Where to Start Business Automation: the First 3 Steps
Nikita Borisenko
CEO of Loqos AI
October 6, 2023
In his book "Atomic Habits," James Clear wisely notes, "You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." This statement holds true not just for personal habits but also for automation in business processes.
To fully harness the power of automation, your systems have to be prepared. I’ve learned it by heart during my previous experience as a business operations manager.
The common misconception is business owners count upon AI bots as some magic pills able to heal their company once and for all. And though it is partially true. And AI bots can really solve many of their problems, AI bot automation should never be done without a proper analysis and optimisation of a company's current processes and systems.
To fully harness the power of automation, your systems have to be prepared. I’ve learned it by heart during my previous experience as a business operations manager.
The common misconception is business owners count upon AI bots as some magic pills able to heal their company once and for all. And though it is partially true. And AI bots can really solve many of their problems, AI bot automation should never be done without a proper analysis and optimisation of a company's current processes and systems.
According to my experience, there are three things companies have to do in order to prepare their processes and systems for AI automation:
1. Make processes transparent, interconnected, and standardized. For instance, a company may implement Goldratt's theory of constraints or simply Agile methodology not only in development teams but also in the business and administrative sectors.
The first theory helps to clarify the situation in department communication, smooth the flow of production processes, and identify the underlying limits in it. Agile, on the other hand, helps to build transparent workflow and team performance rules with projected results.
At the end of the day, the goal is to eliminate the limits of current systems and problems that come with them. Obviously, if processes don't work correctly, automation won't change anything. We understand that business processes are ready for automation when we clearly understand every step of any of the key processes, everyone's role in this process, and how departments interact.
2. Companies should accumulate knowledge in databases/knowledge bases. Moreover, the company needs to make sure the knowledge base is always up-to-date and easily understandable by any employee. This is a crucial component because AI bots absorb this info and learn from all the text or voice data a company has. This would become an awesome and necessary basis of a future AI bot core.
3. Accelerate decision-making with delegation. Bottlenecks are still a very common thing in many companies. And though a CEO deciding on most things is fine for a small startup, with growth, this approach grows into a parasite feeding on time and leads to lower efficiency and huge delays on decisions to be made.
1. Make processes transparent, interconnected, and standardized. For instance, a company may implement Goldratt's theory of constraints or simply Agile methodology not only in development teams but also in the business and administrative sectors.
The first theory helps to clarify the situation in department communication, smooth the flow of production processes, and identify the underlying limits in it. Agile, on the other hand, helps to build transparent workflow and team performance rules with projected results.
At the end of the day, the goal is to eliminate the limits of current systems and problems that come with them. Obviously, if processes don't work correctly, automation won't change anything. We understand that business processes are ready for automation when we clearly understand every step of any of the key processes, everyone's role in this process, and how departments interact.
2. Companies should accumulate knowledge in databases/knowledge bases. Moreover, the company needs to make sure the knowledge base is always up-to-date and easily understandable by any employee. This is a crucial component because AI bots absorb this info and learn from all the text or voice data a company has. This would become an awesome and necessary basis of a future AI bot core.
3. Accelerate decision-making with delegation. Bottlenecks are still a very common thing in many companies. And though a CEO deciding on most things is fine for a small startup, with growth, this approach grows into a parasite feeding on time and leads to lower efficiency and huge delays on decisions to be made.
Don't get discouraged reading this. There's a way to do AI automation right. In this series of posts about AI automation, I'm gonna dive deep into the HOW. And if you want a precise analysis of how your company can do it, DM me for a quick online call and I'll be happy to assist you on this topic.
Remember, AI and automation are allies that drive efficiency and innovation. But they thrive when built upon optimised systems. This isn't about waving a magic wand; it's about orchestrating a symphony of success.
Remember, AI and automation are allies that drive efficiency and innovation. But they thrive when built upon optimised systems. This isn't about waving a magic wand; it's about orchestrating a symphony of success.