talk about intelligent automation. Making sure that there are more rules around the ethical considerations of automation. So we are removing bias, we are protecting privacy. We are making sure that somebody's product is protected as the automation is being delivered to a customer. I'm not talking about five years down the road. These are things that are actually happening today and early adopters are definitely seeing the benefits of leveraging and moving in this direction.

Robert Zirk: Thank you so much to Nigel Devaraj and Chandrakant Binwani for joining me and sharing their insights today. And thank you for listening to Questions for now, a TELUS International podcast.

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