A third of C-Suite believe hyperautomation can help alleviate cost crisis

A survey of more than 300 C-suite executives in the UK & Ireland has revealed that 34 per cent see hyperautomation as part of the solution to combating rising business costs in the next 12 months, while more than eight in 10 see it as important to their business generally.

The findings of the survey by analytics leader SAS entitled Hyperautomation: Using AI to transform your business report, have been published at a time when businesses are faced with soaring energy bills and rising costs generally, piling more pressure on them to improve cost efficiency and workforce productivity.

Hyperautomation is the simultaneous use of digital operating systems, workflow, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) – typically via the cloud - to deliver high value autonomous processes through intelligent decisions.

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of senior business decision makers have either implemented it already or plan to in the future. Among business leaders that have already implemented it, operations (37 per cent), customer service (37 per cent) and sales (28 per cent), are the three most common areas where they already have or plan to drive efficiency.

When asked what the biggest challenges their organisation has faced in the past 12 months that hyperautomation could help solve, 37 per cent said business interruption, 34 per cent lack of people and skills and 32 per cent cited rising costs.

Mirroring this and looking ahead to the next 12 months, C-Level executives believe the biggest challenges hyperautomation can help tackle will continue to be rising costs (34 per cent) and lack of people and skills (32 per cent) - while the ongoing need for digital transformation (35 per cent) to remain competitive was the top choice.

David Shannon, Head of Hyperautomation for SAS UK & Ireland, said: “The importance of this capability is reflected in the fact that 82 per cent of C-Level executives believe it will be important to their business in the next 12 months and 88 per cent said the same for the next three years.

“I think it’s a real sign that business leaders recognise the benefits hyperautomation can bring, but also knowing their investments and strategies are under real scrutiny in the face of rising inflation. The only way to combat this is through driving efficiency and productivity - these are going to be crucial to businesses looking to boost revenue and maintain or increase profit margins in years to come. Furthermore, taking humans away from repetitive tasks and deploying them in roles where they can add more value will help drive innovation that is needed.

“Robotic Process Automation alone is not the answer. Smart technologies like AI and machine learning are needed to enable intelligent decisioning in real-time, so businesses can truly transform key functions across the enterprise. Managing costs is nothing new, which is why more businesses are turning to technology like hyperautomation to find long-term solutions to cost challenges we’re seeing at the moment that put pressure on a company’s bottom line.”