HYDERABAD: Intelligent automation will play a critical role in shaping a new, technologically-enabled, post-pandemic future of work, according to new research by Pegasystems Inc. The global study, conducted by research firm Savanta, surveyed over 3,000 global senior managers and frontline IT staff for their thoughts on technology’s future role in a significantly altered business landscape.
The research found that preparedness for future pandemics or similar disruptions was still the main focus for many, with an overwhelming majority (84 per cent) respondents identifying it as a high priority – an unsurprising figure when you consider that nearly one in three (31 per cent) said they were either totally unprepared or ‘not very prepared’ for the impact of Covid-19. It also found that intelligent automation has emerged as one of the key technologies used to future-proof businesses against disruptive events.
At least 76 percent of respondents said the pandemic will cause them to increase their intelligent automation investment. Meanwhile, 74 per cent of survey participants agree that further external shocks that temporarily remove people from the workplace will result in more intelligent automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) investment, while 76 per cent also say that unpredictable mass illness and/or self-isolation will drive increased business demand for intelligent automation.
Over half (51 per cent) of respondents also said they would increase investment in AI and cloud solutions to guard against the business impact of future pandemics. More broadly, the study found that technology will have a profound effect on the way we work in the future, with 86 per cent of respondents expecting technology to either ‘significantly change’ or produce ‘quite a lot of change’ in the way people in their organisation work over the next five years. Tellingly, none of the respondents said that technology would drive no change over that period.