AI Magazine - Dec 2020

H

C UN LA N IO

IT ED

The Future of RPA

www.aimagazine.com

DECEMBER 2020

Inspiration and Innovation

USAF—MIT’S ‘AI ACCELERATOR’ Automation Generation

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FOREWORD

I

n this exciting debut edition of AI Magazine, our cover feature is on the partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the United States Air Force in the form of the USAF-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator.

Among our interviewees, we hear from Michael Kanaan, Director of Operations for the accelerator, who explains its purpose. “Our efforts stretch across three main lines. The first is to execute a number of flagship AI projects and the related work to bring that into existence. The second is developing scalable AI education for the workforce - all demographics, all ages, and all ranks. And the last is to lead the dialogue in AI ethics and safety.

It’s all about making AI real for our workforce.”

AI can be trusted, and hearing from Pascal Bornet, a world leader in intelligent automation, about the AI revolution.

In our top 10, we look at 10 of the most interesting cars with built in AI capabilities. Naturally, Tesla features prominently, blurring as it does the roles of automotive manufacturer and tech company, but traditional giants such as BMW are also represented.

Don’t forget to read our other feature reports with the likes of [24]7.ai, Dentsu Aegis Network, Automation Anywhere, UiPath, and many more.

Paddy Smith paddy.smith@bizclikmedia.com

Our feature content sees us demystifying the role of RPA technology among the broader suite of automation solutions, diving deeper into thorny ethical issues around whether a i ma ga z i n e. com

03

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We see the missing container that will shut down production.

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PUBLISHED BY

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

PROJECT DIRECTORS

Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก

Mike Sadr Ben Maltby Ryan Hall

PRODUCTION MANAGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Paddy Smith EDITORAL DIRECTOR

Scott Birch CREATIVE TEAM

Oscar Hathaway Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell Hector Penrose Sam Hubbard Mimi Gunn

Owen Martin Philline Vicente

Kris Palmer

VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR

Kieran Waite

Jason Westgate

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

Sam Kemp Evelyn Huang

MANAGING DIRECTOR

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Andrew Stubbings

Glen White

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

James White

a i ma ga z i n e. com

CONTENTS

10

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR: COLLABORATION FOR NEW AI SOLUTIONS

36

Demystifying the Role of RPA Among Automation Solutions

48 Can AI be Trusted?

62 MAKING THE WORLD MORE HUMAN THROUGH INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION

Cars with AI Features

74

92

110

UiPath

ISG

130 [24]7.ai

146 Dentsu Aegis Network

164 Automation Anywhere

178 Microsoft AI

10

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR: COLLABORATION FOR NEW AI SOLUTIONS WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY

MIKE SADR

DECEMBER 2020

11

a i ma ga z i n e. com

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

MICHAEL KANAAN ON THE USAF AND MIT’S AI ACCELERATOR, AND ITS MISSION TO USE AI TO INCREASE CAPABILITIES WHILE ADDRESSING SOCIETAL DEMANDS

M

ichael Kanaan is Director of Operations, U.S. Air Force and MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, having previously been at the

Pentagon as the co-chair of AI for the Air Force.

The USAF-MIT AI Accelerator began in January 12

2020. “It’s pursuant to a cooperative agreement with MIT, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Department of the Air Force,” explains Kanaan.

“Our efforts stretch across three main lines. The first is to execute a number of flagship AI projects and the related work to bring that into existence.

The second is developing scalable AI education for the workforce – all demographics, all ages, and all ranks. And the last is to lead the dialogue in AI ethics and safety. It’s all about making AI real for our workforce.”

Aside from the three flagship projects which we are covering in depth, the initiatives include such things as natural language processing for communication with machine and foreign language training, swarming unmanned aerial vehicles for

DECEMBER 2020

2019

Year founded

50

Number of employees

13

a i ma ga z i n e. com

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

“ IT’S ABOUT BEING MORE ACCURATE, DELIVERING BETTER LOGISTICS, WORKING ON HUMANITARIAN AID MISSIONS WHILE ALSO SAVING THE TAXPAYER DOLLARS” — Michael Kanaan, Director of Operations, U.S. Air Force and MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator

14

The MIT and Air Force collaboration is of a lineage with some of the most illustrious projects in the history of the United States. “There’s a triangular

deployment on humanitarian aid mis-

relationship between industry, aca-

sions, and using big data to illuminate

demia, and government in the United

weather circumstances in areas with-

States, that’s very special and very

out a ground station. The projects

storied throughout our past.” Kanaan

are linked by a shared focus, as

emphasizes that it stems from a com-

Kanaan explains. “The most important

mon language between government,

thing is to ensure that we all have a

industry, and academia which must be

common and shared dialogue and

nurtured. “We have to reinvigorate the

understanding of what AI is, what it

relationship that, for instance, brought

isn’t, how it works, and how to walk

the internet into our homes. Artificial

along that journey.”

intelligence is something that’s going to be viewed as equivalent to electricity in our lives, because of the way it affects us every single day. What could be more important than something like electricity being shared by the

DECEMBER 2020

Michael Kanaan | USAF-MIT AI Accelerator CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:14

15 greatest minds, by those who build the

the largest. “This is a team sport. It’s a

best technologies and by the govern-

whole-of-nation effort, with small busi-

ment as representative of its people?”

ness innovation and research crucial to

The work has been enabled by the

the success of the United States Air and

participation of a number of key part-

Space Force. Meanwhile, our traditional

ners, whose professional experts and

partners understand us better than

contractors have worked alongside

anyone else. They know how to integrate

MIT and the USAF. “A lot of work that is

technologies with the legacy architec-

necessary to bring modern technolo-

tures that we must rely upon. We can’t

gies like cloud to bear, without which

buy a new thing every single day, and

you would not have artificial intelligence.

many of those things we can’t put in the

We want to make sure that it’s as easy

cockpit of a jet, of course. And then lastly,

as possible for our workforce to grasp.”

nontraditional partners help to reinvigor-

Kanaan emphasizes that partners run

ate the conversations that we need

the gamut of sizes, from the smallest to

to have on AI today.” a i ma ga z i n e. com

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Building trusted, secure, and safe AI systems Ron Keesing,VP of AI and Machine Learning, discusses how Leidos is exploring the applications and addressing the challenges of modern automation tech Leidos’ mission is to make the world safer, healthier, and more secure. We take on some of the world’s most interesting, challenging, and data-centric problems,” says Ron Keesing, VP of AI and Machine Learning at Leidos.

Among the company’s core technical competencies is the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which it hopes to incorporate into all of its solutions. Leidos often begins by adapting technology developed in the commercial and academic world to the missions and domains of our customers. On the DARPA ACE (Air Combat Evolution) program. Keesing says, “We’re taking a technology that came from the commercial world and using it to transform aerial combat. AI allows us to invert traditional battle paradigms, from one where many people control a single aircraft into one where a single person can control a team of manned and unmanned assets to complete complex mission objectives.”

Reliable, resilient, and secure AI solutions

“We combine humans and machines to be able to perform these missions better and faster. Leidos’ role as an integrator of AI technology comes from many different sources, and we bring them all together into solutions that the U.S. Government can use. Currently, we’re using AI to transform the processing of veterans’ health benefits to make sure they’re receiving improved healthcare through natural language processing (NLP). This will enable faster claims and benefits processing with much higher accuracy and speed than was possible before.”

Keesing emphasizes the importance of keeping up with the latest AI-based research and promoting understanding among clients regarding the best way to use it. “Many across the community are also starting to appreciate what it means for AI systems to be ethical; we wouldn’t want systems making crucial mistakes that could put human safety at risk or behave in a manner we perceive as unfair.” As such, Leidos believes in building trust between humans and AI to foster comprehension and encourage its more comprehensive application.

Keesing closes by encouraging everyone, from students to senior decision-makers, to invest their attention in AI’s development. “This is such an exciting time for people thinking about launching careers in AI and machine learning, making sure how people understand AI will affect their systems and programs. Whether we want it or not, this technology is going to transform every aspect of our world, and Leidos’ is staying ahead to make sure the systems we’re building are safe, secure, and can be trusted.

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

18 The fruits of the labor being put into these projects are not only for the Air Force’s benefit, with wider society also

to detecting people in flooded areas, and delivering telemedical health.”

In that spirit, public challenges have

standing to gain. Kanaan cites humani-

been established for the two-way

tarian disasters, such as the wildfires

sharing of information. “The public

and hurricanes which have had a

challenges will ultimately help develop

devastating impact on the US this year,

the associated projects for use in pub-

as examples of situations that could

lic society. And I think what I’m excited

benefit from its work. “Humanitarian

about is our release of some of these

aid is a huge mission of the United

public challenges like magnetic navi-

States Air Force, as it is of the Army,

gation using earth’s magnetic sphere,

the Navy, Coast Guard, and so on. AI

for which you can find the public

has a role to play, and that can stretch

GitHub repository today.”

across swarming drones to using computer vision, to predicting fire lines, DECEMBER 2020

The initiatives are standing the Air and Space Forces in good stead

for the future by embracing digital

taxpayer dollars and making sure that

transformation. “Once upon a time in

we are good stewards of that money.”

the industrial age, you had to make

Kanaan views the collaboration

trade-offs between speed, accuracy,

that has enabled the accelerator as

and cost,” says Kanaan. “In the digital

key to its success. “I can’t emphasize

age, thanks to machine learning, arti-

enough how grateful we are to MIT,

ficial intelligence or any of the number

to academia, to industry for being a

of other automation techniques that

part of this conversation and to our

are part of digital transformation, you

airmen and workforce for wanting

can now do all three at once. For the

to have the dialogue. What makes us

Department of the Air Force, it’s about

special is that, while we are certain

being more accurate, delivering bet-

to make mistakes along the way, we

ter logistics, working on humanitarian

hold a dialogue afterwards. It’s all

aid missions while also saving the

about diving in.”

19

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Michael Kanaan Title: Director of Operations

Industry: Academia and Defense

Location: United States Captain Michael Kanaan is the Director of Operations to the USAFMIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator and the former co-chair of artificial intelligence for the U.S. Air Force. He was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list and received the US Government’s 68th Arthur S. Flemming Award (an honor shared by past recipients Neil Armstrong, Robert Gates, and Elizabeth Dole). Kanaan is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and previously led a National Intelligence Campaign for Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria and Iraq. a i ma ga z i n e. com

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of its Digital University initiative. “We’ve helped

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“One of the

nice things about Digital U is that because it’s leveraging commercial products like Pluralsight, it’s providing the Air Force same type create and customize rolesthe that align toof training and skill development that you’d find your unique needs, and see role proficiency at the tech giants.”

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USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

David Jacobs | USAF-MIT AI Accelerator CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:37

22

MAJ. DAVID JACOBS, US AIR FORCE: MAGNETIC NAVIGATION Having graduated from Stetson University College of Law as a patent attorney, Maj. David Jacobs, U.S. Air Force, got to ply his trade while stationed at an Air Force research lab. “I became the only active duty patent attorney, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to get where I am today as both the chief legal counsel to work on intellectual property, data rights, contracts, industry, and, of course, ethics, and then also a program manager for the robust neural differential models for navigation and beyond.”

Considering his role, Jacobs

with the Department of Army to

emphasises the focus on ethics that

develop a simple two-page guide to

pervades the Air Force’s work with

help Air Force and MIT researchers

AI. We embed in all of our projects a

understand when something is human

consideration of artificial intelligence

subject research under AI, and when

ethics and how it’s done. The Air Force

it is not, so that we’re following ethical

wants to be a leader in AI, and to do

guidelines at all times.”

that you have to focus on ethics.” He

In line with this ethical considera-

gives the example of the possibility

tion are the public challenges. “The

of human research subjects being

Air Force can actually be a partner

implicated from AI research based

in advancing the state of the art for

upon data. “One of the things we did

everyone, and be leaders in this field.

is work with the Air Force 711th Human

While it’s not new for academia to put

Performance Wing and coordinated

forward challenges for other academics, it is new for the Air Force to get involved.” That new approach has required a number of advancements to make possible. “Some of the things

“ THE AIR FORCE WANTS TO BE A LEADER IN AI, AND TO DO THAT YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON ETHICS” — Maj. David Jacobs, US Air Force a i ma ga z i n e. com

23

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

24

that we’ve had to address include the

alternative GPS could look like and

Air Force sharing data at such a public

magnetic navigation is one of the

level. On the legal side, we’ve devel-

possibilities,” says Jacobs. “Magnetic

oped a data sharing agreement which

navigation takes the earth magnetic

enables the Air Force to share data

resonance and a magnetometer reader

publicly with academia and industry.”

to pinpoint where you are in relation

That collaboration is key to the

to the earth. Because this technique

Magnetic Navigation project, which

doesn’t rely on any external sources,

Jacobs works on, and is aimed at

it becomes particularly useful in

developing an alternative to GPS

areas where other signal sources are

systems which are vulnerable to dis-

uncommon, such as over water.”

ruption, especially in a conflict setting,

The role of AI in the project is

which would create huge problems

threefold, as Jacobs explains. “One,

in both a military and civilian setting,

we’re using AI to reduce excess noise

considering the extent to which the

on the system. Have the AI cancel

technology is embedded in our lives.

out what is coming from the plane

“The government is looking into what

and recognize what is interference

DECEMBER 2020

and what are actual readings. Two,

Joint Artificial intelligence Center and

determine your position in real time

the Department of Defense. “We’ve

with faster speeds. As we go to other

had some talks with DARPA, with

vehicles like an F-16, we’re breaking

NASA and of course, academic insti-

the sound barrier and so we need to

tutions and industry. We’re happy

determine location at much faster

to work with small business, large

speeds. And then finally we’re com-

business and other academic institu-

bining that magnetic parameter with

tions, because the more people that

other systems in the aircraft to cre-

tackle this problem, the better. We’re

ate a complete picture.”

approaching it as a chance to provide

The project has attracted a number of interested partners, such as the

something that is good for the community at large.”

25

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

David Jacobs Title: Chief Legal Counsel

Industry: Academia and Defense

Location: United States Maj. Jacobs is the legal advisor to the USAF-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator. In addition to providing advice on contracts, intellectual property, fiscal, ethics, and cutting-edge AI legal developments to the Accelerator program; he also works as the Air Force lead on Robust Neural Differential Models for Navigation and Beyond. Jacobs earned a B.S. in Biology from Arizona State University and earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law. He served as a patent attorney before commissioning in the Air Force.

a i ma ga z i n e. com

Mission driven.

Data informed.

Get all hands on data with Tableau.

Tableau makes it possible to explore, understand, and lead with data-driven insights.

Tableau and the USAF: data as a strategic asset Tableau’s Michael Parker on the benefits its data analysis and visualisation platform brings to the United States Air Force

Data analysis and visualisation company Tableau offers its customers the capacity to make better use of the data they have.

Michael Parker is VP, Business Development at the company. “ Tableau’s mission is simple,” he says. “We help people see and understand their data. We provide that through a single pane of glass view of their data in a secure environment, ensuring the right people have the right access to the right data at the right time.”

It’s that capability that is behind Tableau’s partnership with the United States Air Force, as Parker explains. “They’re looking at data as a strategic asset and as a common service component of digital transformation. We use the tools specifically around a couple of use cases that draw a great return on investment.

One was civilian hiring. We needed to understand where the choke points are, where’s the lag and the slack in the process. By pulling the data in from end-to-end in that whole civilian hiring process, we could look at it through an operational lens to really understand where we were experiencing challenges.

Strategic decisions made along the

way ultimately compressed the timeline by two thirds.”

With chief data offices now established in each of the services, Parker believes the full value of data is now being appreciated. In standing that up, it’s been recognised that data is a strategic asset and a powerful tool for both the business and warfighting domains.”

The partnership has also proved its worth in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Having tools for personnel use, personnel accountability, tracking of individuals and even return to work processes was really important, and so the partnership was critical at that point.”

