The tech industry is focused on the newest keyword: "AI." Artificial intelligence is everywhere now, including applications you use daily. While the day-to-day transformations AI plays a hand in are minimal, an even newer keyword quickly becomes a major point of contention for businesses worldwide! Intelligent Automation (IA) is here to steal the spotlight. IA is the strategic fusion of AI, robotic process automation (RPA), and business process management (BPM). This blend of machine learning automates tasks, empowers data-driven decision-making, and propels businesses toward superior operational efficiency. Let's learn how these pillars come together to enhance the automation experience.

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At the core of IA lies artificial intelligence, the engine that analyzes vast amounts of data. This data can be structured, like sales figures in a spreadsheet, or unstructured, like customer reviews on social media. AI excels at identifying patterns within this data. For example, an e-commerce company might use AI to analyze customer purchase history and product reviews to predict buying trends and personalize product recommendations for each customer. This allows businesses to make informed strategic decisions based on real-world data analysis.

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The second pillar of IA is robotic process automation (RPA). RPA automates repetitive back-office tasks that consume valuable human resources. Imagine the time saved by automating functions like insurance claim processing. Previously, an insurance agent might spend hours manually reviewing and processing claims. With RPA, a software bot can handle the data entry, document verification, and even calculate payouts for many claims, freeing up the agent's time to focus on complex cases or provide personalized customer service. By freeing human capital from these mundane tasks, RPA allows employees to focus on more strategic endeavors requiring human expertise. This highlights a key point: IA and machine learning aren't meant to replace human workers; instead, they work alongside humans, enhancing the workplace by allowing employees to focus on their strengths.

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The final pillar of IA is business process management (BPM). BPM focuses on optimizing workflows and ensuring consistency across business processes. Imagine a manufacturing company with a complex assembly line. BPM helps map out each step of the production process, identify bottlenecks, and streamline workflows for maximum efficiency. By seamlessly integrating with AI and RPA, BPM guarantees the effective implementation of automation for maximum benefit. Imagine a well-oiled machine – each component working together for optimal performance. That's the essence of IA, where AI, RPA, and BPM work together to streamline processes and propel businesses toward superior operational efficiency.

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Let's see how a fictional company, "Oscar Innovations," a mobile app developer company, might leverage IA to transform its operations. Here's how they might approach it:

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Step 1: Identify. Oscar Innovations recognizes IA's potential to improve its development process. It begins by analyzing its current workflow to identify areas ready for automation. This analysis reveals that the app testing department is overwhelmed with repetitive tasks like running test scripts and logging bugs.

Step 2: Building. Oscar Innovations leverages the three pillars of IA to address the challenge. First, they implement AI to analyze app testing data. This AI can identify common bugs and crashes, predict potential issues based on user behavior patterns, and even automate basic test report generation.

Step 3: Automation. Next, Oscar Innovations incorporates RPA by deploying software bots to handle repetitive tasks in the testing process. These bots can automatically run pre-defined test scripts and log basic bug reports with clear descriptions.

Step 4: Streamline. Finally, Oscar Innovations utilizes BPM to streamline the overall app testing workflow. Human testers are then freed from the burden of repetitive tasks. They can focus on more complex scenarios, user experience testing, and investigating high-priority bugs.

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This example demonstrates how a company like Oscar Innovations can take a strategic approach to IA implementation. By understanding the three core components – AI, RPA, and BPM – and applying them to specific areas of need, they leverage intelligent automation and achieve significant efficiency and improvements.

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Intelligent automation is not a futuristic concept; it's a powerful tool available today. At Xennial, we have been at the forefront of implementing IA into our tasks, enhancing our in-house accelerators, and improving our operational efficiency. If your organization can benefit from IA, contact us at xennial.com!

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