The development of advanced technologies such as blockchain technology and AI technology have disrupted every aspect of our life, isn’t it? I think most of us have already experienced it already. Not to mention the business industry. But many of those business owners have been so frightened of the disruptions. The fear of missing out. And of course, also the employees themselves. The suspicion of getting replaced by technology.

But please, relax guys. Technology co-exists. Which means that technology is developed not for replacing humans (in our opinion). But it even meant to support  us. That’s why we think there’s a future in business automation in the business industry. And yet, the future seems unclear, but we want to know how it could be, right?

WHY BUSINESS AUTOMATION?

As we have already experienced. There are many tasks that have been done repetitively. And yet, business owners are often so frustrated because they think that humans have a diminishing performance when doing repetitive tasks. However, it’s natural to experience that kind of thing because we have the feeling of boredom. Like, imagine, doing something similar for months, or even years. Even though we could master it when doing it frequently, on the other hand it could cause negative effects on your performance. 

Let’s take a business automation example like chatGPT. Maybe, you think that we’re doing this with the help of GPT, right? The answer is absolutely right. Why so idealistic when we can use a tool that could fasten our works, or even heighten the quality of it? And we think you’re doing the same thing because Salesforce said that more than 90% of workers, nowadays, said that business automation could increase their productivity. And at the same time, around 90% of employees have already trusted automation to complement their work. So, if you haven’t used business automation yet, congratulations, you’re one of a kind!

THE HISTORY OF BUSINESS AUTOMATION

We bet that what you think about automation is just circulating on AI that could boost your productivity on writing, ideating, or other kinds of work. Or even maybe, you think that business automation has been born recently. Unfortunately, you’re sort of ‘wrong’ on assuming that.

Business automation has already existed around us since almost half a century ago. One of the first founded business automation is the machine that we rely on when we can only pay by cash (especially in Indonesia). It’s the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). It was founded in London and has revolutionised banking ever since. The reason behind the invention of business automation is no way far from the ‘why’ that we have explained to you. 

For thus, business automation is not a nice thing to have anymore, but it has been becoming one of the mandatory things to have. It’s an absolute necessity. Because (again), automating basic organisational and management processes can not only spare you some time to do something else, but it can also heighten your productivity and let you focus on other inventions. But to adapt these kinds of business automations, first thing first, you should know how many types of automation.

TYPES OF BUSINESS AUTOMATION

Business Process Automation (BPA)

Let’s name it first to make you more familiar with business process automation. HubSpot, Salesforce, Monday.com, JIRA Software, Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Calendly, and many more. The foundational principles of business process automation are:

• Eliminating bottlenecks and streamlining workflows
• Simplifying and Unifying tasks to form standardised workflows

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Unfortunately, we cannot find this kind of automation often. Because Robotic Process Automation is often used in manufacturing. The core principles of this automation process is quite the same with business process automation. But it has more strict rule-based tasks and will be worked not by humans but by robots. One distinct difference is that robotic processes aim to reduce errors due to diminishing performance of humans, and to increase speed in which can be set up by humans too.

Artificial Intelligence Automation

Again, and again. The core principles are quite similar with previous business automation types. However, AI Automation could leverage your game even more by making the system learn from a bunch of tasks and interactions. An example of it is chatGPT. Have you known that chatGPT will get smarter day by day, month by month, even by years, when people use it frequently over time? It’s because of the machine learning algorithm that lets the AI learn from data that they collected. It’s like a kid that observes us. They will imitate what we do and learn some decisions from our behaviour. And yes, it’s like a kid, AI can make independent decisions. Just by how we taught them.

Last but not least, every kind of automation is a mandatory thing to have, not a nice thing to have any more. It could get you more than just an improved effectivity and efficiency, it can get you more distinctive advantages to make your business better, faster, and stronger. So, what are you waiting for? Being passed by competitors?