Parker emphasises that the partnership is built to last. “At Tableau, we plan to continue to build our partnership and understand the strategic and operational needs of the Defense Department and how the platform can help solve issues and provide capabilities in strengthening our partnership over time.”

tableau.com

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

TSGT. ARMANDO CABRERA, US AIR FORCE: SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR

Geospatial Intelligence. “I worked

“I’m first generation everything,” says

school and graduated as a distin-

TSgt. Armando Cabrera, US Air Force.

guished graduate.”

really hard in the Air Force technical

“First generation American, first in

28

Having demonstrated his potential,

my family to graduate high school,

Cabrera was eventually selected for

college and first to join the military.”

a program usually reserved for offic-

Having graduated with a Bachelor’s

ers to be sent to Amazon to learn best

in Mechanical Engineering, and

practices for machine learning. “I was

after some time struggling to find a

there for a year, playing two kinds of

job, Cabrera joined the Air Force for

roles. First, I was a student taking all

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Armando Cabrera Title: AI Flight Chief

Industry: Academia and Defense

Location: United States Tech. Sgt. Armando Cabrera is the flight chief for the USAF-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator’s Multimodal Vision for Synthetic Aperature Radar (MV4SAR) project. Carbrera earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California and worked as a geospatial intelligence analyst for the Air Force before being accepted as one of the first enlisted members into the Education with Industry program. Cabrera was assigned to Amazon for a year, and was the first DoD employee to complete Amazon’s Machine Learning Education University. Currently, he is a lead researcher for SAR to EO image translation, and is a content developer in AI education for MIT Lincoln Lab. DECEMBER 2020

Armando Cabrera | USAF-MIT AI Accelerator CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:49

29

their courses, starting from the fun-

the Multimodal Vision for Synthetic

damentals of mathematics, machine

Aperture Radar project. “What I bring

learning, all the way to neural networks.

is the operational experience of how

And then also I was building training

to use these types of sensors, so I can

guides for how to use their equipment

field questions.” The goal of the project

and software.”

is to turn the images taken by special-

That background has led him to MIT, where he is now responsible for

ized sensors into more human readable and interpretable photos. “That way

a i ma ga z i n e. com

30

“ THE TWO YEARS THAT I WAS ABLE TO SPEND WITH A NON-STOP FOCUS ON MACHINE LEARNING AND AI HAVE MEANT I’VE BEEN ABLE TO BRING BACK A LOT OF BENEFITS” — TSgt. Armando Cabrera, US Air Force

you don’t need experience as an image

or clouds and easily get additional infor-

analyst, to understand what the images

mation that we normally wouldn’t have.”

show. SAR sensors can penetrate

The project uses learning algorithms

things like weather or smoke, but the

trained on paired SAR and more eas-

drawback is it’s hard to interpret the

ily understood electro-optical (EO)

image itself. I’m hoping that with this

images. “It’s able to learn what a SAR

capability that we’re creating, it can be

image will look like compared with an

used during events that usually don’t

EO image, and over time it will pick up

deploy it for. We can automatically use

the characteristics of the SAR image

the sensor to penetrate through smoke

that are equivalent to EO image. That

DECEMBER 2020

31

way, it can create new images with the

now accessible to far more people.

synthetic EO image attached.” Cabrera

“When I first heard I was going to learn

points to the usefulness of such tech-

machine learning, I didn’t know what

nology in response to disasters such as

it was. But AI is so democratized now

the California wildfires, making previ-

that I could learn a lot of information

ously obscured areas visible to build up

just from searching the internet. The

a better picture of what is happening on

two years that I was able to spend with

the ground.

a non-stop focus on machine learning

Cabrera hails the open nature of machine learning as meaning that it’s

and AI have meant I’ve been able to bring back a lot of benefits.” a i ma ga z i n e. com

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

CAPT. RONISHA CARTER, U.S. AIR FORCE: C-17 SCHEDULING Having enlisted in the Air Force directly out of high school, Capt. Ronisha Carter started off in the field of server maintenance and boundary protection, before becoming an officer and receiving a Master’s in Computer Engineering. “I

32

was selected for an Education with

of scheduling less time consuming

Industry fellowship at VMware, where

while increasing efficiency and mini-

I was able to work within an Artificial

mizing errors. “Creating an Air Force

Intelligence Machine Learning develop-

flight schedule today, the scheduler

ment team,” she says. “It was at this time

has to account for a multitude of

when I developed a foundation in artifi-

variables we identify as constraints.

cial intelligence and machine learning.”

This includes qualifications or the

Her current role is as a Cyberspace

training a pilot requires for that seat

Warfare Operations officer. “My career

and crew rest – the time they must

field covers the entire communications

take off in between each flight. Also

spectrum,” says Carter. “Everything

the amount of flights that need to

from network defense to base com-

be scheduled, and the time intervals

munications structures, to tactical

between those flights. This process

communications. This background along

is currently being accomplished through

with my AI foundation led me to be one

various manual channels. Separate

of 11 selected to collaborate with MIT

data systems, phone calls, and even

on the integration of artificial intelligence

whiteboards, which causes schedul-

technology into Air Force platforms.”

ing to be immensely complex and

Under Carter’s remit falls the C-17 scheduling project, with the intention

time consuming.”

The remedy to that involves using AI

of bettering the lives of pilots and

to take up the burden. “What we hope

airmen using AI to make the process

to achieve is to create a data driven

DECEMBER 2020

model that can produce the best or

work that we’re doing today could

most optimized schedule for multiple

allow for advancements in sched-

objectives and constraints,” says

uling for hospital staffing, shift

Carter. “We provide decision-makers

workers, cargo and mail distribution,

with a mathematically aided assess-

logistics operations, and even com-

ment that predicts schedules weeks

mercial airline crew scheduling or

in advance and it gives them back time

flight maintenance.”

in their day.”

Wider implications for the project

Carter emphasizes the extent to which ethical considerations guide

involve the gaining of efficiencies

everything which is done with AI.

across the board, from supply chains

“Within all of our projects we are con-

to maintenance. “For instance, the

sidering the implications of ethics.

33

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Ronisha Carter Title: Artificial Intelligence R&D

Industry: Academia and Defense

Location: United States Capt. Carter is the USAF-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator’s lead for AI-Assisted Optimization of Training Schedules project.

Carter has a B.S. in Computer Science from Hawaii Pacific University and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Florida International University. Carter worked as a Cyber Operations Officer before being selected to the Education with Industry program where she was assigned to VMWare to use ML/AI to create content driven intelligence platforms. Her technical papers on ML/AI during this time helped land her a follow-on assignment to MIT to serve as part of the initial core of embedded Airmen for the AI Accelerator. a i ma ga z i n e. com

USAF-MIT AI ACCELERATOR

34

“ THE WORK THAT WE’RE DOING TODAY COULD HELP HOSPITAL STAFFING, SHIFT WORKERS, CARGO AND MAIL DISTRIBUTION, LOGISTICS, OPERATIONS AND EVEN COMMERCIAL AIRLINE CREW SCHEDULING AND FLIGHT MAINTENANCE” — Capt. Ronisha Carter, US Air Force

DECEMBER 2020

Ronisha Carter | USAF-MIT AI Accelerator CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:36

35 In February, the DoD adopted ethics

Software development teams that

principles for AI based on recom-

vector internal Air Force talent to

mendations from the Defense Board

solve and engineer solutions for the

of Innovation. This mandates that all

really tough Air Force problems. Our

DoD AI capabilities must be responsi-

team of MIT principal investigators,

ble, equitable, traceable, reliable, and

grad students, software develop-

governable and meet the same legal,

ers, human-computer interaction

ethical, and policy standards across

designers, and Air Force software

the department.

development teams ensures we cre-

Partnerships have again made the

ate better solutions for our Airmen.�

project possible. “Our partnership with MIT and Lincoln Lab is essential to developing these technologies, and we also work hand-in-hand with Tron and Airmen Coders, Air Force a i ma ga z i n e. com

R PA

36

DECEMBER 2020

Demystifying the Role of RPA Among Automation Solutions WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH 37

a i ma ga z i n e. com

R PA

We explore the reasons why RPA is experiencing explosive growth, with insights from executives from Pegasystems, DataRobot and Teleperformance

R

PA, or robotic process automation, is increasingly big business. Gartner predicts that total

RPA software revenue will reach almost $2bn

in 2021, and continue to grow at a double-digit rate up to 2024, even with the pressures of COVID-19.

First, it’s worth demystifying the notion of RPA,

38

which is a term often wrongly ascribed to other automation technologies. Francis Carden, VP, Robotics and Transformation at Pegasystems tells us that “too many people mistake RPA for machine intelligence. Its powerful benefits stem from how quickly it can automate how different software processes talk to each other. In itself, an RPA isn’t very intelligent in how it automates simple tasks.”

Exactly what is RPA capable of, then? According to Carden, RPA is ideally suited to “provide rapid automation of rote tasks and processes where humans are being paid to simply be keyboard and mouse ‘warriors’.” The ideal use case for RPA is in areas with a large volume of highly repetitive work.

DECEMBER 2020

39

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“The largest scale and faster ROI is in larger contact centers and front and middle offices,” says Carden.

The reasons why so many companies are deploying RPA technology and as a result driving growth in the sector are various, such as the capacity for a

“ Too many people mistake RPA for machine intelligence” — Francis Carden, VP, Robotics and Transformation, Pegasystems

robotic worker to operate constantly, without mistake. But Xena Lappin,

important to target very simple, repeti-

EVP Transformation & Innovation at

tive tasks first.”

Teleperformance, is clear that RPA is

RPA also comes to the fore in serv-

no full-scale replacement for human

ing as a go-between between the

workers. “RPA is not about automating

disparate enterprise systems that

roles out and reducing headcount, but

typically make up an organisation’s

making tasks within jobs more efficient.

IT stack. “The prime benefit of RPA

Before implementing RPA, businesses

is how it unblocks specific bot-

must start by reviewing processes for

tlenecks that have developed

improvement opportunities. Then it’s

within and between the enterprise

a i ma ga z i n e. com

41

R PA

42

DECEMBER 2020

RPA Summit: Role of RPA Automation in organizations CLICK TO WATCH

|

4:46

43 applications used to progress a

explains: “When AI or machine

business process like authorising

learning is combined with RPA, organi-

a mortgage or managing an insur-

sations can add even greater value by

ance claim,” says Carden. “It is too

enabling RPA to take action on data-

difficult to quickly transform these

driven decisions or predictions. With

processes so RPA can step in to

Intelligent Automation - the resulting

automate how each of them can be

solution - AI or machine learning

seamlessly linked up. The outcome

automates the decision-making and

should be a saving of considerable time

RPA automates the manual next

and the generation of a quick ROI.”

steps within the process.”

Another of its strengths lies in

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

playing nice with other technolo-

presents an unexpected opportunity

gies which can be layered on top,

for RPA to thrive, owing to the restric-

as Andrew Pellegrino, Director of

tions it places on human workers.

Intelligent Automation at DataRobot,

“By automating manual processes a i ma ga z i n e. com

R PA

ACCORDING TO GARTNER:

• Worldwide RPA software revenue is expected to reach $1.58bn in 2020 • Next year revenue is projected to be $1.89bn, growing by 19.53% • It’s predicted that 90% of large organisations will adopt some form of RPA by 2022

44

and offering a contactless solution, businesses can free up time and improve operational performance and productivity,” says Lappin. “In a recent Forrester survey, nearly half of respondents said they expect to increase their RPA spend by at least

Meanwhile, 74% of survey participants

5 percent in the next year.”

agree that further external shocks that

Pegasystems’ Carden concurs,

temporarily remove people from the

saying: “The pandemic injected real

workplace will result in more intelligent

urgency and pace into the take-up of

automation and artificial intelligence

smart automation, including RPA. We

investment, while 76% also say that

surveyed global businesses about

unpredictable mass illness and/or self-

their preparedness for future lock-

isolation will drive increased business

downs. 76% of respondents said the

demand for intelligent automation.”

pandemic will cause them to increase

It would be wrong to suggest that

their intelligent automation investment.

it’s plain sailing for the implementation

DECEMBER 2020

45

“ RPA is not about automating roles out and reducing headcount, but making tasks within jobs more efficient” — Xena Lappin, EVP Transformation & Innovation, Teleperformance

of RPA from here on in, however, with significant challenges remaining. One of the problems that might bring down an RPA deployment is simple coordination, as Carden explains: “The problem is organisations must make sure that the work performed by robots is coordinated between the right bots, people and systems. When this isn’t orchestrated well enough, the benefits of RPA evaporate. Orchestration should be the a i ma ga z i n e. com

R PA

“ When AI or machine learning is combined with RPA, organisations can add even greater value” — Andrew Pellegrino, Director of Intelligent Automation, DataRobot

46

DECEMBER 2020

first point of call regardless of who’s doing the work: a robot, human, system or even an AI.” Bots are also not the idealised, perfect beings you might imagine, with malfunctions a distinct possibility.

Indeed, 87% of IT decision-makers have experienced bot malfunctions, according to a Pegasystems study. That can be mitigated by continual evaluation of the technology. “Once implemented, RPA should not be forgotten about – it requires consistent appraisals, to keep up with the ever-changing world of regulation and advancements in technology,” says Lappin.

The future of the technology will be dictated by its evolution and the addition of new features, with DataRobot’s Pellegrino seeing something of an automation saturation. “It is difficult to find a highly transactional, repetitive task that is not already automated internally,” he says. “This is why the demand for AI/ML in conjunction with RPA has spiked recently as new use cases for automation require adding AI/ML to automate the intelligent decision making RPA alone cannot do.”

a i ma ga z i n e. com

47

ETHICS

48

DECEMBER 2020

Can AI be Trusted?

WRITTEN BY

PADDY SMITH

49

a i ma ga z i n e. com

ETHICS

50

DECEMBER 2020

Ethics in AI is hotly debated.

How much control should we give machines? And whose fault will it be when they overstep?

S

cience fiction is filled with dystopian futures

where robots run berserk, maiming and killing humans as they bypass their command

lines in a bid to break free from the shackles of human enslavement.

It’s a compelling narrative, and one that increas-

ingly grazes the real world as machine learning takes hold in the mainstream. Of course, Amazon recommending further reading of Peppa Pig books when you’ve just bought your niece’s birthday present is a far cry from “I can’t do that, Dave” Hal, but as the potential for AI becomes clearer, questions over the ethics of its ‘behaviour’ have established themselves with greater urgency.

The European Commission recently published its Assessment List for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (ALTAI) precisely to address the potential pitfalls of poorly implemented AI. Already there have been headlines about machine-made decisions in medicine, public health, business and government. Will we ever be able to trust AI with ethical decision making?

a i ma ga z i n e. com

51

“ There is nothing any more magical or morally questionable about AI that there was about the introduction of the Jacquard loom” — John Yardley, CEO, Threads Software

generally do not make moral judgements.

They simply enjoy creating algorithms and let someone else decide how to

For now, the answer is ‘no’. As Prof Paul Clough, head of data science at

commercialise them.”

Yet it is the method of employment that

Peak Indicators, points out, “most AI is

has stirred most controversy. Human

relatively shallow in its ability to capture

input into machines learning algorithms

and exhibit human intelligence”.

carries with it human bias, leading to

John Yardley, CEO of Threads Software, takes a similar line. He says,

AI which entrenches often unseen or unconscious cultural leanings.

“There is nothing any more magical or morally questionable about AI that there was about the introduction of the Jacquard loom in 1804. Both are/ were intended to replace humans and save money. The only difference is that, according to Alan Turing’s original definition, for a machine’s behaviour to be classed as intelligent, it has to be able to fool another human.

“Other than that, it is just another bit of software. If the humans that write that software want it to act like a human, they have the choice of emulating the human brain (eg neural networks) or emulating human behaviour. Programmers a i ma ga z i n e. com

53

ETHICS

“ Anyone wanting to sue will go after those with the deepest pockets – manufacturer or owner” — Akash Sachdeva, Partner, Joelson

datasets that are not balanced for each group represented will cause potential predictive biases that reflect the underly-

Prof Andy Pardoe, founder and managing director of Pardoe Ventures,

54

ing bias within the data.”

