Mumbai, April 13, 2026: 麻豆原创, a market leader in enterprise application software and business AI, 听today announced that (NSE: TECHM), a leading global provider of technology consulting and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, 听is adopting to strengthen its 麻豆原创 delivery capabilities and support faster enterprise transformation programs. By integrating 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants the company aims to streamline implementation workflows for customers across the entire 麻豆原创 project lifecycle鈥攆rom discovery and design to development, testing, and post-deployment support.

Empowering Consultants with AI at Scale

听Building on 麻豆原创鈥檚 Suite-First and AI-First strategy, the collaboration will streamline business processes, with Joule integrated across applications to provide AI insights and improve productivity.

听This aligns with Tech Mahindra鈥檚 鈥淎I Delivered Right鈥� strategy that empowers enterprises by equipping them with the tools and processes to maximize AI investment from strategy development to solution implementation.

听Grounded in 麻豆原创s most authoritative knowledge base, including content not available to third-party tools, 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants transforms 麻豆原创鈥檚 deep institutional expertise into an intelligent conversational assistant for consulting teams.

Building on Tech Mahindra鈥檚 extensive domain expertise, the solution is expected to enable several key benefits for its consulting teams, including:听

• Faster knowledge discovery: Consultants can retrieve relevant 麻豆原创 documentation, implementation guidance, and best practices through natural language queries 鈥� early deployments indicate up to 28鈥�30% reduction in research time.
• Efficient project execution: By simplifying access to trusted technical guidance and implementation standards, teams can accelerate delivery across 麻豆原创 transformation projects.
• Tangible consultant productivity improvement: Automating routine research and knowledge retrieval can help consultants save 2 hours per day, enabling greater focus on high-value strategic activities.
• Greater accuracy and consistency: Access to authoritative guidance helps teams follow proven implementation approaches and maintain alignment with established standards.
• Accelerated cloud transformation: Strengthening Tech Mahindra鈥檚 capabilities in supporting enterprise transformation journeys such as RISE with 麻豆原创, 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants enables organizations to accelerate cloud migration and improve delivery quality, lowering total cost of ownership (TCO).

Vinay Sanil, Global 麻豆原创 Practice Head, Tech Mahindra, said, 鈥淓nterprises today are moving rapidly from AI experimentation to scaled, outcome-driven transformation. However, a key challenge remains fragmented access to knowledge and the time-intensive nature of translating expertise into execution. Our adoption of 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants addresses this gap by embedding AI-driven intelligence directly into the delivery lifecycle. By enabling instant access to trusted 麻豆原创 knowledge and automating routine tasks, we are empowering our consultants to enhance productivity, accelerate project timelines, and deliver greater value to customers.鈥�

Advancing AI-Driven Enterprise Transformation in India

The selection reflects accelerating Business AI adoption across India, as enterprises modernize core processes and move from experimentation to scaled AI deployment. 麻豆原创 continues to see strong momentum for the 麻豆原创 Business Suite, with organizations across industries using embedded AI to reimagine finance, supply chain, HR, and customer experience functions.

By embedding 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants into delivery workflows, Tech Mahindra is enabling faster time-to-value for customers while improving overall project quality and execution speed across 麻豆原创 transformation programs.

Ravinder Amar,听 Vice President – Enterprise Business, 麻豆原创 India Subcontinent, said, 鈥淎I is redefining how enterprise transformation is delivered. With 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants, Tech Mahindra gains direct access to 麻豆原创鈥檚 most comprehensive knowledge foundation, empowering its teams to translate AI innovation into measurable business outcomes. We are proud to support our partners as they scale intelligent delivery capabilities across India and beyond.鈥�

Tech Mahindra joins a growing ecosystem of global system integrators and consulting firms, including KPMG and Wipro, that are leveraging 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants to enable more efficient, insight-led digital transformation programs worldwide.

Media Contacts

Itisha Bhatnagar | itisha.bhatnagar@sap.com

Vinidha Ganeshan | vinidha.ganeshan@bursonglobal.com

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While the Summit听was听historic听in terms of听outcomes,听including the New Delhi Declaration and听an increasing focus on听sovereignty,听it also revealed a divergence in perspective.听The public image听of听India鈥檚 AI听opportunity听is听gripped by听what鈥檚听most visible:听tools that generate听content and听reshape how听we听interact with technology. But the more consequential story is unfolding away from the spotlight.听听

To understand where this transformation is truly taking shape,听let鈥檚听distinguish between听the听two dimensions of AI.听Consumer-centred听AI is the lightbulb that illuminates possibility,听creativity听and听assistance. Enterprise-focused听AI, by contrast, is the power plant听that听quietly and reliably energises听operations at scale. While one captures imagination, the other delivers outcomes.听听

Encouragingly, adoption of this听Enterprise听AI听is already听gaining momentum.听According to the recent听麻豆原创 Value of AI听survey, in听collaboration with Oxford Economics,听nearly听a听quarter of business tasks in India today are supported by AI. In less than two years, that share is expected to rise to over 40%. Even more telling is the confidence behind this acceleration,听with 93% Indian enterprises expecting measurable returns from their AI investments within the next one to three years.听听

This is India鈥檚 inflection point.听Having moved beyond听initial听exploration,听India鈥檚听focus is now on bringing greater alignment and coherence to unlock AI鈥檚 full enterprise potential.听

From Experimentation to Integration听

The next phase of India鈥檚 journey requires a shift from isolated pilots to听everyday听execution. AI must become a core capability听as part of our听supply chains, finance, human capital, and customer engagement. This transformation听can rest on four pillars:听

• The Demographic Dividend:听India鈥檚 greatest advantage is its people.听The听deep technology talent pool gives听the country听a strong foundation听to take AI from small experiments to real鈥�world impact听enabled by听a continued听investment听in reskilling and domain-led AI听expertise.听

• Data Foundations:听AI demands听accurate, contextual, and interconnected data from across the business.听听As听we scale听adoption,听the next phase will rely on听strengthening听our听data foundations听to听create听semantically rich environments听to power听more effective AI systems.听

• AI as an Amplifier:听The more critical the application, the more AI depends on the structured processes and traceability that robust enterprise systems provide.听听

• Trust as a Catalyst:听As AI integrates into critical infrastructure, trust听will听become the primary currency of scale. India鈥檚 evolving regulatory frameworks听like the听data protection laws听offer听guardrails that enable speed.听听

Redefining Value: The IMPACT听听

In an unpredictable global economy,听we must look beyond traditional financial metrics. While Return on Investment (ROI)听remains听a baseline,听it鈥檚听time we move to return on impact. The IMPACT can be seen as:听

I 鈥� Infrastructure:听Building secure, sovereign, and interoperable digital highways.听

M 鈥� Measurable Outcomes:听Tracking gains in health, education, and quality of life.听

P 鈥� Policy & Guardrails:听Ensuring ethical AI through robust, transparent frameworks.听

A 鈥� AI Embedding:听Making听AI听as a horizontal听across all sectors to make it a tool for daily life.听

C 鈥� Citizen-Centricity:听Designing inclusive, multilingual solutions.听

T 鈥� Talent & Trust:听Investing in workforce skills and fostering public confidence.听

The momentum听of AI听in India is real听and the opportunity is unprecedented.听Only by focusing on听all of听the areas of the听IMPACT听framework听can we听realise that incredible听promise.听听

The task now is to听transition听from fragmented progress to meaningful, systemic impact. In the journey听towards听a听Viksit Bharat听鈥撎齀ndia鈥檚 blueprint to becoming a听fully听developed nation by 2047 –听AI is no longer just a digital tool,听it is a strategic imperative for a resilient and innovative nation.听

听

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A critical indicator of a company’s success, market share allows the company to:

• Quantify the influence of business strategy and its execution
• Ask questions about its performance
• Get an insight into how the company fares against the competition
• Analyze and take action to improve marketing efforts
• Increase the company鈥檚 sales and profits

Market share is also an indicator of business reputation. Factors like one-year performances, compensations to investors and consumers, industry specializations, and analyst reputation in the market are important determinants of how fast a company can expand and capture a greater market share.

