New age of AI brings unprecedented autonomy to businesses

PEX Network’s weekly news bulletin rounds up the latest research, reports and publications in operational excellence (OPEX), digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, business process management (BPM), process mining and process intelligence and more.

This week includes:

• Trust is key to successful AI-driven automation
• Academics call for process automation research papers
• Generative AI creates supply chain productivity paradox
• Customer journeys a “new area” for process mining application
• Finance leaders prioritize efficiency amid digital transformation

Trust is key to successful AI-driven automation

A “new age” of AI is set to bring unprecedented autonomy to businesses, according to the Accenture Technology Vision 2025. A novel era of digitization is unfolding – one in which AI continuously learns and drives new possibilities across organizations, Accenture stated. Positioning trust in its performance is the most important measure organizations will need for AI to achieve its promise, it added.

As AI diffusion accelerates across the enterprise and society, 69 percent of executives believe it brings new urgency for reinvention around how technology systems and the processes it enables are designed, built and operated. Accenture also predicted that AI will increasingly act as a technology development partner, power robotic bodies in the physical world and foster a new symbiotic relationship with people to bring out the best in each other.

“Advancements in digitizing knowledge, new AI models, agentic AI systems and architecture enables enterprises to create their own unique cognitive digital brains,” said Karthik Narain, group chief executive – technology and chief technology offer (CTO) at Accenture. “While conventional technologies have long supported pre-determined business needs, this is a generational moment of transition.”

The autonomy created by these generalized AI systems can help organizations be more dynamic and intention-driven than ever, allowing leaders to rethink how digital systems are designed, how people work and reinvent how they create products and interact with customers, he added. “Trust underpins it all, as systems will only ever be as autonomous as they are trustworthy.”

Watch Tyrone Smith Jr, program faculty member/adjunct associate professor at University of Southern California (USC) and founding member of Society of People Analytics (SPA), discuss building trust in AI

Academics call for process automation research papers

Researchers have been invited to submit original papers on process automation for inclusion at the first International Workshop on Implementation and Management of Intelligent Process Automation Solutions. The AUTOMATE 2025 workshop aims to provide a holistic perspective on process automation, addressing both managerial and engineering aspects from a BPM perspective. It will also explore a family of process automation techniques that combine human expertise with intelligent technologies to enhance the execution and monitoring of business processes.

“We invite submissions exploring visionary, empirical and practical perspectives on managing and implementing both lightweight and advanced process automation solutions,” wrote the organizers. Topics of interest include:

• Frameworks for integrating lightweight and advanced process automation technologies into BPM.
• Strategies to balance agility, compliance and governance in process automation initiatives.
• Stakeholder perspectives from IT, citizen developers and business units on process automation technologies.

The workshop will be held in conjunction with the 23rd International Conference on Business Process Management, taking place between August 31 and September 5, 2025, in Seville, Spain.

Watch Tariq Munir, APAC financial planning transformation lead at PepsiCo, reflect on measuring the impact of intelligent automation

Generative AI creates supply chain productivity paradox

Generative AI is creating a “productivity paradox” in supply chains as desk-based enhancements collide with emerging frictions, according to new research from Gartner. While generative AI is being deployed by 72 percent of supply chain organizations, most are experiencing middling results for productivity and return on investment, it found. Productivity gains from the use of the technology for individual desk-based workers are not translating to greater team-level productivity. What’s more, the deployment of generative AI tools is increasing anxiety among many employees, providing a dampening effect on productivity.

Gartner’s data showed a notable increase in productivity for desk-based workers, with generative AI tools saving 4.11 hours of time weekly for these employees. This also correlated to increased output and higher quality work. However, these gains decreased when assessing team-level productivity. The amount of time saved declined to 1.5 hours per team member weekly and there was no correlation to either improved output or higher quality of work.

“Early generative AI deployments within supply chain reveal a productivity paradox,” said Sam Berndt, senior director in Gartner’s supply chain practice. “While its use has enhanced individual productivity for desk-based roles, these gains are not cascading through the rest of the function and are actually making the overall working environment worse for many employees.”

Watch thought leader Vishal Bhalla outline the pros and cons of AI

Customer journeys a “new area” for process mining application

A scientific paper reviewed literature on the application of process mining to enhance the customer journey, highlighting future research directions in the field. Process mining has shown to be effective in analyzing and improving business processes, with the customer journey emerging as a new area for its application.

Through systematic analysis, studies were selected that developed new methods for applying process mining in the customer journey and applied process mining techniques to real data sets. “The research shows that, despite growing academic interest, the literature on applying process mining to the customer journey remains limited, and a unified data-driven method for analyzing and mapping the customer journey is lacking.”

The study highlighted the evident convergence between qualitative methods from service design and process mining techniques but also emphasized the need for further research to develop an integrative approach.

Watch Madison Lundquist, principal research lead, process and performance management at APQC, discuss team structures for process excellence

Finance leaders prioritize efficiency amid digital transformation

Improving efficiency and productivity is the top priority for finance leaders in 2025, according to the OneAdvanced Finance and Spend Trends Report 2025. With 79 percent of leaders planning to upgrade technology, the findings underline a sector-wide drive for digital transformation amidst rising pressures. In the next 12 months, 46 percent of finance/spend leaders will be boosting efficiency and productivity, followed by growth (38 percent). Security is also on the agenda with combating cyber security and data protection issues the number one challenge for finance professionals.

“Finance and spend leaders are increasingly recognized as strategic advisors to their organizations,” commented Mark Reddy, global director of growth for finance, spend and governance at OneAdvanced. “As they face mounting pressures, from cyber security threats to talent shortages, the focus has turned to technology to boost productivity and deliver tangible results. AI and data-driven insights are at the forefront of this transformation, offering leaders smarter tools to enhance efficiency and make better decisions.”

Watch experts from Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Healthineers and Venera explore the role of technology during organizational transformation

READ MORE PEX RESEARCH & REPORTS NEWS

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• Intelligent automation market set for large growth as process orchestration drives success

• Gen AI tools pose risks for sensitive data disclosure

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