Bots and Beyond
47 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago -The automation technology market is developing at pace. New tools, capabilities and practices are emerging on an almost daily basis, but it can be hard to separate the hype from the reality. Join host Wayne Butterfield as he navigates the automation landscape with guests from the enterprise, consulting and technology worlds to shed light on the role of robotic process and cognitive automation technologies in the quest for business value.
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Episodes
47: The Autonomous Enterprise: What Is It? And Are We Ready for It?
November 30, 2023 05:00 - 30 minutes - 24.2 MBIn this episode Bots & Beyond host Wayne Butterfield is joined by Doug Shannon, an intelligent automation leader, to discuss the concept of the autonomous enterprise. They explore the role of automation, AI and IoT in creating a cohesive and user-centric business environment. They also discuss the importance of company culture and the need for education and upskilling to keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancements. Tune in to hear more on the challenges and opportunities of the...
46: The Path to Effective Automation Governance
September 18, 2023 04:00 - 27 minutes - 21.9 MBAs automation and AI technologies become more sophisticated, how can enterprises ensure that their automations are set up and managed in a way that is not just efficient, but also safe, reliable and aligned with the organization’s strategic goals? The answer is governance. In this episode of Bots & Beyond we delve into the essential aspects of setting up and managing robust governance for your AI and automation projects. Host Wayne Butterfield is joined by Zachary Toner, Global Head of A...
45: Mastering Efficiency: Achieving Process Excellence with RPA
June 09, 2023 04:30 - 27 minutes - 22 MBMastering efficiency is critical for businesses today. Most of us feel like we need to beg, borrow and steal any spare minutes we can to combat never-ending to-do lists and transformational goals. Refining our processes is one of the best ways to make ourselves and our organizations more efficient and our operations more cost-effective. But traditional approaches to process improvement are often time-consuming and costly. In this episode of Bots & Beyond, we explore how robotic process a...
44: What Education Does the Modern Worker Need?
April 21, 2023 09:00 - 30 minutes - 24.2 MBThe way we work is changing, thanks to rapidly advancing technologies and shifting societal needs. In the future, emerging technologies such as robotics, IoT, blockchain, virtual and augmented reality, and AI, are expected to create further disruption to the workplace, bringing about a huge shift in the skills and competencies in-demand. In this context, how are universities and other educational institutions preparing the next generation of workers with the skills, knowledge and mindset n...
43: Powering the Future of Customer Service with Large Language Models.
March 24, 2023 06:00 - 43 minutes - 35.1 MB79% of those surveyed by ISG research rated customer experience as "very important" or "extremely important," with a further 17% referring to it as "important." It's also the most protected engagement from cost takeout, according to those surveyed. This is no surprise, but companies believe their actual performance on customer experience compared to its importance is among the top 3 biggest gaps. How can companies narrow this gap? Lately, the emergence of sophisticated large language modules...
42: RPA: The Past, The Present, The End?
February 23, 2023 05:00 - 21 minutes - 17.1 MBIn this episode Bots & Beyond host Wayne Butterfield speaks to Nikki North, an Intelligent Automation Product Manager at New Day. Nikki has worked in robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent automation since 2006 and has witnessed many of the major advances in the industry. Together, they discuss how the RPA industry has evolved since its beginnings. Will RPA technology still be transforming the way we work in the future? Is RPA just a quick fix or can it be part of a more long-t...
41: Connect Your Automation Tech with Process Orchestration
February 02, 2023 05:00 - 30 minutes - 24.6 MBSay you’ve automated most of an end-to-end business process using RPA, some AI and just a touch of machine learning. There’s just one sub-process where a human needs to be involved… oh, and the initial input comes from data entered by a natural language processing automation, and you want human quality control there too. How do you weave the human and digital elements of your processes together to get the most value and efficiency from your automation programs? The answer is process orches...
40: Conversational AI: Past, Present & Future
January 06, 2023 05:00 - 26 minutes - 20.9 MBThis podcast episode description was written partially by artificial intelligence (AI). Some people might find that cool – others might be immediately put off by the concept of using AI as a writing aid. Similarly, you might have some bad memories of an old chat bot experience – either as an annoying pop up or as a barrier to talking to a real human. But chat bots and the conversational AI powering chat bots have come a long way in recent years. It might be time to rethink your ideas on this...