But increasing a company鈥檚 market share is not an easy task. Competition is intense in every sector, and warring firms aggressively employ tactics and strategies they believe are best suited for the market. Also, the process of trying to increase the market share is a continuous and challenging one. It takes a lot of effort to convince customers to drop a product or service they are already using and adopt a new one.

In this frenzy to compete for the customer鈥檚 eyeballs and wallets, companies use similar tactics such as lowering prices drastically, adopting rigorous marketing methods and resorting to heavy advertising. While these may yield results initially, organizations that want to create and keep a larger market share for a longer time need to look for more data-driven and disciplined approaches.

1. Innovating and adopting new technologies

A proven way to grab the attention of maximum number of customers, innovation involves introducing a practical, helpful and exciting new product or service. This can help a business grow and even enable it to change the whole market dynamics. Take Netflix, for example. Beginning as a simple video rental service, the company recognized and capitalized on the need for video on demand and streaming services. Today, Netflix is one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, with over 214 million subscribers in more than 190 countries.

Innovation can also be extended to mean adopting latest technologies to increase business efficiencies and improve customer experience.听Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, data analytics and edge computing can help a business by:

• Enabling workflows and processes to become flexible, agile
• Reducing costs and identifying areas of wastage
• Delivering products and services quicker, with greater efficiency
• Helping resolve issues and detect errors in real-time, as well as resolving them quickly
• Assuring customers of data privacy, transaction security
• Enabling faster communication and easier coordination between employees, different departments

With the help of targeted solutions like ERPs and marketing software, businesses can gain and sustain a competitive advantage over competitors, leading to a greater market share.

2. Increasing customer engagement and satisfaction听

A happy customer is one of the most important factors in ensuring business success, not to mention the best kind of advertiser. Delivering the best quality product or service to a customer and meeting their expectations to the fullest is a basic tenet for any business, regardless of its size or industry. The satisfaction levels of a customer are a post-selection evaluative assessment of individual purchasing decisions. Therefore, whether a customer will return to a company for their next purchase will depend on how satisfied they are with the choice they made in the first instance.

Thus, an organization must keep track of how satisfied its customers are. There are various methods to do this, including:

• Surveys and discussions- Companies can make use of questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions with customers. These methods are also helpful in assessing customer needs and designing new and better products.
• Usability tests and demos- These allow a small group of customers to test a product or service before it is launched in the market. Apart from understanding how customers react to the offering, these also help in designing effective marketing campaigns.
• Website feedback sections- Once a product or service has been launched, many companies solicit customer feedback on their website.
• Social Media chatter- Social media platforms can be a great tool to keep track of customer satisfaction and build an image for your brand. It also helps to build a relationship between the customer and the company. However, when the customer can reach out to the company at any time, they also expect rapid responses from the organization.
• Analytics- Analytics software tools help a company keep track of customer interactions with different departments or teams, over websites, social media and mobile apps. For example, these programs can monitor how many times a link is opened or how often a particular website section is accessed.

While these methods provide valuable customer feedback, it is crucial to turn this feedback into quantifiable numbers to make sense of it. This can be done using different customer satisfaction metrics. Some of these metrics include:

• Customer satisfaction score听allows customers to rate their experiences with a company on a predefined scale.
• Customer effort score听rates the effort that a customer had to put for, and during, interaction with the company. It helps the company to improve its feedback and response mechanism.
• Net Promoter Score听measures a customer鈥檚 willingness to recommend the product or service to others.
• Customer Acquisition Cost听measures the cost that a company incurs to acquire one customer. This metric can help the company understand its marketing strategies and its performance in the market.
• Churn rate听measures the number of customers leaving or stopping the use of the company鈥檚 products or services. This is an important metric that can help a company keep track of its customer base and make changes to lower the churn accordingly.

3. Building brand loyalty听

It’s a well-known fact that repeat business is a considerably more sustainable source of long-term revenue than nurturing new customers. If a company cannot keep its customers, its market share will keep shrinking, and it will not survive for long.

To build a sense of loyalty in the customer towards the brand, there is a need to bring in satisfaction, trust and commitment. All these can be achieved by creating a meaningful relationship between the customer and the company. Improving brand loyalty can be as simple as focusing on these customer interactions and their experiences with the company. Some ways to do this are by:

• Having an active social media presence to keep in touch with customers
• Offering a seamless omnichannel customer engagement experience
• Maintaining transparency and sharing news about company developments
• Educating customers about post-purchase care, new offerings etc
• Responding to feedback and being proactive about customer issues

These strategies help make the customer feel valued, satisfied and assured of the company鈥檚 commitment to them.

A company that has perfected the art of turning customer engagement into brand loyalty is Royal Enfield. From sharing articles on biker tours to giving tips on taking care of the motorcycles to even allowing users to custom-make accessories like helmets and gloves, the company has developed a loyal customer base that shares a deep bond with the brand.

4. Forming joint ventures

Markets nowadays are segmented and dynamic. There are different services to cater to particular demands, and one organization cannot meet every need of the modern customer. Therefore, it is important to look for partners who provide services that align with, complement or augment the company鈥檚 offerings. A bigger company can also buy out the competition, adding their market share to its own.

When Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for a staggering $19 billion, many thought that this was a means of achieving horizontal integration by Facebook. However, it was听that Facebook had been tracking the rise of WhatsApp. Data showed that the chatting app could have eliminated Facebook from the markets had it gone on to be an independent company. It was also the app with more engagement time as compared to Facebook. Before it could eat into Facebook鈥檚 market share, the company bought WhatsApp, and the app is now part of the 鈥楳etaverse鈥�.

5. Using dynamic marketing methods

With rising competition and mind-boggling technology changing the future into reality, customer needs will keep changing rapidly. A successful company has to be on its toes to stay abreast of the changing demands and meet them before the competition. However, this is a task that demands more than conventional marketing methods.

Dynamic marketing uses data gathered from the customers to shape responsive and agile marketing strategies. Data-driven dynamic marketing helps customers feel heard and enables organizations to craft an effective customer strategy. These methods allow personalized and targeted communication, which has been听听to have a positive and sustained impact on the competitive advantage of any organization. New-age tools such as marketing cloud software play a significant role here, by helping companies place the customer at the center of every experience.

Conclusion:

In the digital-first era, increasing market share is as much about leveraging technology efficiently, as better management and organizational quality. The target audience uses the internet to search for and share their desires. Companies can notice the earliest traces of change there.

It’s simple to quantify the audience’s preferences and complaints by measuring the company鈥檚 digital impact, monitoring and comparing digital traffic, engagement, and conversions, and using digital technologies to quantify customer preferences and complaints.

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In a world that鈥檚 constantly changing, digitalization has been that much-needed anchor that has helped businesses build resilience amidst disruption. It鈥檚 helped businesses harness data to garner better customer insights and competitor tracking in real time basis. Given how digital-savvy today鈥檚 customers are, it鈥檚 become critical for companies to embark on digital transformation journey, if nothing to keep up with the customer and ensure consistent customer experience across omni-channels and platforms.

