Automation is a process that can be intimidating to employees for a variety of reasons, from fears around job security to reluctance to adopt new business practices. A key element of process excellence teams is encouraging an atmosphere of security and collaboration through company culture. Here, Dr. Anand Kulkarni, Director of Process Automation at Elsevier, meets with Arpita Saha, Head of Business Process Automation at MaxLife Insurance, to discuss the challenges of change management and share how they have approached this delicate issue, ensuring a company culture open to automation. 

• Change starts at the top – setting the right expectations of automation program with senior leadership
• Positioning automation program as a strategic initiative rather than a short term cost reduction project
• Using communication plans to increase employee change readiness

Arpita Saha

Head of Business Process Automation
MaxLife Insurance

See Bio

Dr. Anand Kulkarni

Director of Operations Process Automation
Elsevier

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Digital-first businesses continue to outperform their peers by remaining competitive and agile while methodically investing in advanced digital platforms to enhance innovation and development. On the other hand, they also see the right technology as a key enabler in building self-directed agile teams. Investing in a capable digital transformation programme can end siloed technology and save time and money. Identifying business opportunities, digitizing operations, streamlining workflows, enabling teams to build custom solutions, and exploring future technologies are some of the imperative reasons to undertake digital transformation. In this session, we will see:

• Why process automation, case management, and low-code development are critical aspects of digital transformation
• How enabling citizen development can play a pivotal role in accelerating digital transformation
• What is the need for governance in mitigating threats pertaining to shadow IT 
• How a holistic approach to digital transformation can help achieve all of the above 10X faster

Sponsored by: Kissflow

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Elsevier opened their Automation Centre of Excellence in 2018 and two years ago the CoE was re-branded as the Process Automation Centre of Excellence (PACE) with a new approach of making it more employee-focused in order to scale and accelerate the pace of automation across Operations. The CoE has gone from strength to strength, delivering over 100 automation solutions using RPA, low code Business Process Management platforms and machine learning saving 100,000 hours of employee time allowing them to focus on higher-value added activities. In addition, the automation solutions have improved turn-around times and accuracy of processes, reduced supplier spend and enabled insourcing of a variety of business processes.

Director of Operations Process Automation, Dr. Anand Kulkarni, shares his experience and lessons learnt from growing Elsevier’s process automation CoE. Key topics include – how to

• Define and align CoE success measures to business priorities
• Collaborate with IT to position automation technologies in company’s existing technology landscape
• Create trust and transparency for employees to embrace new automation technologies
• Establish the culture of collaboration and rapid cycles of experimentation to continuously test new automation technologies and improve CoE operating model and achieve scale and speed

Dr. Anand Kulkarni

Director of Operations Process Automation
Elsevier

See Bio

MaxLife Insurance has moved quickly to digitise operations, improving customer service, cutting costs, and optimising processes. MaxLife currently offers robotic self-service for payouts and claims management, giving customers more control over their accounts. The company has recently digitised their entire underwriting operation using new AI technologies, simplifying the process, and saving money on outsourcing. Arpita Saha, Head of Business Process Automation at MaxLife, explains MaxLife’s automation journey and how they became national industry leaders in financial DPA.

• Why using RPA self-service to optimise customer experience pays off 
• How AI can cut outsourcing costs and save employee time
• Attended versus unattended bots – when to use what
• Using multiple automation avenues to find the best digital solutions 

Arpita Saha

Head of Business Process Automation
MaxLife Insurance

See Bio