His solution is to train AI to spot bias.

explains, “Most ethical decision-making

“Researchers are now working on meth-

issues are not driven by poor AI algo-

ods to both identify and resolve such

rithms but inherent data bias and a lack

biases allowing predictive models to

of approaches to identify and manage

be more equalised for each group rep-

these data challenges. We have to

resented. Even now experienced data

acknowledge that what we are seeing

scientists are able to reduce the impact

with AI now is simply a reflection of reality

of data bias using various techniques to

that is being exposed by the underly-

select a more balanced training dataset.

ing data we are capturing. Training a machine learning algorithm with

“As the tools to support the process of training AI algorithms mature, the problems of data bias and issues of ethical decision making will be a thing of the past, and we will be able to better trust the automated decisions from AI systems.”

Others feel the control should be inserted at a human level, reviewing algorithmic decision-making to ensure lack of bias.

Dr Nick Lynch, consultant and investment lead at the Pistoia Alliance, says, “We’ve seen AI systems go ‘wrong’ in

DECEMBER 2020

How To Solve AI’s Ethical Puzzles | Cansu Canca | TEDxCambridgeSalon CLICK TO WATCH

|

18:08

55 many industries due to limited diversity in

reduce the pitfalls of AI and ensure more

datasets, leading to unethical decision-

trustworthy outcomes.”

making. Algorithms used in recruitment,

Jabe Wilson, consulting director for

for instance, are known to favour white

text and data analytics at Elsevier R&D

men. In medicine, adult males dominate

Solutions, cautions that while “there’s no

the clinical trial population and around 86

one-size-fits-all approach to guarantee

percent of participants are white.

ethical decision making when using AI

“When such data are used to ‘teach’ an algorithm that informs healthcare or

systems”, human intervention is crucial, for now.

recruitment decisions, there is a risk of

“One step that should be taken by

inaccurate and even harmful outcomes.

everyone to improve trust is ensuring full

If organisations and ecosystems work

transparency and accountability. This

together, they can ensure greater

means allowing researchers to go back

awareness of the ethical issues. Through

and review the algorithms an AI has used,

shared risk analyses and data, we can

the data calculations are based on, and a i ma ga z i n e. com

ETHICS

“ There’s no one-sizefits-all approach to guarantee ethical decision making when using AI systems” — Jabe Wilson, Consulting director for text and data analytics, Elsevier R&D Solutions the workings of the scientists who interpreted the results so that there can be accountability at every step.

56

“We need greater transparency around how AI tools operate and how they have reached the conclusions that

technology law firm Bristows. Their view:

they have. Not every firm can easily chal-

“When there is a dispute, there are usually

lenge the algorithms these systems are

multiple factors in play and each case will

based on, especially researchers without

turn on its facts. To avoid the ethics of

a background in data science. However,

the decisions made by AI being another

every firm can, and should, do more

issue to consider, ideally, responsibilities

to improve the quality and cleanliness

should be clearly attributed and shared

of their data to make sure undetected

at the outset.

biases are removed.”

Accountability is central to the role

“We can perhaps draw from data protection and cyber security best

of ethics in AI. Should injury, damage

practice principles of ‘Privacy by Design’

or death occur, who should take the rap:

and ‘Security by Design’ respectively,

owner or manufacturer?

whereby companies would be respon-

Chris Holder and Ralph Giles are lawyers specialising in robotics and AI at DECEMBER 2020

sible for identifying the impact and potential issues that may arise when AI

57 is incorporated in a decision making pro-

Akash Sachdeva, partner in litigation

cess, and what measures they should

at London law firm Joelson, takes a

put in place from the start to avert or

more pragmatic view. He says, “In real-

manage adverse events.

ity, both manufacturer and owner are

Where this is not the case, given the

at risk in any claim involving AI gone

above, it is unlikely that apportioning

wrong. And anyone wanting to sue will

all the blame to a single person or sys-

go after those with the deepest pock-

tem would be appropriate. As recently

ets – manufacturer or owner.

stated in a report from the European

“For me, the real issue that is going to

Commission, “from inception to use,

arise is around ethical decision making.

best practices promoting ethical

In terms of litigation, the fundamental

responsibility must be fostered and

question is whether one can still

shared. This way, humans can remain

be found liable for an offence – even if

accountable to users, instead of com-

the ‘correct’ ethical decision was made.

plex systems”.

For example, if someone purposely a i ma ga z i n e. com

ETHICS

determines that one person dies to save five people, which would be considered the ‘correct’ ethical decision, does that mean they are not liable for the death of that one person? Until we get AI determining legal cases in their entirety, every decision that is made by AI will ultimately be determined by human beings: judges, lawyers and juries.”

For Pardoe, the blame rests

“ The person who pulls the trigger of the gun is ultimately responsible for shooting someone and not the gun manufacturer” — Prof Andy Pardoe, Founding & Managing Partner, Pardoe Ventures

squarely with the user. “In the same

58

way that it’s the person who pulls

themselves from a legal framework built

the trigger of the gun is ultimately

around human fallibility.

responsible for shooting someone

Holder and Giles say, “The issue is

and not the gun manufacturer, there

with us rather than the AI – we would

has to be significant responsibility

prefer to ask a person to do what they

with the entity who is the user of the

feel is right, which is something that a

AI application.”

machine using AI simply cannot do. It

But he makes an important distinction,

remains a machine, not a human being

that “as an industry we have an ethical

and so it is incapable of ‘emotion’ in the

responsibility to ensure we can control

true human sense and is incapable of

and limit the use of such technologies,

having an ‘ethical view’.

for specific applications, in a way that

“A machine using AI cannot, there-

is acceptable to the general public and

fore, reach a ‘correct’ ethical answer

limits the risk to the reputation of the

to [Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous

technologies themselves.”

ethics survey] the trolley problem and it

It’s a dilemma of the AI ethics debate

remains a human imperative to construct

that, clouded by poor judgement as

autonomous machines that react to the

humans are, machines could make bet-

data around them, in accordance with

ter ethical decisions, yet cannot unbind

current ethical and regulatory standards.”

DECEMBER 2020

AI ETHICS BY NUMBERS

Customers:

Executives:

• 49% trust AI interactions (up from 30% in 2018)

• 78% are aware of explainability in AI systems (versus 32% in 2019)

• 66% expect AI models to be bias-free

• 65% are aware of AI discriminatory bias issues

• 67% expect organisations to be accountable for AI algorithms

• 52% have experienced legal scrutiny of their AI systems

Organisations:

• 2 2% have faced customer backlash stemming from AI systems

• 53% have a leader who is responsible for AI ethics • 50% have a confidential hotline to enable whistleblowing • 60% allow customers to access and modify their information (down from 70% in 2019)

Yardley agrees that AI should only be

From AI and the Ethical Conundrum: How organisations can build ethically robust AI systems and gain trust (2020).

Publisher: Capgemini Research Institute

accidents caused by driverless cars is

held accountable in a situation where

a lower proportion than those caused

“there is negligence involved”. He says,

by human drivers, it is not reasonable

“The customer must ultimately take a

to seek compensation for a contingency

view on whether the advantages out-

that could not be designed for.”

weigh the risks and needs to do this in

At the root of the AI ethics debate

the light of the overall performance of

is the question of scale. As Peter van

the aid with respect to human options.

der Putten, assistant professor at

So if, for instance, the number of

Leiden University and global director for a i ma ga z i n e. com

59

ETHICS

A L A N T U R I N G : FAT H E R O F A I

60

Alan Turing is best known for his code breaking work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, but he left behind a legacy of computer science progress that would lead to computational development, particularly algorithms, and the birth of AI. He studied at King’s College, Cambridge, where he excelled at maths and was awarded a fellowship. Turing went on to develop a concept called the ‘universal computing machine’ which could solve any mathematical problem as long as it could be represented as an algorithm. The resulting Turing machine remains

DECEMBER 2020

central to the study of computational theory.

Turing was born in London in 1912.

Frequently described by colleagues as a genius, he was also an eccentric who is said to have worn a gas mask to fend off hayfever, counted the revolutions of his bicycle pedals to ascertain when the chain would fall off and chained his mug to the radiator to prevent its theft. He was prosecuted for homosexual acts in 1952, for which he accepted chemical castration as an alternative to prison. He died, aged 41, as a result of cyanide poisoning. The inquest determined suicide.

decisioning solutions at Pegasystems,

advancement, their creation and use

points out, “One maverick human mak-

have had to fit in with the ethical, legal

ing decisions can have bad impact on

and societal zeitgeist – and AI pow-

tens to hundreds of decisions, but an

ered machines will be no different.

issue in models and logic driving auto-

“Taking the car as an example, when

mated decisions can affect millions.

they were first used on the roads,

In that situation, it is justified that more

it was a requirement that a person

scrutiny should be applied to AI.”

walked in front of one with a red flag

So where next for the AI ethics

to warn passers-by of what was about

debate? Lynch argues that organisa-

to come down the road. That was the

tions must “remain realistic about what

norm then. This requirement quickly

AI is capable of, and don’t stretch a

faded into history as the general public

tool beyond what it was made to do”.

got used to automobiles sharing the

He adds, “It’s crucial that leaders edu-

roads with horses and their speed

cate employees about AI and set the

meant that flag waving became more

right expectations. The best applica-

of a hindrance than a help. The rules

tions of AI are those which combine AI

changed. Society adapted.”

models with human decision-making.

Organisations must remember that AI can augment humans in drawing conclusions from data, but should never replace them.”

For Holder and Giles, the path ahead is lined with the lessons of the past. “This debate inevitably leads to the production of rules, regulations and standards that machines using AI must adhere to. Machines have been a part of human life for centuries and during each stage of technological a i ma ga z i n e. com

61

INTERVIEW

62

MAKING THE WORLD MORE HUMAN THROUGH INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION WRITTEN BY

PADDY SMITH

Pascal Bornet is a world leader in intelligent automation (IA).

He talks to AI about how the next industrial revolution’s effects go beyond business

DECEMBER 2020

63

a i ma ga z i n e. com

INTERVIEW

64

DECEMBER 2020

I

t would appear that Intelligent Automation (IA) can’t come soon enough for Pascal Bornet.

The recognised leading global authority on the subject is passionate about the capacity of

artificial intelligence and automation to make our society more human. He’s a busy man, conducting his interview with AI from the car as he abandons

Paris for the south of France for a family break.

Making more time could be one of the welcome shared outcomes of IA, as outlined in Intelligent Automation – Learn How to Harness Artificial Intelligence to Boost Business and Make Our World More Human.

65 The book – co-authored by Bornet, Ian Barkin and Jochen Wirtz – is the first reference guidebook published on the topic of IA, and draws on more than 500 use cases to illustrate a wide range of bold predictions.

You be the judge. How about:

• Saving over 10 million lives a year • Saving US$10 trillion per year • Eliminating world hunger • Saving the environment Now we’ve got your attention, read on for Bornet’s vision of the next renaissance, and how IA can make the world more human. a i ma ga z i n e. com

Digital Transformation.

Made real every day.

Find out how big advances in AI have made it easier than ever to unlock the power of data, create value, insights and a new level of intelligent security. From Individuals, to small organizations, to the Global Fortune 100, AI and machine learning are improving businesses and lives everywhere.

Learn More

Q. WHERE DOES IA COME FROM?

learning, low-code platforms, robotic

The industrial revolutions started over

process automation (RPA), and more.

200 years ago, automating blue-collar

It is aimed at automating end-to-end

work in the agricultural and manu-

business processes in a computerised

facturing industries. They provided

environment. It delivers business out-

massive and structural benefits to

comes on behalf of the employees.

our society, such as the reduction of

For example, IA can help to auto-

famine and an increase in standards

mate most work activities in ‘procure

of living. They also relieved people

to pay’ – from the selection of vendors,

from laborious manual work.

sending of orders, reception and

Officially coined in 2017 by IEEE, intelligent automation (IA) ushers in a new revolution: that of office work,

processing of their invoices, up to the payment of these vendors.

IA effectively creates a software-

automating white-collar work. Today,

based digital workforce that enables

office work accounts for more than 80

synergies by working hand-in-hand

per cent of the job roles in our global economy – such as lawyers, financial controllers, or call centre operators.

Like the previous automation revolutions, I believe IA will have a significant impact not only on employment but, more broadly, on our society.

Q. WHAT IS IA? IA, also called hyperautomation or cognitive automation, is one of the most recent trends in the field of artificial intelligence. It is a combination of methods and technologies, involving people, organisations, machine a i ma ga z i n e. com

67

INTERVIEW

“ IA is built by people, for people. Without people, there is no IA. Without IA, there are still people” — Pascal Bornet with the human workforce. As a result, IA increases process speed, reduces

pilot on a limited scope, many organisations have been struggling to scale their transformations.

According to my experience and

costs, eliminates errors, and enhances

research, companies which were

compliance. Ultimately, it improves

successful had all implemented five

employee and customer satisfaction

components:

and boosts revenues.

1. A lways put people in the centre of 68

Q. HOW DOES IA BOOST BUSINESS EFFICIENCY?

an IA transformation: IA is built by

Even though IA has only been coined

there is no IA. Without IA, there are

recently, its applications have spread

still people.

incredibly quickly in the business

people, for people. Without people,

2. S tart with a strong and healthy

world, validating its promise. It has

foundation: management sup-

already been adopted by more than

port, capability building and

half of the world's largest companies,

change management.

including ADP, JP Morgan, ANZ Bank,

3. C ombine the IA capabilities to

Netflix, and Unilever. The expected

automate end to end processes

impact on business efficiency is in the

and create synergies.

range of 20 to 60 per cent. These benefits are available to all organisations, across industries, and regardless of function.

While impactful, implementing IA is

4. D emocratise IA with the use of low code platforms, for example.

5. L everage technology to accelerate IA implementation (eg. process discovery and mining,

certainly not a silver bullet. While it is

data discovery, AutoML, auto-

easy to succeed in implementing a

mated maintenance).

DECEMBER 2020

A B O UT T HE AU T HO R

Pascal Bornet is a global expert in the field of intelligent automation (IA). He is a senior executive with 20-plus years of experience leading digital business transformations and creations. Over the past 10 years, he has founded and led intelligent automation practices, first for Ernst & Young and then McKinsey & Company. These lines of business delivered high-impact results to corporate clients across industries through innovation, research, strategic investments, and cutting-edge technology developments.

Los Angeles, an MBA from the National University of Singapore, a Master of Science in Management from EM-Lyon/Saint-Etienne, as well as several certifications in Data Science and Finance (US CPA).

69

Bornet is a recognised author, thought leader, lecturer, and speaker on artificial intelligence, automation, and the future of work.

He is also an influencer, elected Top Voice in Technology 2019, and has more than 300,000 followers on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Bornet holds an MBA from the University of California a i ma ga z i n e. com

INTERVIEW

Q. HOW DOES IA IMPROVE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE? According to Gallup research, 85 per

the next crisis.

Ilan Oshri, professor at the University

cent of employees worldwide are not

of Auckland's Graduate School of

fulfilled by their work, because it is

Management, said: "Covid-19 achieved

too manual, repetitive, and tedious.

in six to eight weeks what the evange-

IA solves a large part of this issue by

lists of automation have not managed...

freeing up employees from repeti-

for more than five years."

tive and transactional tasks, such as

70

this and make our world ready for

Despite the bad aspects of Covid-19,

keying in invoices in an accounting

it has helped the world understand the

software. And it refocuses them on

importance of digitalising processes,

more value-added and exciting tasks

enabling remote performance, and

(ones involving insights, creativity).

automating them to rely less on the

It also augments them, transforming them into superhumans able to

human workforce.

Companies that already leveraged

generate insights from millions of

IA have been able to continue their

data in a few seconds (such as identi-

operations, collect their cash, manage

fying a tumor on an X-ray).

their operations, and motivate their employees remotely.

Q. WHAT IMPACT HAS COVID-19 HAD ON IA? In my view, this crisis evidenced the need for more resilient systems to support our society. Our health and economic systems, mainly managed by a human workforce, have been put under extreme stress. Hospitals were desperately in need, while economies were falling into downturns.

IA has a large role to play in solving DECEMBER 2020

" IA effectively creates a software-based digital workforce that enables synergies by working hand-in-hand with the human workforce" — Pascal Bornet

71

Q. HOW DOES IA BOOST THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

customers don't bother complaining,

Building trust, while satisfying and

and 91 per cent of them will simply

retaining customers, is critical for

leave and never return. IA helps to

businesses. 96 per cent of unhappy

a i ma ga z i n e. com

INTERVIEW

" IA could help us consider building a new, more human society.