But why this emphasis on digitalization? When did digitalization become the lifeline of companies looking to survive in changing business environments, looking to stay agile and responsive?

The digitalization story

Digitalization is more than the integration of technology into different facets of business. True digitalization completely changes the way an organization functions including its processes, systems, and culture. In an era where everything, from the way we work to the way we shop, has been recalibrated digitalization has been at the center of this change. Collaborative tools, data moving to the cloud, online commerce, connected devices, Artificial intelligence and machine learning, Industry 4.0, Workplace 4.0 鈥� each of these are an intrinsic and important part of the digitalization story.

With millennials and Gen Z being an always-on consumer group, it has become critical for companies to have a digitalization strategy, which keeps pace with changing market dynamics.

Having the right digitalization strategy will help companies in reducing costs while optimizing efficient use of resources (both technology and people). A digitalization strategy also helps to measure the size and scale of a business, the targeted customers and the听digital supply chain听involving both.

The key driver for embarking on digitalization is usually costs related. Other factors are starting to take center stage, from enabling employees to work from anywhere and having access to data anywhere (which is where the cloud becomes a driver) to ensuring great customer experiences and superlative customer service (connected customers are the driver). Digitalization brings process improvements across all aspects of an enterprise: business functions (like human resources, marketing, and operation), the entire business ecosystem (including stakeholders and vendors), asset management (including customers and their data), work culture and听digital supply chain听between employees and customers.

Benefits of digitalization

Digitalization isn鈥檛 about short-term gains but about achieving a company鈥檚 long-term strategy, which goes beyond expanding its business presence or standing out from the competition. The pitfalls of ignoring digitalization are evident. In times of disruption such as the pandemic, digitalization enabled businesses to stay connected to customers and continue to offer their services uninterrupted; small businesses, especially, that had digitally transformed survived and thrived pivoting on technology.

Here are the听top benefits of digitalization听that you shouldn鈥檛 ignore:

1. Saving costs is topmost for businesses听

   The first and immediate benefit of digitalization is cost optimization (of resources) and cost savings. Companies are using their digital transformation initiatives to bring in efficiencies and utilize existing resources better, a direct cost implication. Automation saves time and eradicates duplication and repetitiveness of tasks, again a cost reduction. By monitoring processes constantly, there鈥檚 a reduced possibility of (manual) error. This also leads to predictive response, instead of reactive which in turn leads to greater agility.

2. Customer is the king and customer service is queen

   The old 鈥榗ustomer is king鈥� has never been more apt than now. With customers adapting to digital everything (from accessing brands to building relationships with brands online) companies need to be quicker to cater to this digitally savvy customer. A unified view of the customer offered by CRM software can help keep track of this complex customer journey and offer personalized service. Linking CRM and ERP will help companies provide great customer service that will translate to great customer experience. Digitalization enables constant and consistent improvement of products/service leading to elevated customer experience while efficiencies in inventory management results in optimized costs.

3. Be where your customer is to grow your business

   Today鈥檚 customer doesn鈥檛 have a linear journey to a brand. They browse online, check instore and purchase online. By having digital presence on all possible channels and platforms companies can constantly stay connected with customers, communicate with them, address concerns and prevent escalations- a death knell in this age of always-on consumers. Due to digitalization, companies can stay connected through mobile applications, social media content and forms, emails and other platforms, something unknown earlier. By offering services where the customer is present, a company can build deeper relationship and customer loyalty.

4. Data is the new oil and will fuel strategic decision making

   Never has it been easier to harness data and derive insights that transform how businesses run and plan for the future. Digitalization has helped companies to make sense of data – organized data that enables predictive instead of reactive decisions. It鈥檚 not cliched that 鈥榙ata is the new oil,鈥� but the truth. Without data, companies cannot take strategic decisions from understanding what are new market opportunities to figuring out if customers are ready for a new product or assessing whether employees and satisfied and motivated to work. Data fuels strategic business decisions across all aspects of the organization (marketing, sales, customer service, product development, human resources, etc.). Due to data availability in organized, customized, and personalized data structures, digitalization has made decision-making faster and easier.

5. Rewire your presence in the digital world to create greater visibility

   Heightened competition and ever-changing consumer behavior can only be addressed through digitalization. Tracking competition real-time and tracking consumer sentiment real-time will enable companies to stay competitive and customer-centric. To do both, companies need to be present on every available digital platform offering their services (websites, online stores, etc.) and communicate through all available online media (blogs, social networking handles, websites, etc.) ensuring brand reach and visibility. Since today鈥檚 digital-first natives are just that digital, companies鈥� shifting or pivoting business to digital platforms has also put e-commerce on hyper thrust mode.

6. Lean on technology to enhance productivity and bring in efficiencies

   One of the primary benefits of digitalization is increasing productivity and efficiencies, whether it be man or machines. For instance, digitalization allows you to free up time of employees, who can then focus on innovation and driving business growth, while automating mundane, repetitive tasks. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), for instance, monitors machinery in real-time assessing performance and breakages and through AI/ML it enables predictive maintenance instead of reactive, increasing efficiency within the system.

7. Free up human intellect to increase innovation

   When automation allows humans to focus their time and efforts on making process improvements or product innovation, digitalization transforms how businesses work. Instead of looking at short term gains, digitalization leads businesses to look at sustainable growth, generating efficiencies and improving products and services. Besides accelerating improvement across all levels, it also opens ways to streamline the听digital supply chain听of resources and data.听

8. Collaborate to communicate better and engage more meaningfully

   The recent trend of remote working clearly highlights one of the top benefits of digitalization. Companies that had transformed digitally were able to provide employees with anytime, anywhere secure access to data while collaborative tools helped them work from anywhere. As companies move towards a hybrid working model, digitalization will create a level playing field for 鈥榖ack to office鈥� workers and those that continue to work remote.听

9. Work doesn鈥檛 have to be dull nor workplaces boring

   Another key benefit and an area that will show immediate results of digitalization is the workplace and the work environment. Using digital tools to constantly gauge employee sentiment and revisit HR policies has instant results: better adjusted employees, happier employees. Digitalization isn鈥檛 about technology alone, but the culture. A digital culture that accompanies digital transformation is sure to increase employee productivity and engagement levels. From flexible working hours to increased employment options with new teams to a renewed focus on teleworking, digitalization has helped human resource function in organization to keep their ears to the ground and act, rather than react. It also helps talent management to retain talent and decrease attrition.

10. Stay ahead of the competition听

    Digital is where the new battle ground is, and companies must get used to this new reality. To stay in the game, companies need to aggressively track what the competition is doing including product launches, GTM and perceived new market opportunities. Digitalization allows companies to do all this, from tracking new feature enhancements to existing products to design changes to websites and social/digital marketing strategies. Having such information allows the companies to be more competitive, and be innovative catching in new trends and advancements introduced by their direct and indirect rivals. A company鈥檚 digitalization strategy needs to encompass competition audit, monitoring and assessment to win the game.

11. Trust is the new currency

    Whether it鈥檚 employees or customers, trust brought about by transparency is the deal maker or breaker. The听听revealed an epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world. This left businesses with a clear mandate to rebuild trust to chart a new course. Digitalization enables companies to have transparency in all their transactions, a must-have in a 24/7, always on, always connected world (both customers and employees). Whatever the online platform, digitalization provides companies with the wherewithal to keep their key stakeholders informed of any changes before it happens 鈥� building trust. It allows companies to be honest, authentic, and transparent in their responses 鈥� cementing trust.

