According to one survey, 76 percent of North American businesses are either already using automation in their company or plan to implement the tech within the next year. With automation quickly becoming a mainstream of business, companies are looking for a strategic leader to maximize their use of automation. Thus, the Chief Automation Officer (CAO) was born.
Sean Chou, CEO and co-founder of Catalytic, discusses with Digital Journal about how the role of the CAO has grown and will continue to grow, as well as how the role should function in a company.
Digital Journal: What advantages does automation deliver to businesses?
Sean Chou: Automation gives something back to businesses that you can’t buy: time. While it may feel like there are never enough hours in the day, automation can help employees make better use of the time they do have, focusing their attention on higher-priority tasks instead of repetitive, menial tasks. For example, it may take an employee hours to put together a presentation deck, but when automation can take care of it in a fraction of the time, the employee can spend that time preparing for the presentation instead. Automation allows employees to produce more work, better work and reduces burnout, which boosts morale and improves retention rates.
DJ: How many companies are planning for/implementing automation?
Chou: Nearly every company has, to a certain extent, implemented some form of automation — often as a feature of a point system. And while half of all companies are engaging with automation, most of them funnel their automation through the IT department. We’ve seen the numbers fall dramatically when it comes to letting end users build their own automations for their teams.
The buzz around robotic process automation (RPA) has driven a lot of early experiments and it seems anecdotally as if at least half of the companies we speak to have been experimenting with RPA. But broad-based adoption still seems elusive with only a small percentage of companies having built more than a few dozen bots. Among newer automation technologies, it’s even earlier. However, if our experience is indicative, it’s high on most companies’ radars as something they need to implement to get to the next phase of digital transformation. I would worry about the outlook for companies where automation as a platform is not high on their radar.
DJ: What are the main limitations with automation, and how might these be overcome?
Chou:One of the biggest things people need to remember about automation is that it’s not magic. It’s not going to solve all your problems and do all your work for you. Automation is a tool for companies to become more efficient, but it still requires work to make it effective. Additionally, people don’t want to put in the initial work to set up automation; they don’t have time to save time. People don’t want to carve out time to dedicate to setting up their automation processes and strategy even if they know it will end up saving them time in the long run.
DJ: What does a Chief Automation Officer do?
Chou:A CAO focuses on the intersection of automation technologies and business process improvement. Most CIOs and CTOs are bogged down with too many other tasks to add yet another large initiative to their plate, especially one that will require such close interaction with various business departments relative to automation. With a role that’s dedicated solely to implementing and improving automation technologies, he or she can get in the trenches to identify potential opportunities for automation and create more efficiencies in the business.
DJ: Which types of companies are employing a Chief Automation Officer?
Chou:Companies that have already invested in automation are the ones who are realizing they need a CAO most. These are often larger companies that have more time and money to invest into automation solutions and need to dedicate a role to strategizing additional uses and cross-departmental automation processes. Smaller companies who are just starting to use automation may look to their CIOs to step up and take on some of the responsibilities of a CAO. Companies who are newer may not need a CAO because they already have built automation into every facet of their business — they don’t need a “change agent” to advocate for creating new, automated processes where so many manual processes have already been set in place.
DJ: Will automation lead to a significant number of job losses?
Chou:Yes and no. While automation will replace some job roles, it may actually be a good thing. There are many industries, like manufacturing for instance, that are experiencing a significant labor shortage. Leaders can now rely on automation to fill the gaps and move forward. Ultimately though, it’s going to create new jobs. Technology has come a long way in the workplace, but the fact is that we still need people — lots of people — to build, manage and strategize for the technology. Think of when cell phones came into use — operators may have become obsolete, but think of how many employees companies like Apple, Samsung and Motorola employ. There’s so much more potential with automation to make for better business and better jobs.