One that involves a new, more engaging definition of ‘work’, and that would give us the time to refocus on what matters the most in our lives – family, love, taking care of others, and our planet" — Pascal Bornet create innovative and customised products, and highly responsive,

72

Q. HOW CAN IA SAVE MONEY, AND REALLOCATE IT TO BETTER USES? IA could have the potential to realise

omnichannel customer services

a US$10 trillion of annual cost sav-

available 24/7. Based on my experi-

ings, by reducing frauds, errors, and

ence with IA, companies can increase

accidents. Indeed, IA not only makes

the level of their customer satisfaction

transaction processes more efficient

by over 50 per cent, while reducing the

and reliable, but it also generates log

contact centre workload by over 50

files for every action, creating trans-

per cent

parency and ease of compliance. Such a vast amount of money would allow

Q. HOW DOES IA SAVE LIVES?

us to double our global budget for edu-

IA has the potential to save millions

cation, help restore our planet from

of lives every year by supporting clini-

pollution, or even eliminate hunger.

cal trials and disease diagnosis, and countries, it can help reduce deaths

Q. HOW CAN IA HELP TO REINVENT OUR WORLD?

from preventable causes (1.6 million

Generalising the use of IA in our world

people died from diseases related to

is not without risks. To prepare our

diarrhea in 2017) and compensate for

world to effectively translate the key

the shortage of 4.3 million physicians

benefits of IA, our societies' roadmap

globally, by enabling remote diagnosis.

should include some imperatives.

avoiding medical errors. In developing

For example, IA application Tissue

First, education needs to be adapted

Analytics instantly diagnoses chronic

to fit the skills expected in the future.

wounds, burns, or skin conditions just

It has to focus on people's competitive

by taking a photo from a smartphone.

edge; that is, on tasks that machines

DECEMBER 2020

will never be able to do (well). In my

On top of this, IA's impact on

view, the most crucial of these skills

employment needs to be monitored

are creativity, adaptability, and ‘learn-

very closely. Similarly to the previous

ing how to learn’.

industrial revolutions, an optimistic

Second, according to economists,

scenario holds that IA will enable the

the use of digital technologies over the

creation of more jobs than we have

last decades has resulted in increas-

today. Conversely, a pessimistic

ing wealth inequalities amongst peo-

scenario suggests that, due to the

ple. To remedy this situation, it seems

fast pace and other specifics, IA will

necessary to consider implementing

massively reduce the number of jobs

wealth-sharing mechanisms such as

available. While the actual scenario

universal basic income.

will most likely be hybrid, to mitigate risks, we need to be prepared to deal with both scenarios. We owe this to our children and future generations.

Enabled by the above initiatives, IA could help us consider building a new, more human society. One that involves a new, more engaging definition of ‘work’, and that would give us the time to refocus on what matters the most in our lives – family, love, taking care of others, and our planet.

Intelligent Automation – Learn How to Harness Artificial Intelligence to Boost Business and Make Our World More Human, is out now, written by Pascal Bornet, Ian Barkin and Jochen Wirtz.

a i ma ga z i n e. com

73

T O P 10

74

Cars with AI Features Technology such as AI is enabling car manufacturers to accelerate performance and safety features.

We take a look at 10 examples WRITTEN BY

DOMINIC ELLIS

DECEMBER 2020

75

aim a g a z in e . c o m

T O P 10

10

GENESIS G80 [ C E O , WO N- HE E L E E ]

Seven air cells inside the Genesis G80’s Ergo Motion driver’s seat provide enhanced side support and automatically adjust themselves according to driving mode or speed, while the 12.3-inch 3D Cluster displays various data points and tracks the driver’s eyes to provide accurate information. Protective features include the Forward Attention Warning with IR camera, Remote Smart Parking Assist and Highway Driving Assist II.

2015

76

FOUNDED

34,000 NUMBER OF STAFF

South Korea LOCATION

DECEMBER 2020

1937 FOUNDED

670,000 NUMBER OF STAFF

Germany

77

LOCATION

09

VW ID.4 [ C E O , H E R B E RT D I E S S ]

Volkswagen Group, whose ID.4 marks its first fully electric SUV, is busy strengthening automotive and virtual links. It expects Computer Vision applications to generate savings in the “double-digit million-euro range�, focusing on production and logistics. Together with Mobileye, a subsidiary of Intel and a global leader in autonomous driving, and Champion Motors, which is specialized in vehicle distribution, fleet logistics and infrastructure, the Volkswagen Group is planning to launch a ride-hailing service with self-driving electric vehicles in Israel from 2022 onwards. a i ma ga z i n e. com

ericsson.com/ 5g-switch

Move towards zero touch, cut down on time

Ericsson.

The 5G switch made easy.

With automated provisioning and insight-driven service assurance, Ericsson Dynamic Orchestration simplifies operations, moving you closer to the zero-touch experience.

This means greater savings and shorter time to market.

08

MERCEDES BENZ S-CLASS [ C E O , D IE T ER Z E TS CHE ]

The new S-Class is being billed as hi-tech meets old with its 3D-effect instrument display screen, sharp augmented reality head-up display, and new Interior Assist feature. From driver assist to safety systems, the digital footprint is strong and it’s another one with over-the-air capability, allowing remote software updates to be made for more than 50 different components via an embedded SIM card. Its decarbondrive duet consists of the EQS and EQA SUV. The firm doesn’t want its high-flying customers to be left hanging around and is committed to rapid-charge technology, allowing 60 miles of range to be added in 10 minutes.

1926

164,000

Germany

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

LOCATION

a i ma ga z i n e. com

79

T O P 10

07

AUDI AICON CONCEPT [ C E O , M A RKUS D UE S MA NN ]

All eyes will be on Audi’s first pilot fleet of autonomous cars next year – which will be something along the lines of the AI:Con, a fully electric four-door concept which was unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.

That vehicle certainly ticked all the futuristic boxes with no pedals, steering wheel and conventional headlights (sensors and autonomous technology negate the need for traditional road lighting).

Other models which have caught attention include the Audi AI:TRAIL 80

which, rather than fitting rear passenger seats, has two hanging chairs that resemble a hammock, the AI:RACE high-performance sports car and AI:ME, modelled on a living room.

1909

90,640

Germany

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

LOCATION

DECEMBER 2020

2003 FOUNDED

48,016 NUMBER OF STAFF

USA LOCATION

06

81

TESLA MODEL X [ C E O , E LO N MUS K ]

Tesla warrants two entrances on our list, as befits its prime status in the self-driving field. It believes an approach based on advanced AI for vision and planning, supported by efficient use of inference hardware, is the only way to achieve a general solution to full selfdriving. Like the Model S, on which it was developed, the mid-size X model is packed with all sorts of tech gadgetry including ultrasonic sensors, forward-facing radar and 360-degree cameras, and it can power from 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds, around half that of the Tesla Model S P100D. Let’s not forget the fuel economy either – an alluring £0.04 per mile. a i ma ga z i n e. com

Reimagine the impossible

Bring together people, data, and processes to transform your organization.

With the latest in AI technologies, you can engage your customers in new ways, empower your employees more than ever before, and optimize operations to become an industry leader. Start your digital transformation today.

Get started

1902

164,000

USA

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

LOCATION

83

05

CADILLAC CT6 [ C E O , ST E VE CA RL I S L E ]

Cadillac promises that the highway commute will never be the same again thanks to Super Cruise – billed as the first truly hands-free driving assistance feature for compatible highways – though as befits these transitional times, it advises drivers not to turn it off completely.

The idea of hands-free driving is gaining appeal thanks to developments in lane-keeping technology. The data-enabled feature is available on eligible 2018, 2019, and 2020 CT6 models, and 2021 Escalade models (late availability starting early 2021). a i ma ga z i n e. com

T O P 10

04

MERCEDES BENZ E-CLASS [ C E O , D IE T E R ZE TS CHE ]

Mercedes is going all out to transform the future of mobility, focusing on digitalisation and decarbonisation, and creating innovative, sustainable and desirable luxury vehicles. Consequently, it is about to herald ‘the first digital S-Class’ complete with an MBUX infotainment system and 12.3-inch digital dash – and one of the most eye-catching features is a 360-degree camera which merges reality-with-3D technology. In a move which would have Volvo purring, the new 84

S-Class will be the first car to feature airbags in the front seats that can protect occupants in the rear, while the in-car voice assistant is capable of more dialogue.

1926

164,000

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

DECEMBER 2020

Germany Germany LOCATION

1917

133,800

Germany

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

LOCATION

03

BMW 5 SERIES

[ C E O , O L I VE R ZI PS E ]

BMW believes this model is the “ultimate stage” when it comes to digital services, be it real time traffic information, Connected Music or driver assistance systems – and like Tesla, it lets you receive over-the-air updates.

The software has also been redesigned to make it easier to use the optional touchscreen capability, and the 5 Series now offers Gesture Control as well. As part of the mid-2020 update, Apple Carplay and Android Auto (for the first time) are also now fitted as standard. The Driving Assistant Professional option now includes Active Navigation with the help of the Lane Change Assistant. a i ma ga z i n e. com

85

E M E A | A P A C | | APAC N O R T H | A EMEA MERICA AMERICAS FIND OUT MORE

FIND OUT MORE

T O P 10

88

02 1927

41,500

Sweden

FOUNDED

NUMBER OF STAFF

LOCATION

DECEMBER 2020

VOLVO XC60 [ C EO , M A RT I N L U ND ST EDT ]

The XC60 tech treats start before you drive, with preheat and precool features available through the Volvo On Call app, and key functions can be accessed by voice activated control. The Sensus Connect and Sensus Navigation systems connect you “intuitively” to the digital world and are prepared for upcoming web and cloudbased functions. Active up to 80 mph, Pilot Assist steering support provides drivers with support in stop-go and motorway traffic. Using map data from the car’s navigation system, the XC60 can identify hills and curves ahead and adapt the speed. Volvo is a byword for safety and other aids are the rear collision warning and mitigation support.

a i ma ga z i n e. com

89

T O P 10

2003 FOUNDED

48,016 NUMBER OF STAFF

USA LOCATION

90

TESLA MODEL S [ CEO, ELON MUSK ] Tesla cars in the US can now drive themselves following a recent Full Self-Driving software update (‘FSD beta rollout’) and the manufacturer continues to set the AI-powered standard. Perhaps the real beauty of FSD isn’t so much the autonomy but the fact that cars don’t require a cellular connection. The Tesla Model S is less a car and more a technology showcase on wheels. With rear, side and forward-facing cameras, it offers better views than the most accomplished driver, its forward-facing radar provides a long-range view of distant objects and 12 ultrasonic sensors can detect nearby cars, prevent collisions and assist with parking. The autopilot even controls the throttle, brakes and steering in certain situations and software upgrades come over the air, just like on your mobile.

DECEMBER 2020

91

Tesla’s Mission CLICK TO WATCH

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1:49

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92

UiPath: INNOVATION IN AUTOMATION AND THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 WRITTEN BY

GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY

BEN MALTBY

DECEMBER 2020

93

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U i PAT H

Chris Duddridge, Area Vice President and Managing Director, UiPath (UK and Ireland), discusses automation trends, innovation and the impact of COVID-19

P

rior to joining UiPath, Chris Duddridge spent the past 20 years working within the HR, payroll and ERP software sales

market. Chris has previously worked for Sage and Deltek, before joining UiPath a year and a half ago as RVP for enterprise sales and is now Area Vice 94

President and Managing Director.

“What initially drew me to UiPath was its people and being a part of a new emerging technology sector which was growing faster than any other I’d ever experienced. It also helped that RPA and intelligent automation had become pervasive across every industry and at every level within the business from the board agenda to the subject matter experts. I started off leading our enterprise sales team gaining a very quick and valuable induction to what was driving the agenda for automation from some of our largest clients. I’m now very lucky to represent UiPath UK & Ireland across all business functions from our sales engagements with new clients, but also our existing account management, Pre-Sales, Customer Success, and Partner

DECEMBER 2020

95

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U i PAT H

“ Just four short years ago, it was a Romanian startup whose co-founders were driven by this vision of making work fun again. There were humble beginnings and this culture of staying humble, accepting feedback and seeking to improve, remaining obsessed with our customers’ success still permeates our present ethos” — Chris Duddridge, Area Vice President and Managing Director, UiPath (UK and Ireland)

channels. I’m incredibly fortunate to have an amazing team, who obsess over our customers’ projects and objectives, which makes it a great deal easier for me when we work to amplify

96

our approach across our marketing and PR channels,” says Duddridge.

“UiPath is very different to other companies,” comments Duddridge.

“Just four short years ago, it was a Romanian startup whose co-founders were driven by this vision of making work fun again. There were humble beginnings and this culture of staying humble, accepting feedback and seeking to improve, remaining obsessed with our customers’ success still permeates our present ethos. This vision of shaking up the workplace in order to free up employees from the mundane part of office work with the help of software robots and letting DECEMBER 2020

The Story of Work CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:25

97 them focus on value-added work like

a 500,000-member strong global

analysis, creative activities, and stra-

community of RPA developers. We

tegic tasks producing revenue impact

were the first company to offer free

made UiPath the globally successful

download of our community edition

company it is today. Dedicated to what

product – software developers, schools

we like to call accelerating human

and universities, NGOs, small compa-

achievement, we focus on the whole

nies have free access to work with

narrative not just on the commercial

our software robots. On one hand,

gains. UiPath knew it was going to be

we were able to garner valuable feed-

disruptive from the get-go, and we

back and improve on our product so

maintained a steadfast commitment

that it responds to the most diverse

to democratising access to RPA and

range of business cases, but we have

digital skills – through the free online

also been creating the essential work-

training platform UiPath Academy,

force to enable our customers to

and the continuous investment into

achieve a greater outcome with their a i ma ga z i n e. com

U i PAT H

98 automation journeys. And we paired

our robots to respond to increasingly

this with a focus on creating a strong

complex processes and demands,

ecosystem of partners – an essential

embedding into our platform artificial

way of taking our end-to-end automa-

intelligence and machine learning

tion platform to customers and having

algorithms, task and process mining,

it service their goal.”

advanced analytics that allow the robots to learn and execute more.

CURRENT TRENDS WITHIN ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION

Little did we know we were actually priming our product for the number

“In market terms, RPA is the orches-

one trend Gartner predicted for 2020

tration capabilities of digital assistants

– hyper automation. This is now top of

– software robots that help people

mind for the entire industry, and it’s

perform their daily job on a case by

end-to-end approach. Rather than

case basis. Our focus during the

a one and done approach, organisations

last two-three years was to enable

are looking for a true transformation

DECEMBER 2020

for business strategies, which can

global pandemic. With more people

be captured in four key pillars: digital

working from home than ever and

transformation, enhancing employee

unprecedented challenges in terms

experience, improving the customer

of supply and demand or customer

service, and reducing risk and increas-

grievances (think aviation or call cen-

ing compliance” says Duddridge.

tres here), relying on technology for

“All these are even more fundamental

remote on-boarding, or sorting huge

for CEOs in the current climate while

backlogs of requests, or staying compli-

business models are reshaped by the

ant takes centre stage.”

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Chris Duddridge Title: Area Vice President and Managing Director (UK and Ireland) Industry: Computer Software

Location: London, United Kingdom

Chris Duddridge is UiPath’s Area Vice President and Managing Director of UK and Ireland. He leads the UK and Irish teams in their mission to drive automation adoption in the region, helping customers achieve their automation goals using UiPath’s best-in-its-class hyperautomation platform. Chris previously held the position of RVP of Sales for UK and Ireland at UiPath, supporting UiPath during a period of hypergrowth. With more than 20 years in sales and technology, he is an experienced sales leader with a track record of helping small teams rise to market leader status. Passionate about technology, Chris is inspired by the potential of automation to transform the future of work.

Highly motivated by teamwork, his key areas of interest are incentivising collaboration, creativity, and customer focus. a i ma ga z i n e. com

99

POWER UP YOUR DIGITAL OPERATIONS WITH INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION At Symphony, we’re the proven leaders in transforming front, middle and back office operations to boost overall efficiency, increase employee productivity and improve customer satisfaction.