What next in your digitalization story

Every small- and large-scale enterprise has a digital transformation agenda. Digitalization is no longer a nice to have, it鈥檚 a must have. Companies that have already embarked on their digitalization journey are looking at new ways to pivot on technology learning from their past mistakes and experiences. Consumer behavior has drastically changed in the past two years and this evolution will only continue. Consumers will continue to adapt digital means to initiate relationships, and if companies are to stay competitive, they need to be ahead of the curve. Digitalization is a听, one that will play an even more important role in the years to come.

No realm of business will be untouched by digitalization and no aspect of human life either. From drug development to cancer treatment, from AI-driven manufacturing to deep collaboration in Workplace 4.0, companies need to prepare for the next wave of digitalization. There will be a greater focus on technologies such as AI/ML and Blockchain which would allow companies to get an 鈥榠nside鈥� look of what drives consumer sentiments and how to leverage these insights. AI will let companies to leverage data, find the right set of customers and focus more on this 鈥榠deal鈥� customer profile offering unparalleled customer experience and increasing revenue through new leads that close because of 鈥榙ata insights.鈥�

There will be further innovations and developments in the current set of technologies, perhaps new applications, and these are sure to shape the path to success. Companies will need to constantly recalibrate their digitalization strategy to take advantage of new developments, ensure that these developments lead to increased productivity and efficiencies. They will need to relook their strategies and frameworks to incorporate any requisite changes without disrupting the normal course of business.听

For a more convenient flow of work and data within the company, the development of a more intuitive visual interface should also be on the radar to bring about effectiveness and increased automation. The cost-effectiveness of a digital transformation process will be a critical factor in the years ahead as businesses begin to emerge out of the pandemic and related disruptions. There will be structural shifts on an ongoing basis and well into the future, especially in the听digital supply chain, hence return on technology will become a key factor.

The post 11 Benefits Of Digitalization Which You Cannot Ignore appeared first on 麻豆原创 India News Center.

Organizations are embarking on transformational digital initiatives and racing ahead to adopt disruptive digital technologies to interact with their customers and stakeholders. AI-powered tools and platforms become the ideal software for small businesses and big companies to connect to customers. Customer relationship management tools such as chatbots, email bots, AI assistants, intelligent self-service platforms, digital service agents, and other software become a customer鈥檚 first point of contact and offer seamless customer experiences thereafter.

AI Ethics 鈥� the new Shiny Penny in Business

There is no doubt that AI and other new digital technologies can generate lasting value for companies. However, it鈥檚 also creating trust issues on how technology is deployed and used, thus emphasizing the need for ethics in AI. In a highly competitive marketplace, digital ethics has become a key differentiator that is as important to achieving business objectives as delivering outstanding products and services. Adherence to digital ethics is no longer an option.

Ethics is a well-defined system of principles that influences our choices of right and wrong and defines what is morally good or bad. Ethics is a human characteristic, and AI or machines cannot be expected to exhibit empathy and employ ethics, nor can they learn it over time. Thus ethics has to be incorporated into AI-based systems at the development stage.

Dangers that Lurk in the lack of AI Ethics

AI-based systems are intrinsically data-driven, and issues related to the accuracy, privacy, security and bias associated with the use of data have popped up from time to time. However, formulating standards to use AI ethically is not an easy task. In a world that is becoming increasingly globalized and operating online, countries and organizations are grappling with the intricacies of developing ethical guardrails for AI.

Industries across the spectrum are impacted by the lack of codifying standards in AI ethics. Some听sectors听where the implementation of AI ethics has become essential are the following.

For insurance and financial business analytics services

The financial services industry is one among the many that face the ethical concerns raised by AI. Insurers, banks, fintech and other financial institutions are automating services with AI. In areas such as wealth advisory, risk management, fraud detection and credit rating, AI is supporting or even stepping into the shoes of human decision-makers. Behavioral sciences techniques woven into AI algorithms have proved to be successful in changing customer attitudes towards money. They have proved to be helpful tools to nudge individuals to focus on savings or to track their spending patterns and work on financial planning. However, ethical concerns arise when the nudges powered by AI become unethical tools to manipulate behavioral change.

AI speeds up claim and application processing, saves money and supports timely fraud detection. However,听the risk of bias听is very high in the AI algorithms making assessments. There is a听lack of interpretability and transparency听on how an AI algorithm comes to a decision in AI software for small businesses and large organizations, making it difficult to identify biased or discriminatory behavior. The bias could also be unintended. It could be representative of the prejudice present in the social system. The machine does not understand or consider removing the biases but just tries to optimize the model. Often the data fed into the AI program will not be a perfect representative sample when there is a limited dataset from certain minority segments, which leads to algorithms tending to make sweeping generalizations.

AI-based business analytics services can make assumptions about the risk profile, habits and lives of people. Applicants can be charged excessive premiums after being categorized as high-risk or denied loans due to low credit scores. These biases result in discrimination against ethnic, gender and racial minorities.

For healthcare business analytics services

The use of AI in healthcare is relatively new and has revolutionized healthcare. From diagnostics and imaging to apps to assess symptoms to workflow management in hospitals, AI is used in a wide range of clinical and operational applications in healthcare. Explosive growth is predicted in the use of AI in healthcare in the years to come. However, with this growth comes the dangers and challenges in using AI ethically.

AI chatbots and health apps provide a range of services and collect and analyze data through wearable sensors.听Ethical questions about听user agreements听arise in such a situation. Unlike the traditional informed consent process, the user agreement is signed without a face-to-face dialogue. Most people routinely ignore user agreements and do not take the time to understand them. Frequent updates to software also make it difficult for individuals to follow the terms of agreement once signed. The information from AI chatbots or health apps is sometimes fed back into clinical decision-making without the user鈥檚 knowledge.

Another big challenge for AI in healthcare is听transparency. Transparency is essential to ensure patient confidence and trust between clinicians and patients. In AI programs that use genotype and phenotype-related information,听biases听could result in false diagnoses and ineffective treatments that could jeopardize the safety of patients. An AI algorithm trained majorly on data on Caucasian patients and limited data on African-American patients can give inaccurate diagnoses or treatment recommendations for the African-American populations.听Data sharing听could sometimes happen outside the patient-doctor relationship, such as for clinical safety testing of health apps or with friends and family members. However, patients are often not clearly informed about the processing or sharing of their data.

For military business analytics services

Countries worldwide invest millions of dollars in the research and development of modern technology for military applications. The increasingly intelligent and autonomous AI has become a favored choice for many. AI-equipped autonomous weapons have changed the theatre of war. Ethical questions about what a weapon is allowed to do on its own and who is听accountable or takes responsibility听for what it does on its own are being discussed by strategists across the world. Development and deployment of AI-enabled weapons require significant oversight, responsibility and judgment as compared to other systems because of the ethical issues involved.

An accidental or small skirmish can escalate and become a full-fledged conflict due to autonomous weapons with pre-programmed goals making decisions on their own. Malicious听manipulation听of AI systems in autonomous weapons can trigger a cascade of unintended actions and cause large-scale harm on the battlefield. The inhumanness of war is amplified when states that believe in using AI weapons unleash them against an adversary who does not use them and is ill-prepared for the impact. The听limited understanding听of what AI weapons are capable of and the lack of ability to recall a system once triggered only compound the harm. AI systems cannot treat opponents with dignity, analyze context to distinguish between non-combatants and combatants, or recognize signs of surrender. Ethical regulations can restrict the use of fully autonomous AI weapons and reduce the incidence of immoral violence.

