Automation technologies can offer considerable value to organizations, but only if they are implemented strategically, on a large scale, and in support of business goals. They also require the businesses using them to actively monitor performance and make adjustments over time. Because of the complexity of the technologies and the need to think broadly about their capabilities, sophisticated users of automation -- whether financial services firms, data management companies, or hospitals -- are creating automation (or sometimes "intelligent automation") centers of excellence (COEs). A COE is a dedicated team of individuals who set standards, provide consulting and development assistance, and monitor the technology's progress. Get monthly email updates on how artificial intelligence and big data are affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations.

Monitoring and analysis of large updated databases.

The robots have arrived in downtown Springdale, in a black warehouse at 317 E. Meadow Ave., directly behind Tyson's Emma Street technology center. Designed to move chicken legs and packaging, the robots will eventually end up in processing plants across the country. But before that can happen, they will be tested in the new Tyson Manufacturing Automation Center, which opened Thursday. The center offers a space for employees to develop in-house manufacturing processes with suppliers, and to learn how those processes and equipment work. "It is another exciting day in Springdale," Tyson Foods Chairman John Tyson told a crowd at the facility Thursday.

Automation will redefine the next phase of digital transformation as it delivers new levels of customer value coming from higher quality and dependability, deeper personalization, faster delivery of products, and greater convenience offerings. Robotic process automation (RPA) is growing at a fast pace with projections from Gartner forecasting that the RPA business will grow 57% over the next year. Here are the major RPA predictions for 2019 that are all set to redefine the new year and the years to come. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) wave is here and RPA is an essential component of that change. As we prepare to welcome the new year, Artificial Intelligence will gain more prominence and RPA will slowly merge with Artificial Intelligence to deliver an integrated business value, and this will propel the rise of the Intelligent Process Automation (IPA).

It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future, but we can be certain that "AI Washing" will continue to rise and flourish in 2019. That's what market research firm Forrester calls the hype and hooplah around Artificial Intelligence (AI), the latest set of technologies that is promising to "change the world." In its 2019 predictions, Forrester tries to temper the "irrational exuberance for AI adoption" with a dose of reality, looking forward by observing how companies automate their work today while experimenting with adding intelligence--artificial and human--to analyzing data and making decisions. Here's my summary of two Forrester reports published today, "Predictions 2019: Artificial Intelligence" and "Predictions 2019: Automation." It's the data, stupid: Most companies will find out that to realize their expectations from AI--exaggerated or not--they must invest in creating "an AI-worthy data environment." Automation and intelligence convergence is the new new thing: More than 40% of enterprises will create state-of-the-art digital workers by combining AI with Robotic Process Automation (RPA).