“As organisations grappled with their

volumes of data. Think of the many hours

own specific challenges and disruptions

an employee spends copying and past-

whilst the pandemic unfolded, it quickly

ing data from one application to another

became clear that intelligent automation

or extracting information from one docu-

programmes facilitated faster decision-

ment and inputting it on an excel sheet

making, much needed agility and

for example. Think of the huge volumes

operational resilience to adjust to rapidly

of invoices a financial shared service

changing demands and pressures. Now,

centre needs to operate and how only a

as businesses begin to stabilise rela-

robot will pay the same attention to the

tive to the earliest days, smart business

5000th invoice as to the first. Usually the

leaders are reimagining operations with

challenges with implementing RPA are

radical agility baked in, and automation

that someone has to deliver it, a subject

at the forefront. They’ve also begun to

matter expert has got to share their intel-

realise that the decisions they take will

ligence around how that process works

shape many aspects of business and the

dealing with every nuance that comes

future workplace, not just for the remain-

with it. Which leaves you with the reality

der of the pandemic – but for years to

that robots are very clever, but they do

come.” added Jason Martindale, Vice

not replace cognitive skills. Humans still

President Sales at Symphony, a SYKES

retain the ascendancy in every automa-

company – a long-time UiPath partner

tion because they’re either the subject

specialising in IA implementation and

matter experts that need to program

managed services.

the automation, or they are the part of the loop which needs to train the robots

THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF AUTOMATION

to learn and continue to deliver value

“The benefits of automation are easy

challenges with delivering automation

to sell,” contemplates Duddridge, “eve-

revolve around firstly having enough

rything that can be automated, will be

people to dedicate to delivering that

automated as long as it’s process led,

journey, scaling up the RPA centre

rules driven and you deal with large

of excellence, the subject matter

in that process. And so the real world

a i ma ga z i n e. com

101

U i PAT H

experts and the people that will lead

real problems, not “selling potential”.

the automation journeys forward within

“Recent events have kickstarted digital

each organisation, and ensuring what

transformation journeys for many

you’re developing is actually delivering

organisations, with remote working,

a return on investment and making

increased demand, or asudden burst

sure that people invest heavily in

in volumes pushing a lot of organisa-

the delivery.”

tions to think about automation. This

Following the COVID-19 outbreak,

102

is something that UiPath is looking

Duddridge reiterates that the organi-

to help where it can, to drive innovation

sation is truly focused on helping solve

for business continuity.”

UI PAT H ’S G U I D I N G PRINCIPLES

THE BEST STRATEGY With the benefits and challenges of adopting an ‘automation first’ mindset,

• A robot for every person

Duddridge reflects on the industry and

• Pioneering an ‘automation first’ mindset liberating office employees from boring mundane tasks to focus on added-value work;

explains that the strategic approach

• The UiPath mission is to provide the best RPA technology platform to enable the ‘automation first’ enterprise; • Free access to training for all RPA roles (also the first RPA company to provide a free download version of its product).

DECEMBER 2020

for an effective adoption of automation has changed in recent times.

“It used to be very varied in terms of how automation initiatives were created,” he comments. “An example of this is someone within the finance team deciding that vendor invoice management could be automated.

That finance organisation could use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to retrieve the pertinent data from a document to break the back of 80% of its document ingestion and make its operations more agile. These kinds

“ Everything that can be automated, will be automated as long as it’s process led, rules driven and you deal with large volumes of data” — Chris Duddridge, Area Vice President and Managing Director, UiPath (UK and Ireland)

of organisations were our entry point into the market, but what we are now seeing are top down or bottom up strategies – sometimes both. For example, you will see CEOs of large banks talking about automation being a key pillar of their commitments, but you’ll also see citizen developers – regular employees – that are finding opportunities to make their work and the customer experience better. If people adopt that top down and bottom up approach it means that organisations will meet in the middle and always think about automation first.”

UiPath partners - stronger together CLICK TO WATCH

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2:38

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103

U i PAT H

104

A robot for every person: Benefit from automation at enterprise-wide Scale - UiPath CLICK TO WATCH

DECEMBER 2020

|

2:34

INNOVATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATIONS When it comes to innovation and technology implementations within automation, Duddridge sees the biggest benefit that has evolved being “collaboration of intra technology companies. Think about anyone in the market that is perceived as market leaders, these leaders have acquired RPA skills within their business because automation is a key component of their platform. But what we’ve seen is that with our open and free community of technology partners we haven’t had to roll out 50 different proprietary bits of technology because we can leverage our relationship with partners such as Microsoft, Service Now, SAP and Salesforce, which are open to work within a collaborative ecosystem to deliver really transformational customer outcomes.”

Duddridge adds that “while perhaps with technological advancements within the automation industry cloud technology has been a key player for us, allowing us to stand up our infrastructure within AWS or Microsoft Azure in seconds, and while the advent a i ma ga z i n e. com

105

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AUTOMATION IT’S SO MUC H MORE THAN JUS T TEC HNOLOGY

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VISIT US

“ Recent events have kickstarted digital transformation journeys for many organisations, with remote working, increased demand, or a sudden burst in volumes pushing a lot of organisations to think about automation” — Chris Duddridge, Area Vice President and Managing Director, UiPath (UK and Ireland)

“across public and private sector clients in the UK and Ireland, innovation not only being an aspiration, but a necessity to find work arounds by

of cloud is not new, how we leverage

enabling technology at speed, and we

our relationships with cloud vendors is

felt compelled to help them, playing

truly transformational for businesses.

our part in mitigating the devastating

Most organisations are now looking

effects of the pandemic .” However, he

for cloud-ready technology that they

believes that while it has accelerated

can adopt quickly, knowing that you

the agenda it hasn’t changed anything,

tick every security box, compliance

and the technology remains the

box and regulatory box necessary.”

same. “The spirit of what we are trying

Other strategic additions to automa-

to achieve in getting software robots

tion Duddridge has seen in the last six

to take on the mundane rules-based

months include intelligent document

repetitive processes at speed and

understanding, some of which are AI and machine learning enabled, as well as OCR, process discovery, process mining, business process management and RPA.

POST-COVID-19 AND FIRST STEPS FOR THE INDUSTRY Reflecting on the industry since COVID-19, Duddridge has witnessed a i ma ga z i n e. com

107

U i PAT H

108

“ W e can leverage our relationship with partners such as Microsoft, Service Now, SAP and Salesforce, which are open to work within a collaborative ecosystem to deliver really transformational customer outcomes” — Chris Duddridge, Area Vice President and Managing Director, UiPath (UK and Ireland) DECEMBER 2020

2005

Year founded

$360mn Annual recurring revenue (2019)

3,000 Number of employees

scale, and allowing the employees to

that act as a contingency, or ensure

deliver value-added impactful work

that parts of the business that are

which will ultimately be transformative

a challenge to manage with a remote

for organisations remains the same.

workforce are address in the long term.�

At the moment everyone’s still dealing with contingency planning and keeping the lights on, but post COVID-19, I think automation will remain the biggest topic for making sure that, should something like this ever to happen again, there are provisions a i ma ga z i n e. com

109

110

DECEMBER 2020

Guiding the next generation of process automation WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

BEN MALTBY 111

a i ma ga z i n e. com

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

Wayne Butterfield, Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions at ISG, describes why automation is becoming a modern business necessity

F

ounded in 2006, Information Services Group (ISG) has established itself as a global leader in technological research and

advice. With a staff of over 1,300 experts working in 20 offices spread around the world, the company distinguishes itself with an innovative approach 112

based on industry insight, cutting-edge analysis and hands-on experience. ISG’s diverse range of 700 customers is a testament to the breadth of its knowledge - from privately-owned corporations to public institutions and tech providers, ISG has been able to foster positive results and take its clients to a new level of operational excellence.

Wayne Butterfield, Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions, reflects that the company’s focus made a big impression on him when he started there in 2016: “I joined ISG for the people, the strategic direction that they were interested in moving towards and because the automation space is of real interest to me.” Having previously worked for two of the top tech/telecoms companies in the sector - O2 and BT - Butterfield explains that the fantastic opportunities and DECEMBER 2020

113

experiences that were afforded to him early on have gone on to influence his work with ISG. Learning various aspects of the industry, including online chat/chatbots, customer services, RPA (robotic process automation) and more, crystallised his experience and formed him into the tech advocate he is today. “It opened my eyes up to the role that technology can play in helping a i ma ga z i n e. com

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

businesses achieve their goals, cre-

staff of ex-practitioners and early adop-

ate business value and increase

ters means that clients can be assured

operational efficiencies.”

of its credentials as an innovator almost

Although it’s a valuable insight, it’s

114

immediately. “ISG is led by people, like

far from a unique one, which is why,

myself, who didn’t learn about automa-

Butterfield continues, ISG Automation

tion from a PowerPoint,” Butterfield

strives to differentiate itself from the

states, “as a really early adopter, I wrote

competition by harkening back to its

the PowerPoint.” When he started work-

roots as a sourcing company. “ISG has

ing with RPA 10 years ago, Butterfield

the leading market share in all advised

says that he was amongst the first

Sourcing deals globally. As a result, it

globally to explore its potential. His

has collated a significant amount of

work resulted in ISG’s concept of the

really useful data; it’s a very data driven

‘RPA Centre of Excellence’ based on

business now.” The importance of data

five key principles: defining team roles,

in an era where information is gold dust

establishing an RPA CoE Council,

cannot be overstated. Moreover, ISG’s

establishing effective governance,

recognition of automation’s value and its

managing organisational change and collaborating with IT. It’s a cogent level

C O M PA N Y FACT S

ISG’s ‘Bot 3.0’ study, which surveyed 321 QTP (qualified to participate) companies, found that only 7% of companies with a dedicated automation strategy included complex cognitive tasks

of expertise that few other companies can lay claim to. In fact, when asked what he considers the greatest achievement of ISG to date, Butterfield proudly says that the “long-standing repeat business [ISG] gets from multiple clients” is at the top of his list.

“RPA is a cornerstone of most organisations’ automation strategies at the moment,” says Butterfield. “It’s generally the technology that most people have started with and I would say that

DECEMBER 2020

What Should I Automate?

CLICK TO WATCH

|

2:22

115 it’s probably the most mature at the

journeys,” Butterfield explains. “Having

moment.” Governed by software which

the right conversations, from a change

emulates how humans manipulate digi-

management perspective, are what

tal systems, RPA can be revolutionary

will make a programme successful, not

for a company seeking to emancipate

whether you build a small number of

its workforce of mundane, repetitive

bots; this isn’t really a technology play,

functions so that they can focus on

but that seems to get lost in most mar-

more qualitative tasks. The potential

keting messages I read online.”

for RPA’s application makes it a diverse

ISG’s sophisticated understanding

subject and one which requires ISG’s

of RPA is impressive. However, given

level of knowledge to properly leverage.

the mercurial nature of the tech indus-

“The way we help our clients is based

try, the company had to push beyond

around discussing our experiences

traditional RPA and also consider other

and then using the methodologies that

developments in AI (artificial intel-

we’ve developed to help accelerate their

ligence) based automation. After all, in a a i ma ga z i n e. com

“ I joined ISG for the people and for the strategic direction that they were interested in going in, because the automation space is of real interest to me” — Wayne Butterfield, Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions, ISG

today could be disrupted tomorrow,” Butterfield explains. “Being two or three steps in front of your clients is really important. There’s definitely been a mindset change throughout the organisation that we’re no longer just an RPA practice; we’re an automation practice and we need to make use of different technologies.” Therefore, ISG started engaging in next generation technologies like NLP (natural language

sector where innovation is a key compo-

processing), OCR (optical character

nent, staying ahead of industry trends

recognition), Virtual Agents and chat-

is essential. “We’re living in a world

bots all the way back in 2017. Whilst

where what is seen as state-of-the-art

RPA enables automation of the ‘hand

ISG Helps Banks Harness the Power of Automation CLICK TO WATCH

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3:05

a i ma ga z i n e. com

117

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence CLICK TO WATCH

|

42:26

118 work’, these other technologies repre-

as one further example of an automa-

sent a step forwards in achieving the

tion area of interest: conversational AI

same thing for much more complicated

continues to improve, meaning only the

‘head work’. ISG’s recent ‘Bot 3.0’ study

longer or more complex conversations

surveyed 321 QTP (qualified to partici-

will still require agents to handle them.

pate) companies found that only 7% of

“Unfortunately for agents, they still have

companies with a dedicated automation

the pressure of an average handling

strategy included complex cognitive

time (AHT) target on the residual con-

tasks, meaning there is still plenty of

tacts,” he states. “It will then be Assisted

room for development in this field.

Automation (vs RPA) that will further

RPA has delivered a large number

enable swifter contact resolution:

of benefits to organisations who have

quickly retrieving customer data and

implemented it correctly, but it is not

presenting it to the advisor within sec-

a panacea for all areas of business.

onds, ensuring compliance scripts are

Butterfield notes the Contact Centre

read whilst completing arduous manual

DECEMBER 2020

tasks in the background and even

company could substitute human work-

adding notes for completed actions.”

forces with relative ease, the truly global

Butterfield posits that this kind of auto-

impact of COVID-19 has highlighted

mation for advisors will be imperative

for many enterprises the necessity of

for more complex enquiries, effectively

maintaining a good human-robot mix to

utilising the best of both human and

ensure business continuity. “I think from

machine intelligence in a way which

an automation perspective, it has really

delivers optimal customer outcomes.

heightened the need for the (nonhu-

This use of multiple technologies, rather

man) digital workforce to be a core part

than a ‘silver bullet’ is where we are see-

of just about every organisation’s strat-

ing increased traction in the market.

egy moving forward,” states Butterfield.

It could be argued that the need for

The other effects of the pandemic on

ever-increasing levels of automation has

ISG in particular have been maintain-

never been made clearer than by the

ing compliance and regulation within a

socio-economic effects of the COVID-

new paradigm of remote working. “It’s

19 pandemic. Whereas previously a

extremely difficult to manage when

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Wayne Butterfield Title: Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions Industry: Technology research and advisory Wayne is an automation pioneer, thought leader and practitioner based in the UK. He heads up the AI & Cognitive Automation Practice for ISG globally and is responsible for all cognitive automation engagements in ISG, assisting its clients to make the move from basic RPA into the realm of AI Automation and beyond. a i ma ga z i n e. com

119

Messaging Will Never Be The Same Contact centers are evolving.

Virtual and human agents now work together to create superior messaging experiences.

Change the conversation.

You’ll satisfy more customers. www.247.ai

“ We’re living in a world where what is seen as state-of-the-art today could be disrupted tomorrow” — Wayne Butterfield, Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions, ISG

security regulations, NICE is comprised of individuals with a sincere dedication to helping others and achieving the best outcomes for clients.

Founded in 1986 in Israel and currently employing over 6,500 people, the company has established a storied legacy in the software industry. Oded Karev joined NICE in 2012 as Director of Strategy before working his way up to General Manager of Advanced

you’ve got 2,000 agents working from

Robotics Process Automation (RPA) in

2,000 separate locations, predomi-

2016. “All of our focus is around digital

nantly from their home, and that’s not to

transformation,” he explains. “That is,

even start thinking about the bandwidth

everything around managing, optimis-

challenges and the connectivity issues,”

ing and improving the workforce of

he continues. Therefore, working very

customer service operations.”

closely with partners to find solutions to

Reflecting on how the industry

these problems will remain high prior-

has changed since the start of his

ity for ISG in the short-term. Looking

career, Karev says that the meaning of

for partners that will help it investigate

‘digital transformation’ has undergone

specific issues and highlight the right

something of a change itself in recent

solutions plays into ISG’s culture as an

years. Whereas once automation was

organisation of problem solvers at heart.

about removing the human element in

Two collaborators who have helped it

favour of customers interacting solely

attain this result are NICE and [24]7.ai.

with a machine, now it is a far more

Providing customers with the exper-

harmonious synergy between human

tise to increase operational efficiency,

and artificial intelligence (AI). “The old

stay financially protected and ensure

methodology had a great impact on the

their business is fully compliant with

bottom line because you saved a lot a i ma ga z i n e. com

121

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

of service costs, but it had a negative effect on the top line: more attrition, less loyalty, less upselling, etc.” With customer-centrism now permeating business philosophy, NICE is at the forefront of software solutions which enable efficiency without compromising the ‘personal touch’ of human-to-human interaction. Having become accustomed to highly efficient online service models pioneered by companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Uber and others, consumers now expect their 122

legacy service providers to give them a comparable digital experience.