Tech companies partnering with the military of a country are governed by a code of ethics pre-dominated by the moral biases of the employees. Terrorists, geopolitical enemies, rogue nations, etc. can whip up patriotic fervor and impair the moral compass of a developer. There is significant concern about the dangers of AI-fueled arms races by rogue nations and the amassing of state-of-the-art AI weapons by dictators and terrorists.

Conclusion

The concerns discussed above are relevant to all industries. AI implementation in software for small businesses and large organizations should take into consideration legal and ethical implications. AI tools are developed by public-private partnerships and large private technology companies. Although these companies have the resources to build the tools, they are not incentivized to adopt ethical frameworks when designing them. Even if regulations are crafted to fight bias in AI, they will have to be implemented with other that act as watchdogs. However, the role that technology will play in enforcing these regulations has to be studied and monitored.

AI is ethically neutral; it is the human beings who develop AI systems that input their individual biases and opinions into AI machines. Developers should be transparent about the data used and its shortcomings. The central tenet around which the development of an AI program or system revolves should be algorithmic accountability.听Sufficient controls should be put in place to ensure that the algorithm performs as听expected.

Ethical and legal concerns should be tackled early in the development lifecycle. Incorporating ethical analysis into the development program could reshape processes and create new costs;听however, developers and decision-makers must recognize that this approach will reap tangible and rich benefits in the future.听

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Companies need to inculcate a thriving data culture across functions — including business operations, product, marketing and human resources — so they are equipped to make informed decisions. This means embracing a fundamental shift in mentality.

As a company鈥檚 multiple departments become stronger at addressing and extracting at least basic data queries and visualizations, its data analysts and scientists will get the space they need to focus on their core responsibilities鈥攊mproving data models to provide meaningful analyzes beyond simple data pulls. In other words, developing data intelligence support systems to ensure timely availability of data services.

These data services come in different forms. The high-level metadata categories include:

• Behavioral:听Keeps track of who uses the data and how
• Technical:听Displays the definitions of a schema or table
• Business:听Policies on how to properly manage the various types of data

When a new version of a dataset is developed, the provenance shows the relationship between two versions of data items (also known as lineage.) Behavioral metadata is extremely significant since it represents an organization’s human expertise around data. It demonstrates how individuals can use data to derive insights and learn. The animating spirit of an organization’s unique data intelligence is formed based on how employees use data.

Organizations would do well to adopt the听following approaches听to building a strong data culture:听

A committed top management

Data-driven culture in any organization should begin at the top. The senior-most executives and managers need to establish that decision-making, for business-critical moves at least, need to be based on data, and that this approach should be the standard, not the exception.

Choose metrics with caution and ingenuity

Leaders can significantly impact behavior by selecting what metrics to monitor and what they expect their staff to use. If a company can benefit from predicting pricing changes by competitors, it should have a team focusing on regularly drawing up specific forecasts regarding the amount and direction of such shifts. It should also keep track of the accuracy of the forecasts, which will improve with time.

Data scientists in management

Data scientists should be hired from within a corporation to leverage their knowledge gap understanding. If the analytics team operates separately from the rest of the company, it will find it difficult to create value. Companies can address this challenge by ensuring that its data scientists either:

1. Have line management experience, or
2. Are given line management training and experience.

Accuracy of data

Decision-makers need to confront possible sources of uncertainty head-on: Is the information accurate? Is it possible that there aren’t enough instances for a valid model? How can elements like growing competitive dynamics be included when there are no relevant data? To understand the importance of this, consider a supermarket chain. If the inventory data is inaccurate, the procurement department will be misinformed, leading to supply problems and a fall in revenue.听

To prevent this chain, data scientists should be able to get accurate inventory data in time so the procurement team can take appropriate actions based on that data. This requires data scientists to check for accuracy on a recurring basis to ensure that the data generated is reliable and actionable.

Specialized and focused training听

Specialized training should be provided only when needed. Many businesses spend on bang-for-buck training, only to have their employees forget what they’ve learned if they don’t put that to use straight away. While skills such as coding should be included in basic training, it is more beneficial to teach employees specific analytical tools and ideas such as proof of concept only when required.

Consider a shelf stocker in a retail store who now needs to fill in as a cashier. The training for the cashier position should be given just in time and should be based on data. This way, the training will be fresh, and the job performance efficient.

Quickly resolve data-access concerns

Data access should make data easy to use. Only data that鈥檚 useful or necessary to a particular employee should be made available to them. If universal data is shared with all employees, the information might prove complicated for many, and they might not use it at all. On the other hand, if relevant data is shared with employees in an understandable format, it is likely to be used more frequently and meaningfully.

A task becomes a choice if it benefits an employee directly鈥攕uch as saving time, avoiding rework, or retrieving often required information. For example, sales personnel will not have use for accounts payable data. But give them customer data in an easy-to-understand format, and they will likely put the data to great use, making for a data-oriented culture.

Trade flexibility for stability

Be prepared to give up flexibility in exchange for stability. Many companies that rely on data for their decision-making have a variety of data categories. But if each employee has their preferred information sources, metrics and programming languages, that would be disastrous for the company. Trying to harmonize somewhat different versions of a measure that should be universal can consume much valuable time.

Also, inconsistencies in how different modelers work have several implications. If a company’s coding standards and languages differ, for example, every move by the analytics personnel would necessitate retraining. Internally sharing ideas might also be excessively time-consuming if that continually requires translation. Instead, businesses should use canonical measurements and computer languages.

Alternatives appear too dangerous. Companies鈥攁nd the divisions and individuals who make them up鈥攆requently fall back on habit. Data may be used as evidence to support assumptions, providing managers with the confidence to venture into new areas and procedures without incurring risk. Merely wishing to be data-driven is insufficient. Companies must create cultures that allow this attitude to flourish. Leaders can foster this transition by setting an example, modeling new behaviors, and setting expectations for what it means to make data-driven choices.

Get employees excited about data

If employees are given general training on data and data use, they could get bored and leave the task altogether. But if companies can link the training to the immediate goals that each department needs to achieve by using data-driven techniques, they could get their employees excited about achieving those targets.

For example, if the sales department is taught to use data to shortlist clients, they can use the technique to achieve short-term goals, and will be excited to learn in the future as well.

Because each organization’s culture is different, you’ll need to create a custom stack of solutions for possible inconsistencies due to the requirement of the finance department’s buy-in on new investments. That is why it is critical to tackle it correctly.

As a start, make a list of the solutions you’re utilizing and see whether what’s working for one business unit can be extended to another. This entails adapting solutions to new use cases within the company for many software firms. That won’t always work, and you’ll probably need to invest in new tools as well, and so you should audit your organization’s goals and create a framework based on what you learn.

While this is a lot of additional responsibility, it allows departments leads and teams to work closely with one another, encouraging innovation and deeper business insights. After squeezing years of digital change into mere months because of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, IT executives have a chance to emerge as equal partners in creating cross-departmental vibrancy and development.听

Conclusion

While corporations have always been interested in their numbers, in a data-driven culture, the degree of data utilization is exercised at a higher level. The major goal is to enable all employees to actively use data to improve their everyday work and to fully maximize a company’s potential by creating decisions that are more successful, projects that are more effective, and competitive advantages that are more obvious. One way to do this is by enlisting the services of an experienced partner like 麻豆原创. With the help of听听or by using听, support your organization in its journey to mine wealth from numbers.