39: Why You Need to Address Culture to Unlock Automation Success
November 30, 2022 05:00 - 18 minutes - 15.2 MBWhy should a developer on your automation team try something new? Wouldn’t it be easier to keep her or his head down and just do the job? The answer to this depends on what your company rewards and recognizes – in short, on your company’s culture. In this week’s episode of Bots & Beyond, host Wayne Butterfield speaks to Joe Bechtel, Principal of Enterprise Technology Strategy Advancement at Humana. Together, they discuss how successfully managing cultural change can drive innovation and te...
38: 3 Golden Rules for Scaling Your Automation Program
October 17, 2022 04:00 - 23 minutes - 19.1 MBDaniel Bannoura is a Director in the ISG Automation advisory team. He has previously held leadership roles with key automation technology players, including Automation Anywhere and UiPath. He joins Bots & Beyond host Wayne Butterfield to share his first-hand experiences of driving automation programs from pilot to scale. Listen in to hear the most common mistake that he has seen numerous firms make when deciding which processes to scale. Plus, don’t miss hearing his “Golden Rules” for ensuri...
37: Fake Humans & Alternate Realities, A Metaverse Future
September 23, 2022 04:00 - 16 minutes - 13.1 MB“It's going to be a world where we're no longer on the internet. We're in the internet. And everything is going to change.” This is according to guest Rachel Goalby, Founder and Director of creative strategy agency, SØWN. In this ISG Bots & Beyond episode, she dives into a her predictions for the Metaverse as she speaks to host Wayne Butterfield. What will this mean for how brands communicate and engage with their customers? How can brands leverage the Metaverse to drive value now and ...
36: How AI and Data are Transforming Manufacturing
September 08, 2022 04:00 - 21 minutes - 17.4 MBThe manufacturing industry is a hot spot for innovation and transformation. One of the key technologies revolutionizing the industry is artificial intelligence (AI). How are manufacturers implementing and driving value from AI? And how are they able to prove that value? To answer these questions and more, Bots and Beyond host Wayne Butterfield speaks to Kate Arndt, Senior Sales Executive, Vanti Analytics. As an advocate for women in STEM, Kate also shares her experiences in the tech indu...
35: Accelerating Business Outcomes with Automation
July 28, 2022 04:00 - 24 minutes - 19.9 MBHow can your company make its business processes better, faster, and smarter with the help of automation and AI? We dig into how to accelerate business outcomes via automation with the help of guest Andreas Welsch, VP & Head of Intelligent Processes at SAP, who is joining host Wayne Butterfield in this episode of Bots & Beyond. Listen in to hear how automation and AI can be leveraged to streamline end-to-end business processes, from Finance to HR. Andreas will be sharing use cases and real...
34: What Are the Biggest Obstacles to Scaling Intelligent Automation?
June 30, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutes - 27.5 MBThere is no disputing that intelligent automation is a key component of digital transformation. But realizing the true potential of your automation programs requires the ability to operate at scale. Of course, this is easier said than done. After an – often successful – initial foray into automation, many organizations struggle to extend their automation initiatives across a department or enterprise. What are the obstacles that prevent successful scaling? How can you overcome these barriers?...
33: Overcoming Barriers to Decision Automation
May 20, 2022 04:00 - 21 minutes - 17.4 MBAchieving end-to-end automation in complex processes is a challenge many enterprises are facing as they embark on their digital transformation journeys. Could a solution lie in decision automation? In this episode of Bots & Beyond, host Wayne Butterfield discusses when, why and how to use decision automation with his guest Alex Bentley, Chief Revenue Officer at XpertRule. To better understand the value of this type of automation, Alex shares concrete use cases for automated decision-making...
32: Tackling the Automation Talent Gap
April 22, 2022 04:00 - 24 minutes - 20 MBOne of the main hurdles enterprises are currently facing as they continue their pursuit of digital transformation is the global shortage of tech talent. In this episode of the ISG Bots and Beyond podcast, host Wayne Butterfield and his guest Rajesh Nair, Co-Founder & CEO of Automatorr.com discuss the automation talent gap and why Automatorr.com was founded in this context.
31: Golden Rules for Successful Automation Implementation
March 24, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutes - 27.6 MBIn this episode of the ISG Bots and Beyond podcast, host Wayne Butterfield speaks to Laura Robertson, Vice President of Automation, Zukunft Consulting. Laura shares her extensive insights and lessons learned from her varied roles in the automation sector. Listen in to hear her top tips for success when embarking on an automation implementation. What are the pitfalls to avoid? How do you build the right team and manage them to success?
30: Behind the Scenes with a Chief Digital Officer
March 10, 2022 05:00 - 21 minutes - 17.5 MBA conversation with William Harris, Group Chief Digital Officer at IQ-EQ Over the past decade, as the need to accelerate digital transformation has intensified, global demand for Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) has spiked. At the intersection between business operations and technology, the CDO plays a crucial part in transforming business processes, driving innovation and optimizing both customer and employee experience. What does the role of CDO involve? How does it differ from that of th...
29: Reinventing Document Processing with AI
January 21, 2022 10:23 - 22 minutes - 18.1 MBIn this episode of Bots & Beyond, host Wayne Butterfield talks to Rob Delaney who is both CEO at Infinia ML and Director at Carrick Capital Partners. Every organization has vast amounts of data locked in documents of all kinds, from emails, to PDFs, to presentations and invoices. Some estimates suggest that up to 80% of the data produced by organizations is unstructured, which makes it extremely complex to analyze and derive benefit from. In recent years, machine learning and AI technolog...
28: What Is Ethical AI?
December 10, 2021 05:00 - 19 minutes - 15.7 MBArtificial intelligence has evolved at a breakneck pace in recent years and has made many positive impacts in both our personal and professional lives. As AI solutions become increasingly powerful, concerns have been raised around the ethical challenges associated with this technology. How can companies avoid stumbling into some of those ethical pitfalls? What do we need to know about unconscious bias and the role it plays in the development of AI solutions? These questions and more are di...
27: Citizen Developer: From Hype to Reality
November 18, 2021 05:00 - 28 minutes - 22.7 MBWe have all heard the hype surrounding the citizen developer concept. But is it really just hype? Or can citizen developers make a difference to business transformation? In this episode of the ISG Bots and Beyond podcast, host Wayne Butterfield explores the reality and challenges of integrating this approach into efforts organizations are making to scale their automation programs. He is joined by Jackie Grunwald, VP and CIO at AdvanSix, who shares experiences from her own automation journe...
26: Driving Change through Citizen Innovation
September 28, 2021 04:00 - 20 minutes - 16.6 MBMany of us have become familiar with the concept of citizen development. But we may not have heard of citizen innovation. Of course, we know innovation is a key driver of growth and an essential component for keeping up with the hyper pace of change. But do we understand how to encourage, nurture and sustain it? Our guest on this week’s episode of the ISG Bots & Beyond podcast believes that creating a culture that promotes employee-led innovation is a key driver of digital transformation. ...
25: Automating Decision-Making
August 31, 2021 04:00 - 30 minutes - 24.3 MBEvery day, organizations must make hundreds if not thousands of decisions in a complex and fast-changing context. If decision-making is inconsistent or flawed it can be immensely costly for the business. How can enterprises ensure they make high-quality decisions in an efficient way? Intelligent automation technology can help improve and scale complex-decision making and create better outcomes for businesses and customers alike. In this episode of the ISG Bots & Beyond podcast, host Wayne...
24: Tackling Future Tech
July 29, 2021 04:00 - 29 minutes - 23.3 MBIn this episode of the ISG Bots & Beyond podcast, host Wayne Butterfield talks to Tom Allen, founder of the AI Journal. In 2020 Allen founded the AI Journal to create an open source, educational platform where people could learn directly from the experts how to keep up with new developments in technology and the exponential pace of change. Listen in as Butterfield and Allen discuss Allen’s journey, his views on the future and the technologies that are shaping the world around us including cy...
23: Technology & Transformation in the Insurance Industry
July 15, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 26.7 MBDigital transformation, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a profound impact on the insurance industry. In response to rapidly evolving customer needs and expectations, many insurance firms are embracing new digital technologies to stay competitive. In this episode of the ISG Bots & Beyond podcast, host Wayne Butterfield is joined by Jason Cripps, Global Head Intelligent Automation and Operational Excellence at Zurich Insurance Company Ltd. Together they discuss some of the tec...
22: Cybersecurity: Time to Get on the Front Foot
June 18, 2021 04:00 - 30 minutes - 24.3 MBAs the Covid-19 pandemic rapidly spread across the globe, both individuals and enterprises have been affected by an alarming surge in cybercrime. Not only are the attacks becoming more frequent, they are also becoming increasingly sophisticated. The good news is that new technology advancements are helping enterprises better prepare for security breaches. One start-up developing some cutting edge, predictive technology in this field is bfore.ai. In this episode of the ISG Bots & Beyond podca...
21: Big Bank Automation
June 04, 2021 04:00 - 30 minutes - 24.5 MBBanking is one of the oldest and most traditional industries in the world. Like all sectors, it is feeling the impact of digital transformation. The pace of change has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has trained a spotlight on companies’ adaptability. In this context, host Wayne Butterfield talks with Gerald Pullen, Product Owner - Intelligent Automation at Lloyds Banking Group, about how one of the U.K.’s largest and oldest financial institutions is building a suc...
20: Getting Started with Conversational AI
May 20, 2021 04:00 - 16 minutes - 13.4 MBConversational AI is increasingly becoming a key component of digital transformation for enterprises of all sizes. One firm making headway on the conversational AI journey is BT. In this episode of Bots & Beyond, Lucie Roach, a Senior Product Owner with BT, joins host Wayne Butterfield to discuss how she has been coming to grips with conversational AI. Lucie provides valuable insights into some of the early decisions she and her teams had to make, and the challenges to overcome when working ...
19: Investigating Jobs of the Future
April 30, 2021 14:26 - 30 minutes - 24.4 MBThere is no question the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way we work and accelerated the transformation of the job market. In this episode, host, Wayne Butterfield speaks to founder of Progressive HR Coreyne Woodman-Holoubek about how jobs and roles are being disrupted by emerging technologies and other external trends. They explore some of the key drivers for these changes and delve into what the jobs of the future might look like.
18: Decoding Open Source RPA
April 16, 2021 04:00 - 23 minutes - 18.7 MBThis week, host Wayne Butterfield is joined by RPA Jargon Buster Tolani Jaiye-Tikolo. Together they discuss the emerging and rapidly evolving Open Source RPA movement. Is it a viable solution for enterprises? What are the benefits and drawbacks of the various tools on the market? Listen in to find out more.
17: When Automation and Data Collide
April 07, 2021 04:00 - 27 minutes - 22.1 MBThis week host Wayne Butterfield is joined by ISG colleague Stephen Coward for a discussion around the roles of data and automation, and how they fit together to bring value to organizations. Wayne and Stephen explore how data and technology can be leveraged to provide valuable insights, enable decision making and increase operational effectiveness.
16: A Data-Driven Approach to Selling
February 26, 2021 05:00 - 25 minutes - 20.3 MBThis week host Wayne Butterfield is joined by Scott Lichtenstein, Co-Founder & CEO of BuyerSight. Together they discuss how the role of sales managers has evolved in recent years towards spending more time analyzing huge volumes of data created by sales automation, and less time with their teams. In this context, learn how early-stage company BuyerSight uses AI technology and machine learning to provide sales managers with impactful insights and recommendations to help them become better coa...
15: Improving an Industry while Preserving the Planet
February 19, 2021 05:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBJoin host Wayne Butterfield and his guest ZeroNorth CEO Soren Meyer as they discuss how digital technology and actionable data are being used to drive transformation in the shipping industry, whilst creating a positive impact for the environment.
14: Think Broader than Words: The Power of Conversational AI
February 09, 2021 05:00 - 28 minutes - 22.4 MBIn this week’s episode host Wayne Butterfield speaks to Robb Wilson, Founder, Lead Designer and Chief Technologist at OneReach.ai, about the hot topic of Conversational AI. Find out how AI technology is bridging the gap between human and computer interactions to deliver seamless customer experience.