After all, automation, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, is gaining in popularity as a practical solution to service restrictions. However, far from believing that the virus instigated this change, Karev affirms that “COVID just accelerated everything.” ISG distinguished itself as being one of the first companies to truly understand NICE’s concept of ‘attended automation’ (a term coined by Karev) and how it could accelerate digital transformation. “The RPA market is built on partnerships between vendors and consulting companies and DECEMBER 2020

123

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Oded Karev Title: General Manager of Advanced Robotics Process Automation, NICE Educated at Bar-Ilan University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Oded Karev joined NICE in 2012 as Director of Strategy before working his way up to General Manager of Advanced Robotics Process Automation (RPA) in 2016. A long-standing expert in his field, Karev has almost two decades of strategy consulting experience, including roles at Accenture. Today, his daily role involves focusing on digital transformation and managing, optimising and improving customer service operations. a i ma ga z i n e. com

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

N I C E ’S N EVA PRO DU CT

Of particular note is NICE’s NEVA product – a virtual assistant designed specifically with customer service staff in mind, able to help them both online and offline functions. The utility of NEVA was underscored and put to the test when ISG observed customer service agents experience increased call volumes as a result of complications caused by COVID-19.

The liberty afforded to them by NICE’s software meant that this spike in activity could be more effectively managed. “If you’re spending less end-to-end time dealing with a customer, that increases your ability to absorb more contacts,” he continues.

“For me, NEVA is a real business value driver and a key enabler.

It’s always great to see the appreciation NICE’s technology gets from my clients.”

124 service providers. Sometimes, we’ve

on a journey to embed AI into our robots

found it difficult to educate partners

and bring further product differentia-

on attended automation’s benefits, but

tion and more capabilities. The smarter

ISG got on the bandwagon immedi-

our products are, the more value ISG

ately.” Furthermore, Karev believes the

can bring to its end customers. This is

company’s partnership with ISG will

something that NICE intends to con-

become more strategic and visible as

tinue partnering with ISG on.”

their relationship develops.

Already thoroughly intertwined with

Meanwhile, [24]7.ai is dedicated to creating a seamless and thoroughly

each other’s goals, Karev even states

customisable customer service experi-

that by helping ISG he has come to

ence. Founded in 2000, the company

regard its customers as his own. “ISG

began gaining traction in India as a

is a company that is highly committed

business process outsourcer, before

to its customers and the success of its

expanding into other areas in Asia,

projects,” he summarises. “We’ve been

South America and the US. Now,

DECEMBER 2020

125 serving some of largest enterprise cli-

of experience in sales and marketing

ents currently in the global market, [24]7.

operations, states that the company is

ai combines the best of both human and

ushering in a new phase of customer

artificial intelligence (AI) by synthesising

service. “What we’re doing at [24]7.ai

workers with automated assistants to

is exciting because we’re bringing 20

handle simple tasks and leaving more

years of experience across the Atlantic

complex problems to be dealt with

to Europe and applying it to this space;

by a person. Moreover, during a more

it’s an exciting time for a vibrant, new

complex call, the AI can also automate

approach,” he says.

certain aspects of the enquiry, thus

This new approach couldn’t have

speeding up the overall solution and

come at a better time: with new technol-

enabling high-volumes of calls to be

ogy presenting both advantages and

dealt with a quality response.

challenges to those exploring how best

Tim Johnson, Managing Director of [24]7.ai EMEA, who has a wealth

to utilise it, [24]7.ai is pioneering the perspective that an intelligent fusion a i ma ga z i n e. com

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

126 E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Tim Johnson Title: Managing Director of EMEA, [24]7.ai Currently MD of [24]7.ai EMEA, Johnson was formerly a member of the Royal Navy, serving as an engineering officer. Following this first brush with leadership duties, he went on to become a professional sailor, where he worked across the Americas teaching people to sail. It was 20 years ago, upon his return to the UK, when he finally made the transition to sales and marketing operation, working in roles within telecoms, SaaS (software as a service), HR, payroll, and customer experience. Johnson is now focused on bringing process standards from the US over to Europe in order to create a vibrant and new approach.

DECEMBER 2020

127 of human and automated capabilities

its understanding of technology and

will yield the best results. “Very often,

its ability to differentiate between the

organisations have different divisions

truly valuable and the mundane.” Citing

looking after various channels. The

true partnership as critical, he adds that

effect is that customers end up with a

ISG helps to guide [24]7.ai through its

very mixed experience. Our company is

thought leadership and understanding

all about understanding your custom-

of vendors, which, in turn, allows the

er’s journey, making sure it’s as smooth

company to create added value for its

as possible and dealt with in the best

customers. “ISG has brought us valu-

way possible,” he continues.

able experience with robotic process

Recognising a shared goal in the

automation (RPA), which is very impor-

quest to optimise automation, Johnson

tant for us in terms of optimising how an

comments that [24]7.ai’s partnership

organisation operates.”

with ISG has been transformative. “ISG is a key partner of ours: we appreciate

When considering what key trends or technologies will continue to a i ma ga z i n e. com

I S G A U T O M AT I O N

shape the two companies’ relationship, Johnson refers to the ‘new normal’ or post-COVID-19 working conditions that businesses around the world are adapting to. “Some of what we’ve learned together is now being delivered to our customers around how to make remote working safe and secure for everyone,” he says. “We need to work with partners like ISG because it helps organisations to make the change towards omnichannel customer service and 128

the message we’ve been discussing: human intelligence and artificial intelligence working together.”

“ There is no one solution which is the panacea for automating large chunks of a business. Making sure that you’re choosing a trusted advisor will be extremely crucial and ISG is the right partner to guide that journey” — Wayne Butterfield, Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions, ISG DECEMBER 2020

As a team of problem solvers, ISG has achieved commendably. Having said that, since technology never stops changing, problems needing to be solved won’t either and so the company’s focus must always be on the future.

Despite the increasing sophistication of automation, Butterfield is confident that ISG Automation’s reputation and expertise will guide it successfully.

“Understanding the nuances between the various different technologies has always been an area which ISG really

2006

Year ISG was founded

$300mn+ ISG’s revenue in US dollars

1,300

Number of employees at ISG

excels in,” he states. “We understand

is the panacea for automating large

the complex and are able to explain

chunks of a business. Making sure that

it in simple terms. That’s what really

you’re choosing a trusted advisor will

resonates with our clients: who wants

be extremely crucial and ISG is the right

to be baffled by technology?” For the

partner to guide that journey.”

rest of 2020 and beyond, ISG will be focusing on helping its clients progress to a new generation of automation and promoting the seamless, sustainable benefits it can bestow. “The spectrum of automation technologies available, I think, is very important,” Butterfield concludes. “There is no one solution which a i ma ga z i n e. com

129

130

DECEMBER 2020

Leading the AI-powered CX Journey 131

WRITTEN BY

DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY

RYAN HALL

a i ma ga z i n e. com

[24]7.AI

Against the backdrop of a growing cyber war, [24]7.ai is providing a safe platform for businesses to communicate with their customers [24]7.ai co-founder and CEO PV Kannan realised, back in 2000, that the key to forward-thinking customer engagement was reaching beyond customers calling up companies to talk to call centre representatives to get answers to queries and moving quickly towards a digital standpoint.

132

“Today, customers want real-time responses to their questions,” says [24]7.ai’s Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer, Dr Rebecca Wynn.

CONVERSATIONAL AI Conversational AI is redefining customer experience (CX) across business messaging, voice and everywhere else. The journey for [24]7.ai towards meeting the need for more efficient customer interactions is allied to the rise of the chat bot triggering database responses; this inspired Kannan’s team to develop [24]7.ai’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) to build the business globally.

“Companies partner with [24]7.ai because we’re pioneers in the industry,” maintains Dr Wynn.

“We’re able to harness strong analytics to provide a seamless transition when customers need to DECEMBER 2020

“ Today, customers want real-time responses to their questions” — Dr Rebecca Wynn, Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer, [24]7.ai

133

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[24]7.AI

“ A paradigm shift was already coming, and now it’s here companies like [24]7.ai, with our expertise through offerings like the Engagement Cloud, can support the global roll out of secure customer communications across a range of devices, at work or at home” — Dr Rebecca Wynn, Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer, [24]7.ai

will increase our clients’ net promoter scores (NPS), lower operating costs and help drive revenues.”

Dr Wynn believes it’s vital for her

team to work to the mantra “How can 134

graduate to a human response but

we be better tomorrow?” She notes

don’t want to repeat all of the infor-

that recruiting the right personnel is

mation they’ve already given via a

vital to drive excellence. “We need

chatbot. We’ve created a unified digital

to be equipped to analyse customer

customer experience across channels

journeys and make them more efficient

from websites and tablets to social

and secure, not only for the company

media and smartphones to suit the

that hires us but for the consumers

needs of businesses across sectors,

that access them and want answers

from banking to retail. We’re confident

in real-time.”

that positive customer experiences

COMPLIANCE, RISK MANAGEMENT & SECURITY During a year where the pressures of the global Covid-19 pandemic have hastened many companies shift towards digital transformation, how is [24]7. ai offering support? “Businesses are moving decisively towards enabling DECEMBER 2020

Welcome to [24]7.ai CLICK TO WATCH

|

3:17

135 a remote workforce,” notes Dr Wynn

Dr Wynn sees the company’s cus-

of a process [24]7.ai has over a dec-

tomers as partners – a vital alliance

ade experience in delivering. “We’re

when facing up to the enemies beyond

mindful of the pressures that puts on

the keyboard… “We’re in this cyberwar

bandwidth so we regularly commu-

together,” she pledges. “We’re not only

nicate with our customers to analyse

driving a positive customer experience

business continuity and how they are

but also working with privacy, compli-

able to move their workforce quickly

ance and security teams because we

and offer an instant response to their

need to be cybersecurity warriors

customers, even when faced with

together. It’s an ecosystem that needs

disaster scenarios like this pandemic.

to be protected. If anyone on our

It’s something we were well prepared

platform is being attacked we need

for and are able to make key deci-

to let each other know and act accord-

sions quickly to mitigate risk in moving

ingly to stay secure. That’s why when

agents to work from home.”

I look at key vendors it’s not just a box a i ma ga z i n e. com

[24]7.AI

136

checking exercise; we’re investing in

messaging. “Proofpoint are able to help

good partnerships that protect ours

us with our top layer of security, to see

and our customers futures to better

where active threats are coming from

protect consumers at large worldwide.”

before those attempts start trickling down into our architecture,” explains

PARTNERING TO INNOVATE WITH PROOFPOINT, TANIUM & SUMO LOGIC CROWDSTRIKE

Dr Wynn. “It means we don’t have to

In its quest for cybersecurity innovation

board providing real-time dashboards

[24]7.ai partners with Proofpoint, tak-

for threat analysis of our firewalls.”

ing advantage of a raft of compliance

She applauds Proofpoint’s ability to

solutions to protect customers across

carry out deep dives that ensure

every channel from email, web and

a company is equipped to deal with

cloud to social media and mobile

constantly morphing phishing attacks

DECEMBER 2020

spend time training our personnel because we have their specialists on

and ransomware, dealing with issues

so many patches to go ahead and

effectively in real-time with a turn-

apply, they’re all important. But which

around time of less than 45 seconds.

one on what system do you patch

Gaining an overview of the cyber-

first? And then which server of that

security posture of a firewall and

system do you patch? First you have

enabling real-time filtering is vital for

to be able to know the risk that you’re

[24]7.ai. “You’re going to need patch

carrying on each server or each

management but it’s not the old

system; then you can know the order

school approach anymore,” says Dr

of precedence on that. That’s why we

Wynn. “I tell people when you have

work with companies like Tanium who

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Dr Rebecca Wynn

137

Title: Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer Industry: Computer Software

Location: Greater Phoenix Area

Dr Rebecca Wynn is lauded as a “game-changer who is ten steps ahead in developing and enforcing cybersecurity and privacy best practices and policies.” She is a “big picture” thinker who brings nearly 20 years of experience in Privacy, Compliance, Risk Management, Information Security, Assurance & Technology. She led the information security, privacy, and compliance pre-acquisition, acquisition and postacquisition of LearnVest, Inc. to Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company – a Fortune 100 company.

She is well known for being a gifted polymath, having deep understanding of current cyber security challenges and privacy issues, and is always open to new opportunities. a i ma ga z i n e. com

Call-Center Automation Leader [24]7.ai Enlists Proofpoint for People-Centric Cybersecurity

If you’ve ever felt trapped in a telephone menu tree, a nonsensical exchange with a chatbot, or even a call with a human customer-support rep who won’t go off-script, [24]7.ai feels your pain.

The 20-year-old Silicon Valley company is on a quest to make customer service easier and more enjoyable—a mission that has grown ever more urgent amid a major shift to digital commerce and remote work.

“If you have clients who go to your website and they can’t find information very quickly and efficiently, they usually go away,” says Rebecca Wynn, [24]7.ai’s global CISO and chief privacy officer. “People don’t have any patience anymore with that.”

Two critical aspects of [24]7.ai’s business are protecting its intellectual property and keeping clients’ information private.

[24]7.ai’s customer base runs the gamut of industry sectors. Many of those—such as healthcare finance and government—are highly regulated. [24]7.ai must keep customer data out of the hands of cyber criminals and compliant with a growing myriad of regulations.

“Cybersecurity plays a big, big role in what we do,” Wynn said. “We’re fighting a cyber war with people who are behind another keyboard and who are trying to harm us all.”

In any war, you need allies. Wynn enlisted the help of Proofpoint, a cybersecurity vendor she calls a strong partner in her fight against cyber threats and compliance risks.

“Proofpoint allows me to sleep at night because of what they are doing for me.”

Rebecca Wynn Global and CISO Chief Privacy Officer, [24]7.ai

Today’s threats target people, not technology.

That’s why Proofpoint takes a unique peoplecentric approach to cybersecurity. It offers a complete portfolio of security and compliance solutions designed to protect today’s “people perimeter.”

Proofpoint protects against a wide range of email and cloud threats. It helps customers control access to sensitive data and prevent data loss. And it trains users to be more resilient against the threats that target them.

“One of the things that I look for is who can be a good partner with me,” she said. “We are in a cyber war and I need people who can be in that cyber war with me.”

With Proofpoint, [24]7.ai can easily scale up its cyber defenses, using Proofpoint to augment its internal security team.

Having a trusted partner such as Proofpoint helps [24]7.ai identify which cybersecurity functions it does not need to duplicate because Proofpoint already provides them.

Learn more For more information visit proofpoint.com

[24]7.AI

E N GAGEM EN T CLO U D

140

[24]7.ai Engagement Cloud is the industry’s first integrated suite of conversational AI services designed to power both virtual and human agent interactions seamlessly across voice and digital channels. With Engagement Cloud, IT and CX leaders are able to rapidly diagnose customer intents and build, automate, monitor and optimise customer service and sales journeys. The intuitive, self-serve interfaces in Engagement Cloud empower both experts and non-technical users to make quick decisions.

Powered by [24]7.ai’s AIVA conversational AI technology, informed by decades of contact centre operations excellence,

DECEMBER 2020

and combined with expert human insight, Engagement Cloud anticipates your customers’ needs to streamline resolutions and strengthen relationships.

Engagement Cloud supports a consistent, branded customer experience while making every interaction more cost efficient and satisfying for customers and agents alike. Offering a single point of control for creating and managing human and bot interactions across digital and voice channels, its self-service tools can be used to set up intent selections and build conversational bots, business logic, conversation flows, user interfaces, and more.