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In fact, according to a听,听听of organizations are worried about labor displacement and job loss stemming from job automation and artificial intelligence (AI). No matter which side of the spectrum businesses lie on, to advance the trifecta of growth鈥揚eople, Process, and Technology, automation is essential.

Why is Automation Necessary?

Automation refers to a wide range of technologies that aim to lower human intervention in processes without compromising on the quality of the final output. The business benefits of automation are aplenty.

From empowering decision-makers to make quick, informed decisions to accelerating business processes, the benefits cover the entire spectrum of operational efficiency. A few data-backed advantages of using an to drive end-to-end automation within an enterprise include:

• Saved employee time: According to estimates,听听claim they ended up saving 10-50% of the time they previously spent doing manual tasks due to automation success.
• Reduced labor costs: For听57% of IT leaders, automation technology saves departments between 10 and 50% on costs previously associated with manual processing.
• Accelerated task completion: According to听, workflow automation speeds up completion of repetitive tasks.
• Minimized human error: As per听听surveyed, business process automation (BPA) minimizes human error in the workflow.
• Increased productivity: For听, automating tasks in the organization boosts productivity for everyone involved.
• Greater focus on value-driven work: A staggering听听believe that automating some of the workload gives employees more time to focus on the goals that truly matter to the company.
• Increased human achievement: According to estimates, around听听polled firmly believe that automation will accelerate human achievement.
• With an overwhelming听听attributing process automation to be a key driver of digital transformation, using the right kind of automation (think: an asset management system) and driving an automation-ready culture are important facets to consider.

How Can the Firm’s Culture Support Automation?

Establishing a cross-organization cultural shift requires a change in employee and leadership mindset. To start with, there needs to be greater reinforcement of three key messages that redefine automation the right way:

• Automation is about taking over听tasks, not employee jobs.
• Automation is about听complementing听your existing team鈥檚 capabilities and skill-sets instead of replacing them.
• Automation aids in establishing an听employee-first鈥搃nstead of a machine-first鈥揷ulture, if implemented correctly.

To drive automation success, the idea of automation needs to be effortlessly woven into the cultural DNA of the organization. This can be achieved by:

• Changing the mindset of employees and addressing a sincere lack of communication through:
  • Open and honest discussions that address the employees鈥� concerns and encourages them to speak up
  • Change-management programs that are wired to prepare people for change and are aligned with the needs of the employees as well as those of the technology, CRM, and other departments
  • Demonstration of alternative mindsets and processes that focus on the positive collaboration of the human-machine workflow
  • Open dialogues that are centered on the pain-points related to process discrepancies and employee limitations such as lack of skill, for instance
• Engaging leadership and empowering them to understand the benefits of automation and how it can alter the company鈥檚 functions
• Listening to the people, acting on their suggestions/ideas, and developing a mutual understanding with the employees to ultimately add automation to key business functions strategically (and to the employee鈥檚 advantage)
• Resolving the divide between the IT and business departments by encouraging collaboration during deployment, designing, and maintenance of automation workflows across teams and departments
• Encouraging the workforce to be more agile, adaptable, and flexible in their approach to new automated procedures
• Communicating and leading with the benefits of automation for the organization, the employees, and the customers at large

Building an automation-first company requires organizations to inculcate an automation-first culture and mindset. In simpler words, involving the right people-assets becomes the foundation on which a winning automation program rests.

The Role Talent Plays in Successful Automation

An automation-first company, in essence, should intrinsically build a culture of innovation, creative problem-solving, and productivity. Additionally, it should foster a culture of collaboration and communication. However, automation brings with itself the primary challenge of an ever-widening skills gap鈥搊ne where the employees do not have the requisite soft and technical skills required to make the most of the automation software. In fact, a recent听听found that 鈥�addressing potential skills gaps related to automation/digitization鈥� was a Top-10 priority for 66% of participants today.

The proposed solution lies in leveraging the right people鈥揳nd empowering them with the right knowledge鈥搕o augment the automation initiatives instead of viewing automation as a replacement to human talent, skills, and knowledge.

Businesses can address the automation-skills gap by:

• Tasks:听Identifying and mapping out the repetitive, error-prone tasks (and processes) that can be easily automated via a whiteboarding session with an experienced automation expert
• Teams: Embracing a team-first approach and understanding the missing skills among the team members to conduct relevant training
• Training:听Setting up training programs that focus on learning, documenting, and understanding automated processes and building a culture of continuous learning as research indicates that for听听of organizations, employee training and resistance is a challenge when rolling out automated solutions
• Learning: Providing free, valuable e-learning content (think: workshops, guides, etc._ and helping employees retrain at quality educational institutions
• Upskilling: Driving opportunities for employees to upskill to lower the knowledge-skill gap with respect to automation, especially since听听states that听鈥渦p to 24% of currently employed women and 28% of currently employed men might need to upskill and learn new skills due to a shift in demands caused by automation.鈥�
• Soft-Skills: Paying special attention to the soft skills gap (read: emotional intelligence of employees, for example) instead of solely focusing on the technical skill gap
• Excellence: Creating an automation center of excellence that documents actions in real-time and centralizes important information, making it readily available to one-and-all

Long story short, there鈥檚 a growing need for talented, automation-savvy workers if businesses wish to extract the maximum potential of automation processes and systems, and thrive in a competitive landscape.

How can data be stored in an automation-friendly way?

The final leg of adapting your organization to the automation journey is understanding:

1. How can data be stored in an automation-friendly way?
2. Why should the cloud be used to store data automatically via third-party processes?

Around听听of business leaders believe they can automate 10-30% of their daily workload. This means that tremendous amounts of data get generated as the business processes get automated. Storing said data in a physical space can create issues of costs, lack of infrastructural bandwidth, etc. This is where cloud data storage comes into play.

Here鈥檚 how to听develop a data automation strategy:

Step 1:听Develop a well-conceived data automation strategy.

Before zeroing in on a robust cloud tool, focus on developing a data automation strategy by asking the following questions:

Automation-related questions to ask:

• Which of the company鈥檚 core areas can benefit from automation?
• How much of the asset鈥檚 time is wasted doing manual work?
• Which components and processes of the data operations are consistently failing?
• How much time will it take to automate a procedure?
• How to demonstrate the value of automation to business owners and key stakeholders?
• How to execute the automation process while ensuring better reporting, machine-learning procedures, and adaptability?

Data-related questions to ask:

• How to identify the most high-value datasets that provide easy access to the source systems?
• Does the software, say an enterprise asset management service, support the format that is central to the business?
• How to schedule the data so that it gets updated on a regular basis?
• Will the data be obtained by a central IT organization or a specific department/agency?
• Is there a need to assign a Data Custodian who will ultimately be responsible for maintaining data on the IT infrastructure in tandem with the business needs?

As a best practice, set clear goals and realistic expectations for the automation process and ensure that the cross-functional teams are always involved in the planning process. Other important points to keep in mind include:

• Work backward to understand what the end state of automation looks like and chart out an ideal workflow
• Consider a cloud tool that is known for its foolproof security
• Document your processes thoroughly and consistently
• Take an incremental approach and start simple.
• Always use data automation keeping the end-user in mind and ensure that it solves specific business problems.

Step 2: Think about investing in a robust, enterprise-grade, and low-code cloud storage tool.

