Automation linked to revenue growth of 15%+

By 2018, almost half of companies (46) said they would need greater automation to handle the volume of tasks being generated. By 2020, nearly nine in 10 companies (86%) are expecting to hit breaking point.

More than three-quarters (78%) said data from mobile devices and the Internet of Things was compounding the issue.

Intelligent automation – such as artificial intelligence or machine learning, could help increase productivity, said almost all (94%) of those surveyed, streamlining decision-making to increase the speed and accuracy of business processes.

These are the findings of a new global report – Today’s State of Work: At the Breaking Point – commissioned by ServiceNow, collating the views of more than 1,850 corporate leaders from seven countries.

Executives believe automation can create jobs, contrary to popular perceptions of related job losses. The message isn’t being clearly communicated, however, with the vast majority (87%) of execs stating that employees worried about automation eliminating jobs.

The top obstacles to automation were cited as: committing the resources (both budget and personnel) required; employees’ resistance to change, and redundancy fears.

If those barriers can be overcome, nearly half (48%) of executives said that work levels had increased by 20% or more since investing in automation. Nearly all (93%) believe that reducing mundane, administrative tasks opens up employee creativity, yet almost the same amount (91%) said their skilled employees spent too much time on admin duties.