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Two thirds of business leaders used automation to respond to the impact of COVID-19

Global Automated Intelligence Survey

  • 73% of organisations worldwide are now using automation technologies - such as robotics, machine learning and natural language processing - up from 48% in 2019, according to a survey by Deloitte;
  • The proportion of organisations deploying automation ‘at scale’ has tripled over the past two years;
  • 23% of workers have already seen a change to their roles and ways of working because of the implementation of intelligent automation, while one in 10 has had to retrain.

Two thirds (68%) of business leaders used automation to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research from Deloitte on robotic and intelligent automation.

Deloitte’s survey of 441 executives from 29 countries, included respondents from Malta and highlights that the pandemic forced organisations to rethink how work is done. Around three in four (73%) of organisations worldwide are now using automation technologies - such as robotics, machine learning and natural language processing - up from 58% in 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of organisations deploying automation at scale has tripled in the space of two years. Thirteen per cent of leaders say their organisation has implemented over 50 automations, up from eight per cent in 2019 and four per cent in 2018.

Justin Watson, Global leader of Deloitte’s intelligent automation business, said: “Automation has been a lifeline for businesses during the pandemic – allowing for rapid increases in processing capacity, new processes to support the response, increasing productivity and accuracy, whilst also improving the experience of customers and employees. As organisations scrambled to support home working en-masse and provide COVID-secure work sites, automation took the strain to ensure business continuity. For instance, by triaging requests to contact centres to allow agents to manage the higher number of calls and emails, or accelerating the validation of loans from financial institutions. In the months ahead, investment in automation technologies will continue to flow with the direct aim of bolstering organisational resilience.”

One in 10 workers has already had to retrain as a result of automation

To prepare for the disruption automation will bring to their organisations over the next three years, business leaders expect that they will have to retrain 34% of their workforce because their roles will sufficiently change as a result of the implementation of new automation technologies.

Today, one in four (23%) workers has seen a change to their role and ways of working because of the implementation of these technologies, while one in ten (10%) has already had to retrain because their role has been affected by automation.

Of those leaders working in organisations that are retraining their employees already, 59% are providing learning that focuses on process skills, like active listening and critical thinking. Meanwhile, half (51%) are offering retraining in cognitive abilities, such as creativity and problem solving. This suggests a move away from traditional technology user training, towards encouraging workers to effectively use new technology in a way that augments and adapts their roles.

However, 58% of organisations have not yet calculated how their workforce’s roles and tasks, and the way tasks are performed, will change.

Robotic technologies to be used by 93% of businesses in 2023

Robotic process automation (RPA) is currently the most popular automation technology, with adoption expected to be near-universal in the coming years. 93% of business leaders expect to be using robotics in 2023, with 78% of leaders having already implemented this technology and 16% planning to do so in the next three years. Meanwhile, 89% of organisation using cloud infrastructure for their automations or planning to do so in the next three years.

Usage of RPA has soared since Deloitte first began research in automation adoption in 2015, when just 13% of leaders said they expected to increase automation in the coming months by investing in RPA.  

 

Access the 2020 survey results

 
 

Notes to Editors

To obtain a global view of how organisations implement and scale intelligent automation technologies, Deloitte surveyed 441 executives from 29 countries and a wide range of industries. Of the respondents, 67% were from Europe and Africa, 21% from the Americas and 12% from Asia-Pacific. The range of participating executives included heads of automation (20%), CFOs or finance directors (19%), CIOs or IT directors (17 per cent), shared services leaders or global business services leaders (13%) and COOs or operations directors (6%); 25% held ‘other’ roles. Deloitte also conducted a series of in-depth telephone interviews with clients and automation experts, to gather their automation stories for case studies.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

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© 2020. For information, contact Deloitte Malta.

Press contact:
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Deloitte Malta
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info@deloitte.com.mt

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