Once you have a comprehensive data automation plan in place, it is time to consider a relevant cloud storage solution鈥搊ne that is dependable, well-supported, and user-friendly. Also consider whether the solution will be relevant in the long term and whether it has the flexibility to grow as your organization鈥檚 needs change.

It bodes well for an organization to invest in a cloud-based data storage tool. Here鈥檚 why:

• Reduces the processing time by processing, standardizing, and validating large volumes of data from disparate sources
• Minimizes manual intervention, leading to reduced asset utilization, time savings, and improved data reliability
• Improves an individual鈥檚 performance by tackling repetitive and time-consuming tasks so that they can focus on more high-value jobs
• Ensures better performance and scalability of the data environment
• Saves time and money for businesses as the software can execute work quickly and more efficiently, particularly when resources are scarce
• Optimizes allocation of talent and time as the human assets can focus on more productive tasks such as driving data-driven decision-making and engaging in tasks that require human originality, creative problem-solving, and imagination
• Improves the customer experience and enables the team to get access to high-quality and up-to-date data, 24x7x365
• Reduces instances of human error, bias, and fatigue
• Accelerates work throughput as most cloud storage platforms and tools are low-code in nature, and can be easily used by any business user

Step 3:听Outline the measures for data transformation with respect to time and resources needed, and engage in old-fashioned project management to maintain transparency and automate sustainably.

The next logical step in the data automation journey is outlining the necessary steps for data transformation basis the functional challenges and clearly-identified gaps within the tech stack and the specific business needs. Also think about creating a dedicated team of automation 鈥榗hampions鈥� who can lead the charge, prioritize sub-projects/tasks as needed, and ensure that the data automation project stays on track.

Step 4:听Verify for success, test as often as needed, and calculate the ROI of automation.

Once the process is underway and the data is stored, make sure to verify that the dataset was successfully loaded, devoid of any roadblocks throughout the procedure. Ideally, aim to iterate, test, and develop once an automated procedure has been prototyped. As a thumb rule, schedule the dataset to be updated on a regular basis and keep tracking the time versus cost progress to gauge what鈥檚 working (and what鈥檚 not). Aim to prioritize processes that save time and can offer higher ROIs for best results.

Creating an automation-friendly firm starts with establishing an automation-friendly culture, keeping the employees at the forefront of the change. An automation-first firm can benefit from increased productivity, reduced operational gaps in the tech stack, increased revenue growth, and scalable as well as sustainable customer retention.

The post How to Use an Asset Management System to Automate Key Business Processes? appeared first on 麻豆原创 India News Center.

Traditionally, this approach was siloed, with departments such as product, customer service, sales staff, or marketing looking at only their part in the customer鈥檚 journey. This compartmentalized approach to individual touchpoints overlooks the bigger鈥攁nd more important鈥攑icture: the customer’s overall experience. You can only begin to comprehend how to meaningfully increase performance by looking at the customer’s experience through his or her own eyes.

For example, when popular audio streaming service 听wanted to improve its customers’ musical experience, it hired a marketing company to map its customers’ journeys. The goal of this customer journey map was to:

• Increase number of users
• Improve the experience of sharing music for current users
• Improving the music sharing feature and increasing its adoption

The map included all the user experiences — from the moment they start using Spotify on a mobile device to asking if they like a song shared by a friend. At each step, data is collected on what the customer is interested in, what they are thinking about, and what they are feeling.

Based on this, Spotify made changes to its functionality, tweaked the interface to make the music sharing experience smoother and more seamless and thus encouraged more users to share music with their friends and acquaintances. Needless to say, this also led to an听听for Spotify.听

Why does Every Business Need a Customer Journey Map?

According toa听听conducted by Salesforce, customer experience strategies are more significant than ever. The UK-based research revealed that:听

• 80% of new-gen customers placed as much weightage on their interactions with companies as on the products offered.
• 69% of customers wanted to communicate with a firm in real-time.
• 60% of consumers expected their customer experience to be connected.

By using a customer journey map to analyze user behavior, an enterprise can better understand how their customers travel through the sales process and how they feel at each step. If organizations provide the customer with the finest experience from start to finish, it will lead to increased customer satisfaction, higher sales and retention, lower end-to-end service costs, and improved employee morale. Thus, customer journey maps help:

• Increase consumer engagement听
• Remove ineffective touchpoints from the equation
• Shift from a company-centric to a customer-centric mindset
• Bridge interdepartmental gaps.
• Target specific client personas with marketing initiatives that are appropriate to their identities
• Recognize circumstances that may have resulted in quantitative data abnormalities
• Assign ownership of multiple client touchpoints
• Make it feasible to calculate the return on investment for future UX/CX investments
• Optimize a client’s onboarding process through the feedback shared by customers
• Convert prospects to loyal customers in a faster and easier manner

How to Create Customer Journey Maps?

To leverage the benefits of customer journey mapping, it is advisable to start as early as possible. This can prevent the possibility of customer dissatisfaction at the later stages (which are more complex) of the journey.

However, there is no ‘standard map’ that can represent every consumer’s journey, simply because there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ client experience. An ideal journey map must be completely personalized, aligned with the customer鈥檚 profile and created from the customer鈥檚 perspective. This enables the organization to determine the focus points for future modifications as well as evaluate the efficacy of the current experience strategies.

Here is what听organizations must do to create a truly customer-centric journey map:

1. Understand your customer’s perspective:听

Listening to your customers is essential. The best customer journey maps represent the customer’s perspective — regarding the kind of service they want, the problems they face with the current product, what they expect from the company, etc.

For example, suppose your potential customers look for you at trade fairs, and you keep on advertising in the newspapers. In that case, the advertising budget is unlikely to deliver the kind of results the company is targeting. Representing the customer鈥檚 perspective permits the organization to focus on more successful relationship-building initiatives rather than squandering resources on programs that weren’t truly benefiting their results 鈥� or their bottom line.

2. Conduct Research and Analysis:听

Extensive and qualitative customer research is required to prepare your customer journey map. To figure out what’s really going on, you’ll need interviews, ethnographies, focus group discussions, surveys, and/or other sorts of customer research, depending on the extent of the journey. In some specific cases, employees can also be asked to interact with customers to build the map. This strategy works best for B2B organizations that focus on a specific process. Some companies hire consumers to develop maps, but in this case, efforts are needed to avoid any bias related to sample size. Brands can also identify areas of improvement through customer ratings and feedback.

A company can get genuine feedback about consumer experiences through face-to-face interaction at multiple checkpoints. Apart from obtaining accurate data, this exercise also helps make the brand’s customers understand that the enterprise is going the extra mile to fulfill their requirements.听

3. Identify and Represent Customer Personas:听

When we talk about creating personas, we do not mean micro-segmentation; instead, we’re looking for the top two to four core consumer personas that the brand serves. Marketers can design a customer journey map for each persona and customers will then be segmented based on their demographics, lifestyle, and interests.

For example, while evaluating how customers spend on health insurance, a customer mapping exercise discovered two different types of users. While one group spent only a few hours researching, the second set of customers spent six weeks for the same, on average, and came up with several methods or options for spending on health insurance. A good customer journey map cannot combine the two segments as the outcome would not adequately reflect each segment’s experience.

4. Include Customer Objectives:听

A good journey map represents what the customer wants or is looking for and also whether these goals change over the course of the journey.听

For example, if the organization in question is a supermarket chain, it can have two different types of customers:听

1. Brings a list and sticks to it- This kind of customer does not want to be disturbed and wants to just find the goods as per the list.
2. Open-minded- This customer might want to explore the supermarket and try out new goods.