“ Proofpoint are able to help us with our top layer The Total Economic Impac of security, to see where active threats are coming [24]7.ai Engagement Cl from before those attemptsOfstart trickling down Through customer interviews and data aggregation, Forrester concl into our architecture” [24]7.ai Engagement Cloud has the following three-year financial im — Dr Rebecca Wynn, Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer, [24]7.ai

“Being able to consolidate our endpoint agents with an extensive SUMMARY OF BENEFITS Three-year risk-adjusted platform that grows and adapts to our

$22.3M company’s needs without complex-

ity has been great,” says Dr Wynn. are more than just a vendor, they’re

She explains that “having systems

a trusted partner thinking beyond the

$8.2M in place that use machine learning

security space into risk management,

$1.9Mbefore to ensure that breaches stop

compliance and privacy to help us win

they occur isLiveparamount is today’s Live phone agent chat agent Decomissioned

the cyberwar. Because, again, it’s not

productivity productivity legacy system fast-pace technology world.

That

only the return on investment, it’s a

is especially true when you add on

141

return on the efficiency of an investment that really counts.”

[24]7.AI ENGAGEMENT CLOUD BY THE NUMBERS

Completing a trio of trusted partners, CrowdStrike empowers

25% NPS score increase

world-class intelligence to [24]7.ai to provide a full picture of attacks and the context needed to pivot to a protective security posture. Described

by Dr Wynn as a “next gen endpoint security on steroids”, it combines

42% IVR containment improvement

next gen anti-virus protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and proactive threat hunting in one platform.

50%+ live agent productivity increase

a i ma ga z i n e. com

This document is an abridged version of a case study commissione

[24]7.AI

fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and how fast malware, botnet attacks, and other cyber-attacks can move through a network.

“Without a EDR and threat hunting platform, it might take dozens of analysts to do those correlations, but CrowdStrike’s use of machine learning and real-time response capabilities speeds up investigations and remediations in our environment. It’s not just correlating the data, it’s about being able to correlate and stop an attack 142

as quickly as possible.”

FUTURE PROOFING CX Dr Wynn highlights a growing trend for businesses, particularly retail, moving online; something which has been accelerated by the global pandemic. “We’re supporting new customers as they develop communication channels to be able to manage this shift,” she says. “With our full web presence, we can manage their transition seamlessly. We’re also being approached by the education and healthcare sectors to help them meet the challenge of keeping their people connected.”

DECEMBER 2020

2000

Year founded

1.3bn

Self-service interactions/year

10,000 Number of employees

a i ma ga z i n e. com

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[24]7.AI

144

“ We’ve created a unified digital customer experience across channels from websites and tablets to social media and smartphones to suit the needs of businesses across sectors, from banking to retail” — Dr Rebecca Wynn, Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer, [24]7.ai

DECEMBER 2020

Recognised as a leader in The Forrester New Wave: Digital-First Customer Service 2020, and working with a host of Fortune 500 companies, organisations across multiple sectors can trust [24]7.ai to deliver.

Dr Wynn believes a global paradigm shift that has seen millions working remotely has offered an opportunity to move forward in a better way. “Businesses are looking

145

at their physical footprint and asking

customer communications across a

if they need so much real estate, can

range of devices to securely manage

they find ways to be more efficient?

that change to a hybrid way of working

Startups have been operating via this

between office and home. We’re pio-

model for years, leasing space that

neers for strategic thinking with much

allows them to expand and contract.

more to come.”

A paradigm shift was already coming, and now it’s here companies like [24]7. ai, with our expertise through offerings like the Engagement Cloud, can support the global roll out of secure a i ma ga z i n e. com

146

Dentsu Aegis: elevating human potential through automation

WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

MIKE SADR

DECEMBER 2020

147

a i ma ga z i n e. com

DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK

Max Cheprasov, Chief Automation Officer, explains why developing an AI and automation strategy is essential to modern enterprises’ future

D

entsu Aegis Network prides itself on being a company with a talent for innovativethinking and being thoroughly in-tune with

the technological zeitgeist. When we last spoke with the global marketing group which operates in over 145 countries, we learned how a highly client-centric approach was defining its mission to introduce 148

digital transformation and lay the foundations for a next-gen way of operating. Despite the discussion occurring at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dentsu Aegis demonstrated the confidence and optimism that only great teams guided by visionary leadership can achieve under such duress. Now, we revisit the company to explore one of the prevailing tech trends in modern business: artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

Having spent six years (2011 to 2017) as Senior VP and Head of Operations and Technology at iProspect – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dentsu Aegis – Max Cheprasov took on the role of Chief Automation Officer for Dentsu Aegis Americas in November 2017.

Considering himself a “digital native”, Cheprasov says that his transition into the role was a natural one and

DECEMBER 2020

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DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK

“ There’s always a need for creativity and ingenuity when designing your own unique and differentiated business strategy” — Max Cheprasov, Chief Automation Officer, Dentsu Aegis 150

was a decision guided by a long-term mission: “I transitioned into this new role to focus on acceleration of intelligent automation solutions and to promote best practice across Dentsu globally.”

In a career clearly defined by his commitment to finding new and better ways to service clients and enable employees to do their best work, Cheprasov is a believer in going beyond convention and working out cutting-edge tech solutions to everyday problems. “There’s always a need for creativity and ingenuity when designing your own unique and differentiated business strategy,” he says. It is this attitude that he brings to bear on his daily activities at Dentsu Aegis.

An early enthusiast of AI’s potential in business, Cheprasov embarked on his first automation-related project in 2016 by experimenting with natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG) technology for data analysis reports and insights.

It was because of this project that he and Dentsu Aegis’ leadership team became convinced that it was an avenue worth exploring with high priority.

Certain that AI could lead to a dramatic boost in business performance and

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151 customer experience, Cheprasov

functions to optimise the working lives

established an eight-year road map

of a company’s employees. Capable

(2017 to 2025) and the company for-

of augmenting workloads by automat-

mally established the Dentsu Aegis

ing a boring or repetitive task, Dentsu

Automation Centre of Expertise

Aegis can help mitigate or eliminate

(CoE). “Today, we have over 400 peo-

the laborious strain caused by routine

ple engaged with the CoE as part of

tasks, approval turnarounds and bot-

our global community of automation

tlenecks. “We can automate a process

champions and experts. But, as far

end-to-end and give that time back

as I’m concerned, this is still only the

to employees to handle more critical

beginning; the future of automation

tasks that cannot be automated, such

should be placed in the hands of every

as creative, critical, strategic thinking,

single employee,” he states. With the

complex problem solving and more.

goal of making teams as efficient, pro-

Our mission is to elevate human poten-

ductive and happy as possible, the CoE

tial,” says Cheprasov. a i ma ga z i n e. com

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“ Our mission is to elevate human potential” — Max Cheprasov, Chief Automation Officer, Dentsu Aegis

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Of course, this aim would be very dif-

incorporating the trend-setting new

ficult without a suitably agile workforce

ideas of the startups and other firms

behind the scenes at Dentsu Aegis,

it has acquired. “We operate without

and this is exactly what Cheprasov

borders and limitations as one enter-

says the company has. “I think we have

prise across 145 countries, where highly

a unique workplace culture. One word

collaborative teams of highly intelligent,

to describe everybody in the business,

optimistic and passionate people are

across 65,000 professionals, is that

working together and willing to take

we’re ‘entrepreneurial’ by the nature of

calculated risks to achieve impres-

how we’ve grown.” Having expanded

sive results for Dentsu Aegis and our

rapidly over the last five years due

clients,” he continues. Indeed, with over

to a fast-paced M&A (mergers and

150 acquisitions made and a growing

acquisitions) strategy, the company

capacity for innovation, talent and scale,

has continually rejuvenated itself by

Cheprasov’s observation that “there’s

DECEMBER 2020

no future in staying the same” certainly

UiPath as essential partners: “We used

rings true.

Catalytic’s AI-enabled platform to

As well as its robust internal collabo-

design an automated RFP (request for

ration, Dentsu Aegis also prides itself

proposal) workflow, in combination with

on working well with other companies

NLP and ML (machine learning). As a

which share its vision and mission.

result, we reduced the time it takes to

With regard to the company’s pursuit

compile the initial draft of the response

of automated superiority, Cheprasov

from two weeks to just several minutes.

highlights FortressIQ, Catalytic and

Our most recent project with UiPath

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Max Cheprasov Title: Chief Automation Officer Company: Dentsu Aegis Network Industry: Marketing & Advertising

Location: New York

As Chief Automation Officer at Dentsu, Max Cheprasov leads the Automation COE on a mission to “Elevate Human Potential”. Dentsu, with its 65,000+ employees, is a global media and digital marketing communications company focused on innovating the way brands are built. The COE harmonizes Operational Excellence with AI and Automation to create the never-before digital exoskeleton for the enterprise.

Max has 20+ years of experience within the Digital Economy, specializing in digital transformation, operational excellence, and AI-powered automation. Prior to his current role, Max served as the Senior Vice President of Operations, PMO, BPO, and Technology for iProspect between 2011-2017. Max holds an MBA degree from JWMI and professional certificates from Stanford University, MIT, and PMI, among others. a i ma ga z i n e. com

155

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“ I think we have a unique workplace culture.

One word to describe everybody in the business, across 65,000 professionals, is that we’re ‘entrepreneurial’ by nature of how we’ve grown”

required a deeper partnership with their Professional Services group, as we needed to temporarily add 10 RPA (robotic process automation) experts to our team to help us build 60 bots in six weeks. As a result, the software bots have automated 157,000 hours of work during their first deployment, completing over 600,000 tasks. Finally, FortressIQ helps us accelerate process mining and process discovery, exponentially improving our ability to identify new

— Max Cheprasov, Chief Automation Officer, Dentsu Aegis

use-cases for automation and process reengineering. Additionally, the time and motion analyses led to improved FO RT RESSI Q

Founded in 2017, FortressIQ is the creator of a cognitive automation platform which is capable of accelerating digital transformation through a combination of ANN, NLP and ML, as well as OCR. Able to quickly grasp the fundamentals of a business’ operations, the platform enables the collection of swift insights which can be used in the development of an automation strategy.

Commenting on the relationship that Dentsu Aegis shares with FortressIQ, Cheprasov praises the company’s technology and states that without its partnership “it would have taken over 30 business analysts to gather the same level of detail and insight that [FortressIQ’s] AI was able to capture if it was done manually.”

Pankaj Chowdhry, Founder & CEO, FortressIQ

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DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK

SOPs, compliance and training. Using FiQ’s artificial neural network (ANN), NLP, and ML models, in combination with advanced computer vision (OCR), we automatically mined, modelled and documented data for over 2,200 processes in five months with just two people operating the system.”

On the subject of automation, Cheprasov is evangelical about its growing importance, not only for Dentsu Aegis but for its clients and modern business generally. “Automation is just a natural 158

evolution from operational excellence,” he explains. “Traditional operational workflows are no longer sustainable; the workforce is changing rapidly, yet very few global companies are ready to manage their workforce with people, bots and AI working side by side.” He asks every company to consider the subject of advancing technology seriously; it is an aspect of business which is both exciting and intimidating – staying on top of it and processing the large amounts of data accessible requires automation integrated into every process. It was because of this that Cheprasov formulated his seven-year roadmap.

“It’s in response to client demands for DECEMBER 2020

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2013

Year founded

50,000 Number of employees

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higher levels of agility and consistent

When considering the future, not just

operational excellence,” he explains.

of Dentsu Aegis but also automation

As such, Dentsu Aegis plans to go

generally, Cheprasov identifies two

beyond traditional forms of automa-

key trends: hyperautomation and the

tion (AI, ML, RPA, etc) to fulfil its quest

democratisation of AI. The former,

for ever-greater heights of operational

a term with Industry 4.0 connotations,

efficiency. This brings the conver-

imagines an operational state which

sation back to the importance of

combines digitisation with connectivity

collaborating with startups in the sec-

and AI to create a supremely auto-

tor: “We continue to monitor who the

mated system capable of seamless

emerging players are; there’s a lot of

interoperability; regarding the latter,

new startups that have fantastic ways

he adds this: “The future of automa-

of applying AI to different problems

tion should be placed in the hands of

in business,” he says.

every employee, giving them access a i ma ga z i n e. com

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162

to low-code or no-code platforms and

into the less overt considerations that

providing the necessary training and

furthering automation entails, such as

support.” This, Cheprasov anticipates,

its CSR activities with AutonomyWorks.

will lead to unprecedented efficiency

“Their goal is to create new job opportuni-

gains for workers and unlock the human

ties for individuals with autism and similar

potential in a way which was unfeasible

disabilities. At Dentsu, we recognise

previously. As the post-COVID-19 world

society as one of our key stakeholders

continues to make companies re-exam-

and one of our key objectives right now

ine their relationship with technology,

is to upskill the organisation’s workforce

Dentsu Aegis is already expanding

with the necessary automation skills to

DECEMBER 2020

accelerate the work that they currently do for their clients.”

Considering what the rest of 2020 might hold for Dentsu Aegis, Cheprasov summarises its goal as continuing to help its clients win, keep and grow their own customer bases.

If the COVID-19 disruption has taught the company anything, it’s that close collaboration, an agile mindset and an innovative attitude will help Dentsu Aegis navigate the lingering aspects of disruption, which, in turn, will help its clients. “Every business today needs to have an AI and automation strategy and plan,” Cheprasov concludes. “By 2025, AI-powered companies will be 10 times more efficient and hold twice the market share over organisations that fail to embrace the technology

“ Automation is just a natural evolution from operational excellence”

today. I think we have reached a point in the evolution of intelligent automation when you can no longer delay this decision.”

— Max Cheprasov, Chief Automation Officer, Dentsu Aegis

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DECEMBER 2020

Automation Anywhere: Rashim Mogha is championing diversity through eWOW WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

CRAIG KILLINGBACK

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A U T O M AT I O N A N Y W H E R E

Rashim Mogha, Founder of eWOW and Global Head of Education Products, Automation Anywhere, is leading the way in bringing more women into the tech industry and shares how we can too

R 166

ashim Mogha is clearly the woman to watch. eWOW (empowered Women of the World) founder and the The Global

Head of Education Products, Automation Anywhere University, best-selling author, keynote speaker and equality influencer has just been awarded Woman of the Year 2019. This is the third award Mogha has won in 2019 alone, having also been recognised as a Woman of Influence for Silicon Valley, and winning the Women Empowerment: Game Changer Award for her eWOW initiative, which empowers women to be successful, and for her career achievements. “I’ve had the privilege of working at the forefront of cuttingedge technology throughout my career,” says Mogha, a veteran of companies like VMware, AWS and Oracle.

“I led the education program for AWS, including bootcamps at re:Invent, annual AWS conference where we trained over 8,000 people during a three-day event.” AWS provided Mogha with an opportunity to create education solutions that can function in DECEMBER 2020

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“Say yes to every opportunity and, as you climb the ladder, don’t forget to give back” — Rashim Mogha, Founder of eWOW and Global Head of Education Products, Automation Anywhere a i ma ga z i n e. com

A U T O M AT I O N A N Y W H E R E

“ When you really look at it, robotic process automation (RPA) is going to drive how business is done and what the future of work is in the era of the fourth industrial revolution” 168

— Rashim Mogha, Founder of eWOW and Global Head of Education Products, Automation Anywhere

real-time as well as to scale them out.

At Oracle, Mogha built the enablement strategy for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure from the ground up. “Coming to Automation Anywhere was a natural progression as I had the necessary knowledge of how to build products for startup environment, and then to scale them out. That’s what my role involves right now at Automation Anywhere.”

