How IA and RPA are enabling reusability, faster scaling and adoption

Lyudmila Todorovska, global hyperautomation product manager at Heineken, leads several teams which include intelligent automation (IA), low and no-code development and chatbot development.

She discusses her experience in robotic process automation (RPA) and IA and shares her predictions on what the future holds for hyperautomation.

Todorovska also gives PEX Network an exclusive sneak peek into what to expect from the panel discussion she will feature in alongside experts from The Coca-Cola Company, Payoneer, Siemens Gamesa and AP Moller Maersk Tuesday 21 June at PEX Live: Intelligent Automation and RPA 2022.

PEX Network: Could you tell us more about your experience and successes you have with IA and RPA?

Lucy Todorovska: I first got to know the RPA field back in 2019 when I started as global product owner of the robotics and automation team at Heineken. Our main goal and focus was to set up a strong foundation for our technology platforms so we could increase their adoption, reduce cost and risk and increase revenue.

Our long-term strategy was and still is hyperautomation, meaning to automate everything that could be automated. We had to choose and implement a new RPA platform and establish a new governance around it, so we could have the right foundation to grow.

Based on our ambition to increase our multinational company’s automation footprint, we decided to set up a new operational model called a "federated model” of work. This model of working allows us to open the global technology platform for multidisciplinary teams who sit close to our business.

They operate from different companies within Heineken, and normally consist of citizen developers, professional developers, business analysts and sometimes even product owners. This model of working is completely new for Heineken and has been piloted by our team and, as a result, the adoption of the platform has grown exponentially to seven times its initial rate.

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PEX Network: What challenges do organizations usually face in IA initiatives and what are your recommendations to overcome them?

LT: Organizations face very different challenges because this really depends on their size, technological landscape and level of standardization. However, for all organizations I have one piece of advice: consider RPA and/or IA initiatives the same as every other technology initiative you have in the company.

You need to ensure that you have senior sponsorship, automation objectives aligned with the company objectives, a technological foundation aligned with your long-term strategy, proper governance to enable scaling of the initiative and effective change management and communications.

PEX Network: What key developments do you expect to happen in IA over the next couple of years?

LT: IA and even hyperautomation are in the 10 top technological trends in the last couple of years, according to Gartner.

The RPA and hyperautomation market is going to be worth US$26 bn by 2027 according to Bloomberg. This means that this is an area of technology that constantly grows and changes.

The key technological trends are mainly related to adding different tools to better manage the end-to-end process from identification to delivery. For example, process mining, task mining and test automation are all tools that are regularly used to support RPA and hyperautomation initiatives. Many of these tools are using machine learning or artificial intelligence underneath.

Increasingly often I see that technologies blend together, such as with automation, low-code or no-code development or chatbot development. Another trend is that a major focus for almost all organizations on the market is citizen development and enabling fusion teams, consisting of professional and citizen developers, as well as colleagues working in the business domain areas to work together.

These new trends are enabling reusability, faster scaling and adoption.

PEX Network: You will participate in a panel on accelerating digital transformation through IA and RPA. Could you tell us how IA accelerates digital transformation?

LT: The main added value of hyperautomation is that is allows businesses to simplify and automate business processes. By doing so it enables efficiency gains, revenue growth, risk avoidance and improved user experience.

To hear Todorovska discuss how IA accelerates digital transformation alongside experts from The Coca-Cola Company, Payoneer, Siemens Gamesa and AP Moller Maersk, register for PEX Live: Intelligent Automation and RPA 2022, taking place online on 21-23 June 2022.

Do you agree with Todorovska’s predictions regarding the trajectory of IA? Tell us what automation trends you foresee by leaving a comment below.