Smart machines are reinventing how work is done, but there is significant untapped potential in reimagining business processes from the ground up as self-improving procedures that can sense, comprehend, act and learn — all in real time.
This exponential leap will also unlock entirely new roles and new ways for humans and machines to work together. This third era of process change is already delivering profound results, across industries and for the economy as a whole.
We conducted research with more than 1,000 business process professionals to help develop insights for this report and for the new book, Human+Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI, published in March 2018 by Harvard Business Review Press.
THE THREE
OVERLAPPING LENSES
The maximum value is unlocked at the intersection of 3 lenses. It is at the center where the true potential of human and machine alliances is realized. The research discovered that:
PROCESS CHANGE
27%
use AI to create new
processes
DATA & DATA MODELS
34%
use AI to find hidden
value in dark data
WORKFORCE
39%
are rethinking the human and
machine relationship
= PROCESS REIMAGINED
9%
of organizations are taking a proactive
approach to AI and are doing all three
simultaneously—putting them in a
position to gain the most from AI.
31%
of reimagined processes
are getting 10X KPI improvements
as opposed to 15% for process
that do not apply all three elements.
HUMAN AND MACHINE ALLIANCES
While 90 percent of organizations believe that machine learning will personalize work to individual preferences, only 39 percent are truly embracing the full potential and forging alliances between people and machine to realize a significant change in enterprise process KPIs, job satisfaction and retention.
We have identified six such human-machine alliances that will reshape the ways people will work in the future.
TRAINERS
Humans train AI for performance
EXPLAINERS
Humans make AI explainable
SUSTAINERS
Humans make AI sustainable
AMPLIFIERS
Machines augment with insight
INTERACTORS
Machines give user interface a personality
EMBODIERS
Machines provide physical aid
READ THE REPORT
THE THIRD ERA OF PROCESS CHANGE
We are on the vanguard of the third era of process change, in which business leaders have an opportunity to employ AI to make a systematic shift that affects every process, piece of data and worker.
FORD
ASSEMBLY
LINE
Reduced the time to build a car
from 12 hours to 2.5 hours.
1913
DESKTOP
COMPUTING
Revolutionizes business
processes by allowing increased
productivity and lower costs.
1990s
ERA OF
LIVING
PROCESSES
New human/AI alliances reshape
businesses from the ground up.
2017
READ THE REPORT
HOW REIMAGINING PROCESSES WILL CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS
HUMAN +
MACHINE:
REIMAGINING
WORK IN THE
AGE OF AI
by Accenture’s Paul Daugherty and H. James Wilson - explores process reimagined and the missing middle in greater depth. Purchase this management guide for AI now on Amazon.
ABOUT ACCENTURE RESEARCH
Accenture Research shapes trends and creates data-driven insights about the most pressing issues global organizations face. Combining the power of innovative research techniques with a deep understanding of our clients’ industries, our team of 250 researchers and analysts spans 23 countries and publishes hundreds of reports, articles and points of view every year. Our thought-provoking research—supported by proprietary data and partnerships with leading organizations such as MIT and Singularity—guides our innovations and allows us to transform theories and fresh ideas into real-world solutions for our clients.
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