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The Automation Advantage

Embrace the future of productivity and improve speed, quality, and customer experience through AI-powered intelligent automation.

HUMAN + MACHINE

Human + Machine: Reimagining work in the Age of AI

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“An accessible must-read for both a business management and technology audience.”

— Mike Crisafulli, VP of Software Engineering – Comcast

A practical guide to intelligent automation

From the global enterprise technology and automation leaders at Accenture, The Automation Advantage book offers the first comprehensive blueprint for using and scaling AI-powered intelligent automation. Learn how enterprises can gain a competitive advantage through faster speed to market, improved product quality, higher efficiency, and an elevated customer experience.

Featuring business automation examples and successful solutions, this indispensable automation roadmap includes guiding principles for technology, governance, culture and leadership change. It offers a human-centric approach to AI and automation that leads to sustainable transformation and measurable business results—giving business leaders and managers a highly accessible action plan that answers:

  • How do I identify and prioritize automation opportunities?
  • How do I assess my legacy systems and data issues?
  • How do I derive full value out of my technology investments and automation efforts?
  • How can I inspire my employees to embrace change and the new opportunities presented by automation?

Learn how to quickly and confidently scale your AI-powered automation initiatives while transforming your business with The Automation Advantage.

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Praise for The Automation Advantage

“A brilliant field manual for the coming Automation Age.”

 

- Richard D’Aveni, Author of The Pan-Industrial Revolution and Bakala Professor of Strategy, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

“A CIO needs a vision, leadership and the technical nous to execute successfully. I have a vision and a strong belief that a world with zero human touch application maintenance is absolutely attainable—a world with self-healing and self-configuring systems powered by AI. The Automation Advantage sets out a strategic approach to getting there, both from a technology and human perspective.”

 

- Ed Alford, Chief Technology Officer, New Look

“The Automation Advantage provides a comprehensive road map to launch automation and AI initiatives at scale and accelerating technology-driven transformation.”

 

-Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive—Technology and Chief Technology Officer, Accenture, and coauthor of Human + Machine

“Consistently creating value with technology is hard. The Automation Advantage makes it simple. The authors lay out a comprehensive path to value using modern techniques that will be appreciated by both the thinker and the practitioner.”

 

- Mark Spykerman, Chief Information Officer, AmerisourceBergen

“As with any transformation effort, getting your people to embrace change can be challenging. The Automation Advantage is NOT a book of strategy. It’s a book of execution that will enable your organization to succeed with a human-centric approach.”

 

- Andy Nallappan, Chief Technology Officer, Broadcom

“The Automation Advantage takes us on a refreshing journey that aligns how enterprise operations leaders need to approach automation and AI in the virtual economy.”

 

- Phil Fersht, CEO and Chief Analyst, HFS Research

"We are entering a world of autonomous enterprises where analytics, automation, and AI converge. The Automation Advantage definitively shows how organizations can improve decision velocity and precision decisions.”

 

-R “Ray” Wang, CEO Constellation Research and Best-Selling Author of Everybody Wants To Rule The World

“Successful intelligent automation requires you to get more than just the technology right. The Automation Advantage addresses this – clearly and effectively – by providing the guiding principles and steps for changing your organization’s technology, governance, culture, and even leadership style.”

 

- Charlene Li, entrepreneur, speaker and New York Times bestselling author of The Disruption Mindset

“A great book, with ample examples of automation at work. Cements all the ideas and discussions I have had on this topic with the expert Automation team at Accenture.”

 

-Rajiv Kakar, Group CIO, Thai Union

Chapter summaries

The authors introduce the motivation for writing this book and provide high level overviews of each chapter.

This chapter introduces the concept of intelligent automation, its value, an overview of the major stages of automation organizations typically work through and the need to take a “people first” investment approach to automation.

This chapter outlines the barriers to overcome in applying intelligent automation (relating to people, process, technology, and strategy) and addresses the common myths that get in the way of progress.

This chapter discusses how any intelligent automation effort should align with the strategy of the business, fit into a mapped-out strategy for building up the IA capability of the organization, include a project plan linked to the strategy and establish a process for an ongoing refresh of the intelligent automation strategy.

This covers how to assess and prioritize the parts of the business which should be automated, including constructing an automation maturity model and using it to track progress.

This chapter discusses the need to architect how the effort will be staffed and conducted, who will govern its key decisions, and what metrics will be used to track its progress toward clear goals. It also covers the need for and design of an intelligent automation center of excellence.

This chapter explains how most companies do not have technology infrastructures capable of supporting high levels of intelligent automation. This covers the key considerations for building a modern IT architecture that is designed to be adaptive, to interact with rich data fabrics, and to have AI at their core. The right architectures for IA are also cloud-based, security-filled, and platform-centric.

This chapter explains what is needed from a people, skills and culture perspective to plan, implement and maintain a transformational automation effort that has the full support of leadership.

An IA solution is not a “set it and forget it” accomplishment. This chapter covers how to improve upon the solution to ensure gaining even greater value over time.

This chapter looks to the future and describes how new generations of automation solutions will make the world better as long as they are guided by three core principles: relevance, resilience, and responsibility.

The authors

Why is AI-driven automation so essential today?

What’s most important to successful automation?

Why is AI-driven automation so powerful?

Bhaskar Ghosh, PhD, is Chief Strategy Officer of Accenture, where he directs the company’s strategy and investments, including ventures and acquisitions, all offerings and assets, and Accenture Research. In addition, he manages Industry X and drives responsible business and sustainability services. Read more.

Rajendra Prasad is Chief Information and Asset Engineering Officer for Accenture, leading global IT operations and helping Accenture and its clients drive business efficiency and value through technology innovation, intelligent automation and AI. Read more.

Gayathri Pallail is the Managing Director for Automation Strategy and Deployment for Accenture Technology and implements enterprise-wide automation-based solutions and successful change management to enable seamless adoption for hundreds of clients across industries. Read more.

Featured author discussions

Watch and listen as the authors share their expertise on automation through a variety of insightful discussions.

Hear book authors Rajendra Prasad (RP) and Pascal Bornet share their experiences on how to use today’s increasingly sophisticated intelligent automation capabilities to transform your enterprise. Today’s automation technologies, infused with AI, offer more opportunities than ever for organizations to scale automation across the enterprise to gain competitive advantage. Learn how to identify the best automation opportunities, steps to map a successful journey and how to address some commonly held myths and misconceptions about automation.

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Accenture Chief Strategy Officer Bhaskar Ghosh discusses his new book The Automation Advantage with host Dan Loney of Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM Radio. From January 2022.

Oliver Grange

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In the news

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HBR | How to pick the right automation project

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eWeek | The 5 elements of intelligent automation

A guide to what companies need to leverage intelligent automation, which greatly improves business transformation and top-line growth.

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Information Week | Automation…where do you start?

The authors explain five core steps to structuring your intelligent automation strategy.

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CNBC India | AI-powered intelligent automation

Bhaskar Ghosh discusses how companies can optimally deploy intelligent automation at scale to drive business.

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Order your copy now

Order your copy of The Automation Advantage book at any of these retailers: