Businesses today face increasing pressure to optimize efficiency and output while maintaining quality. A new report highlights how many companies use automation and artificial intelligence to revolutionize their business processes. The 2024 Work Automation Index by Workato reveals that the use of AI, particularly generative AI, in business automation grew by over 400% in the past year.
While generative AI currently makes up less than 1% of total enterprise spending, the exponential growth signals its emerging status as a game-changing technology for improving operations. As Carter Busse, chief information officer at Workato, explained, “If 2023 was the year of AI, 2024 will most certainly be the year of Automation and AI. As we see more and more teams rapidly adopt the right guardrails, governorship, and tools to scale AI and Automation, IT teams have taken a strategic role in ensuring success across the business.”
The report uncovered several key drivers behind this automation revolution. Revenue operations teams lead generative AI adoption, claiming 48% of related processes. IT teams follow closely behind at 31% as they aim to support governance and scaling. Meanwhile, business operations roles automate processes more than any other department, representing 27.7% of all automated processes last year.
Automated processes are becoming more complex—connecting more apps with more steps and more logic involved. Moreover, 11% of automated processes now include a human “in the loop” for approvals or handling exceptions.
Other notable findings indicate:
- Automated processes are getting more complex by connecting more apps and logic.
- IT evolves into a coaching role, guiding 44% of automation handled by business teams.
- EMEA saw 209%, and APJ saw 173% growth in automation year-over-year
“Over the last year, we’ve seen a rise in businesses embracing AI and automation. Leaders are becoming increasingly aware of how ingrained AI needs to be in our strategies, decisions, and digital transformations,” said Saiesh Prakash, senior manager for enterprise integrations at Coinbase. “With Workato’s Work Automation Index, we’re seeing this foundational shift take form, with RevOps and IT teams leading the race to adopt Generative AI. As more and more companies begin to experiment with AI and automation, we’ll continue to see more opportunities for all enterprises to scale these types of applications across entire organizations.”
Image credit: iStockphoto/ALLVISIONN
