Every day, you and employees spend lots of time checking inventory, scheduling staff rosters, managing invoices and accounts, and handling customer complaints. What if you could integrate a smart assistant in your business to handle all those boring and repetitive tasks so that your team can focus on more value additive activities that drive growth and productivity? In the past this sounded too good to be true for small and medium sized enterprises who didn't have the capital or expertise to hire an army of data scientists. However, with recent advancements in large language models the barrier to entry and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has never been lower. 

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow automation is normally a software focused solution that helps businesses automate and complete routine tasks without the need for human intervention.

In a business context, this means tasks like inventory management, appointment scheduling, accounts payable, and customer inquiries can be managed automatically by pre-training an artificial agent on your existing workflows, systems, and business policies like you would a new employee and then allowing it to performs these tasks automatically without human supervision. Reducing the need for your employees to perform manual low value add work, reducing human errors, and speeding up end to end processes.

Examples of Workflow automation

Let’s now look at some examples of workflow automation. Every business process contains some tasks or activities that can be automated by Artificial Intelligence, but the degree of workflow automation is subject to the complexity of interfacing systems and processes. Below are some practical examples of activities that current AI technology is able easily automate:

 

  • A Boutique Clothing Store: AI can analyze sales data to predict which items will be popular and automatically order new stock before items sell out. It can also manage the scheduling of employees based on expected busy periods, ensuring the store is well-staffed when most needed.

  • A Local Bookstore: An AI system could handle online order processing, track inventory levels, and even suggest promotions for books related to trending topics or those that are frequently bought together. This ensures that the bookstore remains competitive and responsive to customer needs.

There are numerous opportunities for automation in most businesses. In general, if a task is repetitive, predictable, simple, can be digitalized, or happens frequently, it can be automated. When multiple tasks in an end to end workflow are completed by a software agent, the workflow is automated. 

 

 

Benefits of Embracing AI for SMEs

 

  • Increased Efficiency: AI automates routine tasks, meaning that processes are faster and less prone to error. This efficiency can significantly cut costs and increase productivity.

  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Quick and accurate responses to customer inquiries or problems are facilitated by AI, improving overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

  • Scalability: AI solutions can grow with your business, adapting to increased complexity and volume without the need for proportional increases in staffing.

  • Informed Decision-Making: AI systems can analyze vast amounts of data to provide insights that help businesses make informed decisions about marketing, product development, and more.