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:
- FOMO a key driver of business AI use and investment
- AI the biggest OPEX and business transformation investment area
- Process mining provides key HR insights
- Lack of automation and digital readiness hampers insurance sector
- Process mining valuable for evaluating employee well-being
FOMO a key driver of business AI use and investment
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a big factor in AI use and investment in global businesses. That’s according to a new survey from intelligent automation (IA) company ABBYY. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of IT leaders polled said they worry their company will be left behind if they don’t use AI, driving significant investment in the technology. The average global spend on AI reached US $879,000 in the last year despite more than a third of business leaders having concerns about implementation costs.
Over half (55 percent) of business leaders also admitted that pressure from customers is another key driver of AI use. The survey revealed a leading fear for IT leaders about implementing AI is misuse by their own staff (35 percent). This came ahead of concerns about costs (33 percent), AI hallucinations and lack of expertise (both 32 percent) and compliance risk (29 percent).
Speaking at All Access: Intelligent Automation, Tariq Munir, APAC financial planning transformation lead at PepsiCo, discusses measuring the impact of AI
AI the biggest OPEX and business transformation investment area
AI will be the biggest OPEX and business transformation investment area over the next 12 months, according to the PEX Report 2024/25. The report compiles and examines the results of a recent survey of almost 200 professionals, painting a comprehensive picture of today’s process excellence environment enriched by reaction and insight from global industry business and thought leaders. Almost half of businesses (47 percent) are looking to invest in AI solutions in the coming year, with 58 percent having discussed potential AI projects.
The areas where AI is being leveraged the most are in operations (35 percent), customer service and call centers (29 percent) and data processing and management (24 percent). Modern organizations are heavily investing in conversational AI assistants, which are revolutionizing both front-office and back-office operations, said Ricardo Henriques, business automation professor at the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics and PEX Network Advisory Board member. “These solutions, such as natural voice interactive voice response systems (IVRs), promote self-service operations by removing the need for human intervention, thus enhancing customer experience.”
Draw on the findings of the annual PEX Report and extend the conversation with those leading the research at All Access: BPM 2024.
Process mining provides key HR insights
A new research paper explored use cases for human resource (HR) mining, assets that play a key role in the execution of business processes. The paper outlines the importance of an improved understanding and monitoring of the real-life involvement of human resources in processes and the teams in which they operate. “Over the years, several human resource mining methods have been developed, i.e., process mining methods that convey insights related to the HR in a process using an event log,” the authors wrote. “However, there is a lack of a holistic understanding of the breadth of these methods.”
The authors carried out a systematic literature review to develop a framework of use cases, illustrating the versatility of process mining for providing insights into HR. The use cases were classified according to two dimensions: the level of analysis (individual versus multiple human resources) and the focus of analysis (organization-focused versus human-focused). The paper highlights opportunities for further enriching and extending this area of research to analyze how teams of resources can perform better.
PEX Network producer Francesca Di Meglio explains her experience with working in places that make it safe to fail
Lack of automation and digital readiness hampers insurance sector
A lack of automation and digital readiness is significantly affecting growth in the insurance industry. That’s according to an RDT Tech Poll which revealed that concerns about the pace and effectiveness of digital transformation within insurance remain prevalent among insurers and managing general agent (MGAs). The survey indicates that most insurers view the sector as lagging in digitalization, with nearly a third (31 percent) of technology professionals at insurers and MGAs rating the current state of digital adoption as either poor or very poor. In fact, only 3 percent rate the industry’s digital transformation as excellent.
That said, there is some progress being made, the poll found. More than half of industry participants (54 percent) are prioritizing the implementation of low-code interfaces to automate customer journeys, with a fifth (19 percent) working on replacing legacy systems entirely. Furthermore, over a third (36 percent) of insurers surveyed reported an increase in technology investment and digital transformation in insurance over the past year.
“We are encouraged by the shift among many from project-based transformations to continuous updates using low-code interfaces,” commented Joe O’Connor, deputy CEO of RDT. “Insurers are now integrating new methodologies and practices to cultivate a culture of continuous learning and innovation.” However, it is essential for insurers to begin by asking the right questions about how to add more value for customers and enhance the claims experience. He added. “The emphasis should be on leveraging automation and data to drive valuable outcomes – the key is to be customer-focused, not just tech-focused.
Process mining valuable for evaluating employee well-being
A new academic paper examined how process mining can evaluate employee well-being by conceptualizing variables of various work characteristics. The Utrecht University researchers used the Job Demands Resources model (JD-R), which explains how work characteristics influence employee well-being, exploring how process mining variables compare to validated survey measures.
Data was collected in two ways, the authors wrote. “First, a survey was conducted to measure the work characteristics of monotonous work, time pressure, workload, social support and autonomy and the well-being outcomes of burnout, boredom, and work engagement. Second, process mining was used to calculate scores for the same work characteristics so that the scores could be compared with the survey variables.”
No strong correlations were found between corresponding survey variables and process mining variables. However, results revealed strong correlations between process mining variables of workload, social support and autonomy with the survey variable of work engagement. According to the researchers. “These findings suggest that process mining variables can be valuable for predicting work-related well-being, especially work engagement.”
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