Why CEOs Should Explore The MAN In The MAchiNe!
October 20, 2017
We as CEO's have seen how the winds of automation are vigorously blowing the BPO industry. Every organization is taking note of how automation will or can impact the industry and devising a strategy to incorporate the same in its business plans.
As a member of one of the pioneers of Impact Sourcing, I found Dinesh Goel's article on the future of BPO services very informative. He views automation as the latest hurdle faced by the BPO industry. In his article, he describes the all pervasiveness of processes within the customer industries - the strength of BPO industry vis-a-vis IT. The author postulates that the work would remain and increase, but the human effort involved in executing them may not so - to be replaced by Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dinesh also suggest the key steps to be taken by the BPO Service providers to overcome this challenge and convert it to their advantage.
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Three experts from Infosys talked about the impact of automation and AI on the BPO industry and what it means to the client. The experts discussed the nature of changes in expectations from the clients utilizing big data and the advent of automation to develop insights to serve their clients better. They also predicted the impact of human resource and skills required to the extent of having a need to redefine 'talent' to include design thinking elements.
What does AI and ML mean to Impact Sourcing? My opinion as a practitioner in the Impact Sourcing field is that, there should be a relatively larger importance to the human intelligence than to the machines. Therefore, these changes should trigger the following actions to ponder:
- Incorporate Automation - ML and AI are here to stay and it is better to include it in the business strategy before the customers ask for it.
- Reshape human intelligence - It is important not just to re-skill the human resources, but you need to be able to influence their adaptability and attitude to their new roles.
- 'Carpe diem' (Sieze the day) - Don't wait for the market opportunities but be the leaders in combining the human intelligence with machines.
Today, it is business imperative to balance the needs of human and advancement of technology and yet ride the wave of the latest technological change in the BPO industry.
The author of this article is J K Manivannan, CEO of DesiCrew Solutions, a leader in the impact Sourcing space. He has been pursuing the link between technology, job creation and rural areas in his career spanning over two decades. You can find him here: LinkedIn.
