Human plus AI – that's how automation creates the real digital workforce

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to be a key element in creating the new digital labour force; what analyst firm Gartner is describing as DigitalOps. AI is integrating a long list of some of the most innovative and disruptive technologies available: machine learning; cognitive and computer vision; conversational capabilities; human-to-machine user interfaces; predictive data analytics; cybersecurity; IoT and intelligent monitoring. It is a huge range of applications that will take considerable skill to implement if they are to be optimised in work environments around the world. Despite all the advances in management software and techniques, the most effective path to extracting the maximum value from these technologies is through convergence with robotic process automation (RPA). This proven technology is already bringing together AI and cognitive tools to achieve productivity gains of several orders of magnitude whilst simultaneously slashing costs.