The One Thing You Need to Know About RPA Solutions Before They Replace You

If you're wasting your time filling out forms, or drafting emails or you're figuring out how to write code or some spreadsheet formula... you're doing it wrong! So, stop doing that! Let the AI do it!

We got AI to do all of this, and nobody is paying you to stay busy anyway. They need you productive. If you want to make your own life easier, and get a promotion, ask your boss for RPA solutions.

AI has already been integrated into most RPA solutions. And there's about to be a whole lot more gunning for your job. Best get in ahead of the curve.

What is RPA?

So what's this RPA thing? It stands for robotic process automation, which is corporate talk for: let the machine do that work.

By the way, you can generate your own corporate talk with this tool here. I can vouch for this tool. I have fluffed up a ton presentations with that it, to the point that I had put my audience into a trance so deep, the room started vibrating to the rhythm of the collective snoring sounds.

Where RPA Solutions Start

Well, most RPA solutions do not start out as fully automated processes. Shocking, I know! They start with stressed-out people doing their jobs, finding tedious tasks and making them easier. Once they find a process, they often whine to their managers about it and demand that someone do something about it.

Technically, they're whining for a raise, but some people aren't very good negotiators, and bosses love a good excuse to get more money for the department. Good job, you go-getter, you!

Building an RPA

As you may expect, these processes aren't very easy for an outsider to understand. And it's hard to translate business jargon into code when both the tech expert and the business expert look like they could use a Babel Fish. That's where the business analyst comes in.

The business analyst should be a living Rosetta Stone. Someone who understands the technical capabilities, requirements, and jargon and can interpret what is being said.

Once the analyst has translated, it all gets handed off to a team of developers who wave their magic coding wands in their flip-flops, hoodies, and Hawaiian shirts to create the automated business process. Pros will use workflow automation tools to orchestrate the entire process, so it's still readable by the business expert, but it can be done without.

Now, even after the automation, some tasks still require human intervention. Like scanning a page and putting it into the system so everyone else can do their jobs.

Examples of RPA solutions

RPA includes a number of tools, including OCR and AI.

OCR is used to decipher the mysterious handwriting of the doctor applying for a bank loan when scanning documents.

It also includes the chatbot that everyone loves to talk to when they call their bank. Or that data scraping, order placement, data entry, exception handling, reporting, etc.

Now, it's important to remember, that the key benefit of RPA as a chatbot is that it improves efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction. After all, a customer who can't complain is a happy customer!

Will AI Steal My Job?

You may think that your job will grow legs and run away from you.

You see, it's the age of AI. Manual labor became obsolete a long time ago. And I understand your fear. I have been there. You're overwhelmed, and your boss is breathing down your neck. There's the mortgage payment, and there's inflation, and you have no idea how to do it all.

Your bosses are going to find out that you're not as productive as you seem, and you're going to get fired. Your partner will leave you. You'll end up in the gutter, scraping not data but garbage cans. And the only thing keeping you company will be a bottle of distilled alcohol.

Now take a deep breath. And tell yourself: It's fine. It's going to be fine! It's going to be fine!

And it will be.

Having done this for almost 20 years, I can tell you that your job is safe.

Software comes with bugs, and RPAs are no different. Someone needs to find them, report them, and explain how it should have been done instead. Understanding your business is what makes you valuable to the company. You've been there, you know.

And if you were the one who was there when the automation happened, they will keep you around because you are the only one who knows how this thing should work. For everyone else, it is IT voodoo.

Your job is safe. What will happen is that HR will stop recruiting. The current team size will be frozen, and you'll have new, work coming your way.

And if you need more convincing, why your job is safe, here are a few more reasons:

• your bosses fear the machines, and hate verifying the results
• your bosses have no clue how to use the new RPA solution
• some tasks are more expensive to automate than they are worth
• your boss wants more budget for the department and headcount is the easiest way to get more budget
• the government pays the company to keep you employed, because high unemployment looks bad, and elections are coming up

The Road Ahead

I have also seen the flip side, where people have been laid off by managers in an overzealous attempt to cut costs. The result was a nightmare, and the guy who was involved in the automation process was brought back, promoted, and paid four times his previous salary.

Talk about a good bargaining position! And that could be you!

See, if you've been through the ringer once, you're ahead of the competition. If you want, you can now transition into consulting as an analyst or engineer. You'll notice that the process is rather simple.

And once you'll get AI to draft your project documents for you, it will get even easier!

So if you have been automated away by AI... call a local IT consulting company and apply for a job. You're business analysts that have been part of a successful Business Automation Automation are a scarce resource!Besides... most consulting firms hire anything that ain't on a tree, by the count of three.