automation process challenges in a highly regulated environment
by Visweash Subramanian & Anthony Harris Financial Institutions are aiming to drive transformation across their businesses leveraging digital capabilities such as Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is no longer a fad to use these terms as cutting-edge transformation levers, given the current healthcare crisis and the projected contraction of global GDP by 7- 9%, signaling the possibility of one of the deepest global recessions in decades raising the need for higher productivity, reduced cost and better security. Automation solutions are gaining in acceptance and prominence, especially in the financial services sector. This is partly due to the cultural shift where “I want it now, anywhere and at any time” has become embedded in our psyche. This created the need for a 24/7 operational model for processes that were never thought to be in-scope, couple that with increased regulations halting the offshoring of some key processes, you can see why automation is the only way to achieve the “now.” There are a number of benefits, such as custom tailored oversight, instantly available reporting, the elimination of human error, such as keyboard input error or mouse mis-clicks, and the leveraging of multiple systems of records to produce a report. However, among stakeholders from executives to process owners, there remains a significant disparity between the Perception of Impact and the Real Impact of these solutions. Perception: “Technology” is a panacea; simply bringing in more tech will provide a magic wand for all problems. Marketing departments have done a superior job of promoting automation platforms as if they have a solution to all the challenges we face currently, and they drive sales by promoting this concept of “technology” as a magic wand to be waved and everything is fixed. This may not be entirely true, given that most out of the box solutions will need moderate to significant customization to fit an organization, which would increase cost and complexity of the process. Point to note: As per platform providers, the Financial Services industry is the biggest market to drive transformation through automation over the next few years. The revenue for service providers is expected to grow by 20% YOY. This in most cases will be achieved by reducing the human element and removing tacit knowledge, automating transactional tasks, and removing vintage technology. This all comes with a cost that will be seen through third-party resources for implementation and maintenance, licensing, patches, and upgrades.
006
Intelligent Risk - February 2021
