Zinnov, a leading global management and strategy consulting firm, in partnership with UiPath, a leader in enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA), conducted a joint study titled, “Hyper Intelligent Automation in Billion-Dollar Large Enterprises.” The data from the study clearly showed that Hyper Intelligent Automation (HIA) will become key to accelerate outcomes in the wake of COVID-19.

HIA is a holistic, end-to-end automation philosophy which augments the core RPA competence with additional capabilities such as Use Case Discovery, Intelligent Document Processing, and Analytics for reporting and dashboarding. The Zinnov-UiPath study stated that Indian Billion-dollar Large Enterprises have spent USD 55-60 Million on HIA in 2019 alone, and this is set to reach a staggering USD 350-400 Million by 2024, at a 55% CAGR. The increased HIA spending through 2024 is expected to be channelized towards enterprise-wide scaled automation through HIA, as Large Enterprises will explore more complex use cases such as domain-specific and IT & ER&D automation.

Automation, specifically HIA, will become key for enterprises to ensure business continuity, as COVID-19’s domino effect continues unabated across organizations and verticals. In fact, social distancing norms and remote working measures around the world have provided the impetus for enterprises to lean heavily towards automation. With more than 65% of Indian Billion-dollar Large Enterprises having already made initial investments in HIA, it is clear that the technology will become a significant part of the new normal post COVID-19. 

The increased HIA adoption across Indian Billion-dollar Large Enterprises is being propelled by the country’s skilled HIA talent. Bangalore emerged on top with nearly 35% of the total talent pool, followed by Delhi with 18%, and Pune rounded out the top three, with 15% of the HIA talent. Currently, there are 42K+ HIA developers in India, including 7-9K installed HIA talent in Indian Billion-dollar Large Enterprises.

Newer automation use cases are being explored across Retail/CPG, Manufacturing, Telecom & Media, etc., which have been accelerated by the current situation. This clearly points towards a trend where enterprises already on their automation journeys are channelizing their technology investments in favor of scaling, while those that were merely contemplating automation before, are accelerating its adoption.

Besides leveraging HIA to combat COVID-19, there are 5 HIA megatrends that emerged from the study including rapid enterprise uptake of HIA; BFS, Insurance, and Healthcare leading the HIA maturity; India’s emergence as the HIA talent hotspot; Use Case Discovery enabling enterprises in their HIA journey; and, Centers of Excellence (CoEs) acting as the strong foundation for HIA adoption and scaling.

Speaking about the study, Praveen Bhadada, Managing Partner & Global Head – Digital, Zinnov, said, “Hyper Intelligent Automation (HIA) is truly playing a strategic role in ensuring business continuity, as enterprises grapple with the COVID-19 situation. Billion-dollar Large Enterprises in India are leading from the front in HIA adoption, accelerated by a combination of factors such as HIA talent availability, process-first approach to HIA, and setting up of dedicated HIA CoEs. Leveraged right, automation and by extension, HIA, has the potential to become the bridge of resilience for India Inc. in this time of crisis, through increased efficiency, enhanced customer service, decreased costs, and increased productivity. COVID-19 has forced enterprises to think beyond the present and truly future-proof their businesses.”

“The business disruption brought about by the current COVID-19 pandemic has made enterprises adopt new technologies with seriousness and intent. In India, we have seen RPA adopted the fastest by the BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, and Manufacturing sectors. However, given the current situation, organizations across sectors are assessing the power of RPA – right from managing outcomes with a highly dispersed workforce, to relooking at customer engagement with a new lens, companies are setting the groundwork for the future. This will push the CIOs to closely evaluate the benefits of RPA and processes that can be automated to fine tune their ensuing strategies. We will not only witness an increase in the adoption of automation in real-time, but also see new use cases being developed to help ensure business continuity,” said Manish Bharti, President – India and SAARC, UiPath.