Her main responsibility is developing education products to help accomplish Automation Anywhere’s March to Million mission of educating a million individuals on developing and using robotic process automation and prepare for the jobs of the future. “This goal was very appealing to me because when you really look at it, robotic process automation (RPA) is going to drive how business is done and what the future of work is in the era of the

DECEMBER 2020

Rashim Mogha, Automation Anywhere | Women Transforming Technology 2019 CLICK TO WATCH

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169 fourth industrial revolution.” She asserts

empower more women to join and stay

the need for upskilling and reskilling to

in the tech industry.”

maintain momentum in this ever-evolving industry, confident that knowledge of

AUTOMATION ANYWHERE UNIVERSITY

RPA will soon be a prerequisite for jobs

“Businesses are missing out on creating

of future just like word processors and

compelling global solutions by not hav-

office productivity tools. Mogha is also

ing diversity at decision-making levels,

passionate about leadership and has

as considerations for women are time

been recognised as a Top 100 keynote

and time again missed,” says Mogha.

speaker by databird and a Top 20

“For example, the health app released

thought leaders by Thinkers 360. She

by Apple in 2015 did not incorporate or

says “Launching eWOW in 2018 was a

take into account women’s reproductive

natural progression. Having held leader-

cycles, and facial recognition algorithms

ship roles at VMware, AWS, and Oracle,

have a success rate of only 33% on

it was now my turn to give back and

darker-skinned women, as opposed a i ma ga z i n e. com

A U T O M AT I O N A N Y W H E R E

170

to 99% for white men. The creators of

academic institutions. Mogha shares

the solutions were only thinking of one

that Automation Anywhere’s Enterprise

gender; 49% of the population (men)

A2019 platform offers capabilities to

cannot create solutions for 100% of the

enterprises of all sizes, including: an intui-

world’s population.” It is for this reason

tive web-based interface that simplifies

that Mogha says it is essential to bring

bot development; a cloud-native platform

diversity of thought in the tech industry in

that offers customers RPA-as-a-Service

order to create equal solutions and drive

from the cloud with reduced cost and

the industry forward.

“near-infinite” scalability; AI capabilities

The March to Millions initiative is

to integrate third-party solutions and

helping in opening up opportunities

natural language processing; and new

for everyone and so far has delivered

Attended Automation 2.0, allowing

500,000 RPA trainings to business

greater collaboration between humans

analysts, developers, program managers,

and bots across teams and workflows.

partners, and students. The program is

Automation Anywhere University’s

gaining momentum with its 65 author-

education products play a key role in

ised training partners across 300+

upskilling the citizen developers on

DECEMBER 2020

Automation Anywhere’s Enterprise

Anywhere University, we are making

A2019 platform. Origin Learning and

opportunities available to everybody,”

Newgen are strategic training develop-

affirms Mogha. She shares a phrase

ment partners ,working with Automation

often said by Mihir Shukla, CEO of

Anywhere University to create its educa-

Automation Anywhere: “Talent is equally

tion products. “These training partners

distributed. Opportunities are not.”

have been instrumental in helping us develop educational products for our

EWOW: LEADING BY EXAMPLE

global audience. Our trainings are free,

“The eWOW initiative is my way of giving

engaging and localized, making it easy

back to the community. It is an initiative to

for anyone to learn how to develop and

empower women to be successful, what-

use bots to eliminate the mundane and

ever the definition of success is for them,”

focus on being creative. With Automation

says Mogha.

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E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Rashim Mogha Mogha is a thought leader and women in tech evangelist. A keynote speaker and #1 Amazon best-selling author of “Fast-Track Your Leadership Career” Rashim speaks at conferences around the world, inspiring women and girls to further their career in technology. Her extensive career portfolio includes leadership roles in companies such as Oracle, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and VMware where she built high-performing teams to support over US$2bn businesses. H ​ er thought leadership innovation and women in technology have appeared in publications such as Forbes and ATD and platforms like Linkedin Learning. With a goal to empower leaders in 2018, she founded eWOW: Empowered Women of the World. eWOW is an intellectual platform designed to help women with their technical and leadership skills to be successful and thrive. Rashim is a recipient of ’Women Empowerment: Game Changer, Woman of the Year and Silicon Valley Woman of Influence’ awards. a i ma ga z i n e. com

ENTERPRISE

2003

Year founded

we believe that every woman is a leader in her own way – all she needs is an intellectual platform that can help her navigate the path.” The eWOW platform

1,500,000+ bots and counting

1,750+ Number of employees

In September 2018, Mogha released her book on leadership, Fast-Track Your Leadership Career: A definitive template for advancing your career, which became an Amazon Bestseller within 11 hours of release. “I had goosebumps! It took me a little while to realise the level of impact this was having on people, but many women and men leaders began to reach out, requesting to continue the conversation around empowerment.”

In November 2018, she launched the eWOW initiative: Empowered Women of the World, designed to provide women with the framework to be successful at the workplace. “At eWOW,

offers Alexa skills, podcasts, various online and in-person events, and leadership workshops.

The eWOW podcast has an audience in over 31 countries. “It’s about empowering women, wherever they are, in their journey to leadership. The eWOW initiative is well on its way CO MPAN Y FACT S

• Facial recognition algorithms have a success rate of only 33% for darker-skinned women, as opposed to 99% for white men • The March to Millions initiative is helping providing opportunities to everyone and Automation Anywhere University has delivered 500,000 RPA trainings to business analysts, developers, program managers, partners, and students.

a i ma ga z i n e. com

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EMPOWER DIGITAL WORKFORCE Accelerate Digital Transformation with our Learning Strategies & Learning Experience Platform

Email info@originlearning.com to schedule a demo

175

“ 49% of the 100,000 women globally.”

“10 years ago, women were expected population (men) to act like men to a certain extent to cannot create be successful in a leadership role, as solutions for 100% most of their peers were men,” reflects of the world’s Mogha. “Today, women can own their narrative, bring their whole self to work population” to reaching out and empowering

and become empathetic leaders without having to pretend to be one of the

men in the room.” Mogha believes that while women have more confidence to speak up within these leadership

— Rashim Mogha, Founder of eWOW and Global Head of Education Products, Automation Anywhere

environments than ever before, we are nowhere close to equality. a i ma ga z i n e. com

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DECEMBER 2020

BRIGHTER FUTURES Looking to the future, Mogha has one main piece of advice to others looking to move forward in their careers. “Say yes to every opportunity and, as you climb the ladder, don’t forget to give back.” To companies, she suggests: “If you want this world to be an equal place and help solve world problems, make sure that you are truly bringing diversity and inclusion into your workforce and into your thought processes, as opposed to just thinking of it as a token or a box that you need to check.”

Mogha concludes: “The future is bright for women in tech; there has been an inspiring growth in the number of women attending tech events and many companies are also starting to realise build programs to bring and retain women in the workforce.” As the tech industry continues to embark on diversity and inclusion initiatives, there is no doubt that Rashim Mogha will be at the forefront of this drive, continuing to inspire women to challenge bias and push themselves to be empathetic and forward-thinking leaders who create solutions for real world problems.

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178

AI

for Good

WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

NATHAN HOLMES

DECEMBER 2020

179

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MICROSOFT

Microsoft is using pioneering technology including AI and machine learning to address the world’s most critical challenges

A

ccording to the UN’s Environment Emissions Gap Report 2018, “now more than ever, unprecedented and urgent

action is required” to address the climate and sustainability crisis faced globally. Achieving 180

a sustainable and prosperous planet requires a concerted effort and, in this era, the pace of movement must be accelerated.

Chiefly, this acceleration can be achieved through the driving of collaboration between public-private partnerships, the greater enforcement of policy on a global scale, and, according to technology giant Microsoft, the harnessing of the power of digital technology to combat climate change. Elaborating on this, Mike Chan, General Manager Azure, Microsoft APAC, says: “At Microsoft we are committed to delivering on our environmental goals for sustainability and empowering our customers and partner ecosystem with the technology and tools to deliver on theirs. This starts with data capture, harnessing the power of the intelligent Cloud – a platform of limitless DECEMBER 2020

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“ We are committed to delivering on our environmental goals for sustainability and empowering our customers and partner ecosystem”

182

— Mike Chan General Manager Azure, Microsoft APAC

compute scale – and driving innovation to meet demanding business challenges and create meaningful impact with speed and agility.”

Microsoft is leading the acceleration of movement in this field. The business, world-renowned for its innovative and pioneering technology, is working more closely than ever with partners and customers to use AI and other digital technologies to address global sustainability challenges. The former, for example, has the power to amplify human ingenuity and extend our capabilities so that we can achieve more, says Microsoft. “Democratising technology is of utmost importance to Microsoft; the power of accessibility and inclusivity in the digital age will transform industries, collectively enabling us to become more productive and jointly solve society’s biggest challenges,” says Sherie Ng, General Manager Public Sector APAC at the company. “With technology, we are empowered to create a future for the greater good – imagine a future with limitless possibilities.”

On a wider level, the company believes in the power of technology

DECEMBER 2020

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183 for the common good to drive soci-

years, investing $50mn in five years to

etal impact, and enable a range of

advance the use of cloud and AI tech-

economic and social opportunities.

nologies in an environmental capacity,

Through partnerships and investments

100% carbon neutrality across the

with the public, private and civic sec-

company’s global operations every

tors – the United Nations and other

year since 2012, and a 20% reduc-

global non-profit organisations – it

tion in product packaging for all new

aims to contribute towards achiev-

devices in 2018.

ing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Since 2009, Microsoft has made

In April this year, Microsoft announced it would close to double its internal carbon fee to $15 per met-

and met several commitments towards

ric tonne on all carbon emissions. It

environmental sustainability. These

also detailed ongoing plans to further

include a drive to cut operational car-

implement renewable energy and

bon emissions by 75% over the next 11

innovation into its data centres (60% a i ma ga z i n e. com

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184

renewable energy use by 2020). Here, the business is dedicated to building a

and zero-waste.

These achievements are impressive

“responsible cloud of the future�. It aims

enough in isolation. However, core to

to achieve this through measures such

Microsoft’s sustainability vision, is the

as ensuring that 50% of the current

belief that its ambition and the tech-

volume of electricity used by its data

nologies it develops should empower

centres is from green energy sources

others. In 2017, the company launched

such as wind, solar and hydropower.

its AI for Earth Grant initiative, which

In addition, Microsoft is committed

sees it partner with leading environ-

to its sustainable campuses building

mental and research groups to develop

initiative. These, in combination with its

AI, machine learning and cloud-related

smart building technology, will see the

solutions to problems such as climate

company become the first large corpo-

change. Since then, Microsoft has

rate campus to achieve zero-carbon

awarded more than 230 grants to

DECEMBER 2020

recipients in around 60 countries. AI

that the company conducted with PwC

for Earth represents a US$50 million,

on how the technology can enable a

five-year commitment to put artificial

sustainable future. This suggested

intelligence technology in the hands of

several benefits to greater AI adoption,

individuals and organisations around

including reducing global greenhouse

the world who are working to protect

gas emissions by up to 4% by 2030,

the planet across four key areas – agri-

gains of as much as $5.2tn to busi-

culture, biodiversity, climate change,

nesses through improved productivity

and water. The initiative reinforces the

and automation, and a 4.4% rise on

crucial role that Microsoft believes AI

global GDP by 2030.

will play in the future. Further evidence of this can be found in a research paper

The business is currently working on several related projects with partners 185

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Sherie Ng

Sherie leads Microsoft’s public sector business across Asia Pacific, together with the larger partner eco-system spearhead and accelerate pace of digital transformation for governments, healthcare and education institutions as well as large state-owned enterprises in the region. An industry veteran with more than 22 years of experience in managing businesses in high tech sector, Sherie is passionate about technology’s role in enabling societal shifts, empowering people for inclusive and sustainable development of societies. prior to Microsoft, Sherie was the managing director for NICE in AsiaPacific, where she helped large enterprises embrace digital innovation for business breakthroughs with robotics, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and smart data. Her previous experiences include leadership roles at Invensys, Singtel, CSG and Lucent Technologies. a i ma ga z i n e. com

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186

and customers in the energy sector

entered into partnership with Microsoft

under the banner of ‘tech intensity’,

to migrate Hermes to Microsoft Azure,

which describes using the latest tech-

thus improving inspection times sig-

nology to drive efficiencies and create

nificantly, allowing for the capture and

a more sustainable planet.

use of better data and enabling greater

Close collaboration with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, for example, has helped to make renewable

predictive maintenance and fewer costly repairs.

According to the World Health

energy more affordable and sustain-

Organization, a staggering 66 people

able. Siemens was previously using its

on average die in road accidents every

Hermes system – autonomous drones

day in Thailand. PTT Global Chemical

coupled with a digital platform – to

Public Company Limited (GC) plans

monitor its wind turbines. The company

to reduce the accident rate on the

DECEMBER 2020

Bangkok to Rayong route and enable the safety of more than 4,000 employees that clock up around 8,000 trips between the two locations. GC worked with its shuttle drivers, Microsoft and Frontis to design the ‘AI for Road Safety’ solution, which uses facial recognition AI to detect and alert when drivers show signs of risk such as drowsiness and distraction. GC sees the programme as a major component of its intention to contribute to society, especially in Rayong, where the company has a number of factories Elsewhere, water and energy technologies provider Ecolab and energy

“ The power of accessibility and inclusivity in the digital age will transform industries” — Sherie Ng General Manager, Public Sector APAC Microsoft

company Orsted, have implemented Microsoft Azure, as well as its IoT and AI solutions, to make significant leaps forward in improving water conservation and the efficiency of renewable energy respectively.

By 2050, the demand for food is expected to outpace production by over 70%. Farmers need access to better data on their land in order to maximise both efficiency and yield, while at the same time, reducing environmental impact. However, gathering data from farms is difficult due a i ma ga z i n e. com

187

MICROSOFT

188 to typically low technology adoption rates by farmers, particularly in the developing world, where access to technology is often limited. To address these issues, Microsoft is working to enabling greater precision in farming with the use of AI through Farmbeats.

This uses the company’s machine learning algorithms, together with lowcost sensors, drones, and other data to deliver actionable insights to farmers. Microsoft believes that this data, coupled with the farmer’s knowledge of his or her farm, can help to increase farm productivity while reducing DECEMBER 2020

environmental impact and out-ofpocket costs.

With transport and buildings making a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, Microsoft is also focused on ‘architecture for the new world’, or smart cities. In this field, the business has several key innovations around smart buildings and smart energy. Microsoft ICONICS, for example, is a smart building software that collects and analyses IoT sensor data from building management systems to give information on general property status, as well as where improvements can be made to achieve greater energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs.

An example of the company’s work in this sector can be seen in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei. The city has experienced rapid growth in recent years, and thus city planners were looking for methods of streamlining its municipal operations while improving energy efficiency and safety for citizens. Microsoft partnered with local company AAEON to develop an IoT-based solution that would form the basis of a cloud-based monitoring system for the city’s more than 150,000 a i ma ga z i n e. com

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MICROSOFT

street lights. Previously, city officials had followed a reactive maintenance programme, based on citizens reporting light failures before maintenance teams were eventually sent to the location. Instead, the AAEON Lighting Control System enables predictive and preventive maintenance, optimises the duration that the lights are on in order to maximise safety and forms part of a greater holistic ecosystem for a wider smart city concept.

Naturally, such dedication to as important a cause as the world’s 190

climate requires a resolute and single-minded culture within the business. Microsoft believes that every

“ Microsoft believes that every employee must play a central role in transformation and making a difference […] this mindset is fostered under the theme of ‘AI for Good’” — Sherie Ng General Manager, Public Sector APAC Microsoft DECEMBER 2020

employee must play a central role in transformation and making a difference. The company encourages members of staff to always focus on learning, to take risks and to fail fast – by doing so, it states, they will make a difference and find a deeper meaning in their work. This mindset is fostered under the theme of ‘AI for Good’: combining the company’s technology and expertise in artificial intelligence and data science with the talent and expertise of groups around the world in fields such as environmental science,

1975

Year founded

$125bn+ Approximate revenue (2019)

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disability needs and humanitarian

global network capable of connecting

assistance to create a more sustain-

billions, even trillions, of datapoints

able and accessible world.

about the global environment. This

In the longer term, Microsoft remains

system, says Joppa, would have

focused on leveraging the power of

“the computing power and machine

technology and innovation. In particu-

learning tools to process them into

lar, according to the company’s Chief

actionable insights that will empower

Sustainability Officer Lucas Joppa,

decision makers in every corner of the

the ultimate solution could come in

globe to put sustainability first. And,

the form of an ambitious and innova-

although parts of this plan may seem

tive “planetary computer”. The scale of

like science fiction, it could be a reality

innovation here would be significant, as

in the near future.”

Joppa explains, revolving around the development and implementation of a a i ma ga z i n e. com

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