“Going digital” has long been seen as a solution for improving customer experiences and streamlining operations. Automation, particularly Robotic Process Automation (RPA), has been widely adopted to address immediate pain points, often through tactical, one-off initiatives designed to increase efficiency.

While such projects deliver short-term benefits, this piecemeal approach creates complexity due to disconnected strategies, siloed pilots, and an incohesive technology roadmap. More critically, it limits an organization’s ability to adapt and maintain operational fluidity — essential traits for thriving in the modern business landscape.

The pandemic has accelerated decentralization, increasing pressure on businesses to deliver. Yet, many organizations are ill-prepared. Our recent Work Ahead research shows that while 60% of companies have implemented or piloted automation, only 8% have achieved automation at scale.

Moving Toward Intelligent Automation

To unlock new value and growth, organizations must focus on the “why” of automation — designing processes around people, from customers to employees, partners, and suppliers, and connecting the front-office to the back-office across all functions.

1. Anchor End-to-End Process Redesign to Business Outcomes

Many organizations approach automation simply to increase speed or reduce manual work. But automating inefficient processes only magnifies inefficiency. Successful automation begins with understanding overall business goals, identifying process inefficiencies, and designing scalable systems.

By integrating people, processes, data insights, and emerging technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and intelligent document processing, businesses can create an automation framework that hides complexity, simplifies orchestration, and encourages adoption.

Example: A healthcare provider reduced its claims denial rate from 17% to 12% and improved net collections from 23% to 30% by using RPA, OCR, and AI/ML after mapping bottlenecks and simulating interventions. Strategic deployment ensured processes remained efficient and scalable.

Because automation was deployed strategically instead of tactically, the processes behind the technology are efficient and will remain stable through growth periods.

2. Take a People-First Approach

Digital transformation requires prioritizing the human workforce alongside digital workers (software and bots). A one-size-fits-all training approach fails in multigenerational and distributed teams.

Example: A claims processing organization benefited from customized training programs tailored to skill levels, dependencies, and technology comfort. By prioritizing employees’ needs, adoption accelerated, customer experiences improved, and operational resilience increased.

3. Use Modern Technology to Deliver Modern Experiences

Digital transformation is no longer just about products — it’s about experiences. Back-office operations must align with front-office customer interactions.

Example: A medical device company improved customer education and support using chatbots, remote monitoring, and AI-based patient safety tools. Centering automation on customer needs created seamless experiences and reduced friction.

4. Guide Digitization with Strategic Oversight

Automation tools, especially low-code platforms, are making digital process design more accessible. However, organizations must combine empowerment with strategic guidance to integrate technologies and scale efficiently.

Without oversight, independent automation efforts can trap data in siloes, preventing insights needed for better decision-making. High-level strategy ensures that technology adoption drives business innovation, cost reduction, and improved customer outcomes.

Focus on the “Why”

Effective automation balances technology adoption with enterprise-wide oversight. An end-to-end, people-centered approach enables data flow across siloes, drives better decisions, reduces costs, and fuels innovation.

The takeaway: Strategic, intelligent automation — guided by purpose, people, and modern technology — allows businesses to thrive in today’s fast-evolving digital landscape.