On the left-hand side you have automating the mundane; the automation of highly repetitive tasks, such as invoice processing, to which Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is being applied. This is anything done by someone using a keyboard, doing repetitive tasks over and over again such as invoice processing. One of the notable aspects of the market is the massive valuations these companies (Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism & UIPath being the top three) have received, especially given some of them are not startups – the youngest of those three is 14 years old. And there's not a lot of actual AI in there, beyond document understanding using NLP and other technologies but more is coming. But they scratch a current itch and are benefitting from it. On the right-hand side, you have automating the complex, the most notable example of which is autonomous vehicles, such as Alphabet's Waymo and eventually, Tesla.

The insurance industry will lose thousands of jobs - one in every five - to robots and automation, a KPMG report says today. More than half of the insurance decision makers surveyed predicted that 20% of jobs would be lost to automation and robots in next five years. "Sectors such as insurance are investing heavily in automation, with over half of IT leaders in this sector reporting that they are either piloting or implementing AI or machine learning," said Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash, which partnered on the survey. "Claims processing, policy issuance, administrative tasks – these are all clearly functions ripe for AI." Insurance Times 2025 event will discuss talent and job replacement. Click here to find details and join the big day.