Top 5 lessons learned from intelligent automation: Nick Burgess

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Seth Adler
Seth Adler
04/17/2018

The AI & Intelligent Automation Network asks key practitioners for five lessons learned from their intelligent automation journey

Intelligent automation
Another tool for the journey: “We drew upon a toolkit… as opposed to a one size fits all solution.” Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash.

Next up in our intelligent automation advice series is Nick Burgess, an executive who has been in the intelligent automation space since before it was a space.  “Back in the day, robotics wasn't a thing. It wasn't referred to as robotics, that's a phrase that's been coined within the last few years, and it's sort of gravitated from there, I suppose. My team adopted the same principles and the same language- and that stuck. So it's been fascinating to see the growth in the marketplace, and the interest in the results that are being delivered by organizations globally now.”

Dovetailing his systems background with his six sigma training led Nick to realize the true value of RPA, “From a background of traditional tech solutions, which could take weeks, months, in some cases, year to deliver, all of a sudden, you had something that could be built and deployed very, very quickly, the testing would be done in parallel with the development, and it really caught people's imaginations.”

He inherently realized that the value of intelligent automation lies where the testing and development could be done simultaneously.

Furthermore, he inherently understood that the answer wasn’t to run to the bright shiny object. This was another tool for the journey—there's a whole range of different solutions that organizations have worked with and have at their disposal:

“We drew upon a toolkit and said, this is a good one for robotics, this is a good one for BPM, this is a good one for the BPM accelerator, this is something that should be fixed strategically, as opposed to a one size fits all solution.”


AIIA Network Editor Seth Adler caught up with Nick Burgess in this recent podcast interview:


He shares his top 5 lessons learned from intelligent automation:

Sponsorship

Secure an enthusiastic and influential sponsor who wants you to succeed and will do everything in their power to ensure sure that you do.

Collaboration

Make sure your organization is aligned on its strategy and is pulling in the same direction, particularly the Business and IT Teams.

Great people

Hire great people with inquisitive minds and a broad range of skills and experience and allow them to challenge your thinking.

Fail fast

Don't progress projects for the sake of it. If the requirements have changed and something no longer makes sense, stop.

Be Resilient

Thomas Edison said 'genius is 1per cent inspiration 99 per cent perspiration', he was right. Create a compelling reason to change and have the courage to see things through.

Catch up on the series:

5 lessons learned from intelligent automation: Jon Theurekauf

Top tips for intelligent automation success from Jorgen Lislerud

Top 5 lessons learned from intelligent automation: Cindy Gallagher


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