Tijl:<\/strong><\/span> I think you are mixing up a couple of items. I think the role of AI, if it exists is maybe a step in the process. It is not ‘The process’. You will not have any AI that will do the accounting for you for example. AI is used in pattern recognition in some form. When the pattern is recognized it kicks off a process that can do whatever it wants. But all these processes are more or less set. AI will play a role in a step of the process. If you think “oh I am going to delve a little bit in automation” then you are destined to fail. What we see is that if automation is not put on the agenda at the executive level then it becomes just one project silo and then it stops. I think automation is a way of life, you need to give it constant attention because it is not over until everything is automated. But then business might change. So for me, it’s really about continuously automating and looking for the next thing to automate.<\/p>\nAt the moment people run a project and they stop because the project is finished and they don’t continue with the next project or expand the current footprint. I think that is the biggest danger to the success of this idea of automation or robotization. If you start out with the wrong tool then basically you start out with the wrong foundation for future development. We have a more holistic view on the approach. We want to create an environment where people can automate at an enterprise level and don’t get dragged down by the cost of maintaining and keeping things running. It needs to be low cost, easy to get started, efficient automation.<\/p>\n
Phil:<\/span><\/strong> Tijl, there’s been a lot of hype about job elimination in the industry. When we look at the operations business that I’ve come from – BPO outsourcing, shared services, captives etc. – we have essentially grown up on efficiency and cost reduction, and as much as we hate to admit it, that’s been the core of our industry for the last couple of decades. Do you think that the emerging concept of automation is going to move the conversation to more about business value, or do you think we are perennially stuck in a cost reduction job elimination scenario?<\/p>\nTijl:<\/strong> <\/span>I think that outsourcing is a mistake and automation is the way to fix that mistake. What happens when you outsource is that you lose control. You think you give the control to someone who does your menial jobs. But then people have the upper hand because you are dependent on them.<\/p>\nIf you eliminate all your outsourcers, by automation, you gain full control of your processes and full flexibility whilst saving cost. For me, automation is a way to regain control of your primary business processes, whilst making them more efficient, more flexible and more supportive of the business instead of being dragged down by an outsourcer, and a long contract that is designed to make things difficult.<\/p>\n
We have seen customers building these “hells” as they call them. They have created hell and now have to live with it. I think automation is a way to reverse the wrong decision of ten years ago and yes there is significant value beyond only cost reduction.<\/p>\n
Phil:<\/strong><\/span> Looking into your crystal ball and thinking about where we have come from, the current state of the market and all the noise and conversation that we are hearing today – what do you honestly think we will be talking about, and where do you see the industry in three years time?<\/p>\nTijl:<\/strong><\/span> This is where I like to introduce you to my crystal ball reader, Neil…<\/p>\nNeil Kinson, Chief of Staff, Redwood:<\/strong> <\/span>Thanks Tijl – ‘Mystic Neil’ here…. we’ve talked a little bit about the dream of The Robotic Enterprise and if you think of a parallel in industries that are being disrupted effectively you see the notion of people doing repetitive mundane manual activities in a back office. This should be as unusual and as unthinkable as it is today to going into a shop to pick up a DVD or a video. My kids wouldn’t understand the idea that you actually drive somewhere, pick up a DVD, watch it, take it back – or take it back late and get a fine. You know that’s an industry that grew up and disappeared in 25-30 years. So is it three years? Probably not Phil. Probably longer than that. But you know that’s certainly the vision – we will see some organizations where that notion is frankly ridiculous and when you think about it in 2017, when you see hundreds and thousands of people doing activities that you can’t believe people still do today. Well that is something you see in the back offices of some of the world’s largest enterprises. So as we look into the crystal ball we see that changing and we see ourselves playing a big role in making that change.<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong><\/span> Okay. This has been a good conversation, but I’d like to pose one final question about what you would ideally like to see change in this industry. If you had one desire that could change attitudes or focus in this industry, what would it be? What would you change to make your customers, partners, and competitors all think differently about the way we are looking at automation today?<\/p>\nNeil:<\/strong> <\/span>The key thing for me is where is your ambition? If your ambition is to get marginally and organically better than automating a few arms, legs, fingers and toes in terms of driving out change then that’s fine. But if you really want to check the future of your organization by being truly world class and reinvesting in serving your customer, not through an automated agent, but actually through real people who are passionate about the success of their customer, then focus on that. Focus on the end-to-end, on what you are trying to achieve and how you can achieve that rather than building and just employing bots for the sake of it. I often hear the term ‘Center of Excellence’, which when you drill into it is actually a ‘Center of Expense’. Because people are moving the cost from one area to another and you are actually moving people who are experts in executing the process into experts into how do they deal with a situation when a robot fails.<\/p>\nThat doesn’t improve customer intimacy. That doesn’t drive you towards continuous process improvement, and that doesn’t help you serve your customers better. Yes, it drives out some operational cost. But let’s take a step back and look at the end-to-end process. How can you improve the quality? How does that fit with your sourcing strategy and staffing strategy over the next ten years. You know you need to raise the level of ambition and you won’t get that truly by dabbling and saying “yes I’ve done robotics” or “we are looking at robotics .. we must buy some”.<\/p>\n
Too many people are approaching this from the point of view “this is something we need to do”, not from the point of view “this is the outcome that we are looking to achieve within.”<\/p>\n
Phil: <\/strong><\/span>Okay. A very good answer! Many thanks Tijl and Neil. I really appreciate your time today and I look forward to sharing our conversation with the HfS audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s nothing worse than being the “best-kept secret” in an industry… sure, it sounds cute at first, but after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,90],"tags":[303],"ppma_author":[19],"yoast_head":"\n
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