13: Digitization of the SMB
January 28, 2021 05:00 - 23 minutes - 6.61 MBThis week Lasse Rindom, Chief Digital Officer at Baker Tilly Danmark joins host Wayne Butterfield to discuss how SMBs can embrace digital transformation and automation to improve performance and remain competitive.
12: Succeeding in an AI Scale Up
January 22, 2021 05:00 - 23 minutes - 18.4 MBIn this week’s episode host Wayne Butterfield is joined by Will Williams from the automatic speech recognition software firm, Speechmatics. Together they explore the importance of harnessing both research and innovation to maintain a cutting edge in AI.
11: Unlocking the Value of Automation in Private Equity
January 15, 2021 05:00 - 17 minutes - 13.7 MBIn this week’s episode host Wayne Butterfield talks to Josephine Hus, an Investment Professional at Permira, about how Private Equity firms are leveraging digital transformation and particularly automation to drive efficiency and enable business growth.
10: Tales from the Trade Floor
December 17, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutes - 20.2 MBIn this week’s episode host Wayne Butterfield and Alex Davies, Program Manager at RBC, discuss how automation, typically associated with transforming back-office functions in financial services, has been successfully applied to the front-office trading floor. Learn how RPA technology has brought value and resilience to the trading floor both pre and post Covid.
9: W(h)ine, Wheels and Automation
December 04, 2020 05:00 - 20 minutes - 16.5 MBIn this episode host Wayne Butterfield finds out from Alex Purvis, Sales Director at Enate Ltd, how automation and orchestration come together to drive successful business transformation.
8: Using AI to Benefit Mental Well-Being
November 27, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 17.1 MBIn this episode Adam Harrold, CEO and founder of Humley, joins host Wayne Butterfield to discuss how AI technology can be used to benefit employee mental health and well-being in the current context of remote working.
7: Take me to your Believer
November 19, 2020 05:00 - 22 minutes - 17.7 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Ema Roloff, Senior Sales Executive at Naviant Inc, about how success in any transformation project requires significant investment in the people aspect from the outset. Undoubtedly technology is important, however, to avert failure organisations must also ensure they effectively prepare their employees for change.
6: The Gig that Covid Couldn’t Cancel
November 10, 2020 05:00 - 27 minutes - 21.9 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Barry Matthews, Founder and Managing Director of Re-source. They discuss how enterprises can achieve greater efficiency and scalability through the gig economy, which has seen significant growth since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
5: Scale or Fail?
October 29, 2020 04:00 - 17 minutes - 14.1 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Shail Khiyara, enterprise automation pioneer, whose experience spans leading roles with three of the key names in the automation technology market, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere and UiPath. Together they discuss how to ensure success from an automation programme.
4: To Chatbot or Not?
October 22, 2020 04:00 - 26 minutes - 20.9 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Richard Clarke, Managing Director of Customer Operations at Paddy Power Betfair. They discuss how best to enhance customer experience with chatbots and how to avoid some of the common pitfalls when working with this automation technology.
3: Distance is Futile – Remote Working for an Automation Center of Excellence
October 15, 2020 04:00 - 19 minutes - 15.7 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Gintautas Jonutis, Global Head of Robotics & Intelligent Automation at Western Union, about the impact that remote working is having on the automation center of excellence.
2: When Business Continuity Planners Became Gods
September 22, 2020 04:00 - 16 minutes - 12.9 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Ashwin Gaidhani, Principal at DIGITALFABRIC and Advisory Leader at AISWITCH, about how the global pandemic has shone a spotlight on business continuity planning. Together they discuss the increasingly important role that automation technologies will play in business continuity planning going forward.
1: Citizen Developer, Hype or Hoax?
September 15, 2020 04:00 - 25 minutes - 20.4 MBHost, Wayne Butterfield, speaks to Kieran Gilmurray in this inaugural episode of Bots and Beyond. Together they discuss the theme of citizen developer and the pros and cons of this approach to automation development.