Both sets of customers have different expectations from the company. Creating a journey map lets you develop cost-effective strategies to suit the demands of each group.

5. Concentrate on Emotions:听

Customer sentiments are essential to any corporate organization, whether small, medium, or large. It has been proved that emotionally connected customers are much more valuable than highly satisfied customers. These emotionally connected customers buy more of your products and services, visit you more often, exhibit less price sensitivity, pay more attention to your communications, follow your advice, and recommend you more. Conversely, if the customers develop negative emotional connections with the offered products or services, it’s hard for them to forget these problems, which affects the rest of their journey. One of the primary purposes of journey mapping is to eliminate or mitigate such issues.

6. Map all interactions:听

Each time the customer interacts with your brand, you get new information to add to your customer journey map. Planning the journey at every stage of your customer’s experience — including gaining brand awareness, acting on buying motivation, displaying loyalty and advocacy 鈥� lets the organization maintain records of, and gain insights from, each interaction. Not only does this help to understand the customer’s point of view, both positive and negative, it also allows the prediction of their future reactions towards the organization’s products or services.听

7. Recognize Moments of Truth that Stand Out:听

Moments of truth are important moments in a customer’s journey when a significant event occurs and a brand opinion is established. Simply said, these are the points at which your clients will either fall in love with your product or reject it and depart. They are vital to an organization since they can represent the weakest part of the customer journey and fix it. Not every touchpoint is a moment of truth- some touchpoints are more critical than others. For example, if a supermarket chain does not offer parking, it is highly possible that the customer chooses not to visit the supermarket at all. In this case, parking is much more important than other touchpoints. Thus, an organization needs to understand crucial touchpoints and incorporate these in the customer journey maps. This helps ensure the customer has a positive experience at those touchpoints.听

8. Measure the flow of time:听

The length of a customer’s experience is crucial information. Is a normal customer call taking 2 minutes or 10 minutes? Did the customer think about the product for 20 minutes or 40 hours before making a purchase? Time is an important factor in customer journey mapping.听

Remember, it’s critical research to learn more about customer motivations and hurdles. If you do not have the data to answer these questions, you might need to make assumptions that may lead to inadequate strategic planning later. A good customer journey map recognizes the importance of every bit of information.

9. Revisions based on new information:听

When it comes to improving the customer experience, the process is iterative and there is always room for improvement. One of the main customer experience strategies is to continue to learn about your customers. Reassess your data, receive feedback, leverage the insights and adapt and improve. Regardless of how big or small they are, the changes you make will be crucial because they are directly related to the pain points that the customers flagged.

10. Map the current and future state:听

Start organizing your data and touchpoints to map the current state of your customer experience. Mapping the current state will also help you identify gaps or red flags in the experience, information duplication, inadequate transitions between phases, and any significant weaknesses and obstacles in your customer’s journey. You can then easily map potential solutions and compare the current state of the customer journey to the ideal future state. Present your results to the entire organization to keep everyone informed about the areas that need to be improved, as well as a clear roadmap for planned change and how their responsibilities will contribute to improving the customer journey.

Customer Journey Maps are valuable for understanding what brand consumers are doing and experiencing as they traverse each point of interaction. It allows businesses to minimize bottlenecks and optimize customer journeys while simultaneously enhancing their consumers’ satisfaction levels. Several customer mapping tools introduced by听听aim to assist with your customer experience and make the necessary adjustments to attract and retain customers.

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What is Business Resilience?

Business resilience is an organization’s ability to adapt its operations, absorb stress and ensure business continuity in the face of adverse situations or change. It is about having the foresight to recognize risk factors and causes of disruption and plan for them. Of course, many businesses currently practice risk management in some manner 鈥� mostly to better understand and mitigate exposure to specific, well-known hazards. Resilience must also encompass unidentified threats, as well as the adaptations and transformations that a corporation must do to absorb and even leverage environmental stress.

Contrary to popular perception, contingency plans for business resilience do not mean having largescale organizational resources and ample cash reserves to weather disruption. It is more about adapting than just response. And as old business ways collapse, technology has helped give a head start to organizations invested in building business resilience. Adopting lean, digital-first agile processes has helped them transform legacy business models, reinvent the way they work and reset their business strategy. One way to do so is by leveraging听, which delivers pre-built processes for everything from finance and sales to product management and purchasing on a single, unified solution.

However, while crafting business resilience plans, aspects like data recovery, securing IT systems, alternative modes of working, etc occupy a prime place in the minds of most leaders. The critical importance of employees to business continuity is often overlooked. Resilient businesses with loyal and productive employees have a higher chance of bouncing back after a crisis or unforeseen incident. Clearly, a business is only as resilient as its people 鈥� and this calls for outstanding employee experiences.

What is Employee Experience?

Employee experience can be defined as the continuing relationship between an employee and an organization. It begins right from the interview and onboarding process and continues to be shaped with every interaction that happens after that along the employee life cycle. It encompasses all that defines and influences an employee鈥檚 role in the company 鈥� such as the workspace, the role of managers, benefits offered, rewards and recognition, health and well-being and much more.听

Positive employee experiences lead to the employee delivering positive customer experiences, thus creating a virtuous cycle that feeds back into employees鈥� sense of achievement and purpose.

Businesses with robust employee engagement practices have a workforce that is invested in achieving organizational goals; one that is more likely to identify with the 鈥榦ne team鈥� vision driving business goals. This alignment between the employees鈥� identity and that of the company leads to improved productivity and profits and lower employee turnover.

Employee experience 鈥� the unseen factor in business resilience

A black swan event such as the pandemic has thrown the definition of employee experience out of the window, to be replaced with one that fits the new normal.听

As businesses shifted from survival to recovery and resilience mode, it became clear that redesigning employee experience is of paramount importance. Most businesses are either planning to or already replacing or refreshing services and product mixes to ride out the challenges of the chaotic past two years. To do that, it is essential to create conducive internal conditions, which translates to redesigning the employee experience to nurture creativity, a sense of purpose and fulfillment.听

This prioritization of the human factor at the workplace is evident in a听听conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Elastic. The survey of CIOs and IT leaders in 10 countries听revealed that 60% of IT organizations are investing in improving employee experience to support remote workforce productivity and performance. To amplify the impact on employee experience, 57% of IT leaders are collaborating more closely with their HR counterparts.

How can a business create better experiences for employees?

At the end of the day, companies that don’t develop new and existing personnel at the same rate as their technology are unlikely to have the capabilities they need to advance digital transformation. This will result in their competitive advantage dwindling.听

Here’s how organizations can make the most of their talent and establish truly resilient companies.

• Provide flexible work arrangements

After an extended live experiment in working remotely, the craving for flexibility will be greater once employees return to physical office environments. Organizations that offer flexible working models 鈥� whether remote, in-person or hybrid 鈥� and the necessary support to make the transition easier have a better chance of retaining or attracting a skilled workforce. Flexible work arrangements provide access to a larger talent pool and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace that fosters creativity and increases employee loyalty. This, in turn, can add to business resilience.听

Some of the ways in which flexible work arrangements can be brought about at the workplace are job sharing, flexible working hours, compressed workweeks and flexible rostering.

• Enable work from home for those who desire it

Employers and employees have more or less perfected the work-from-home model. While employees are now reaching the pre-pandemic productivity levels and producing quality work from their home offices, remote working has cut the fatigue and sensory overload that accompanies the travel to and from the office.听

Because of the reduction in physical office space, distributed work models can save a lot of money, but establishing and maintaining a work culture and sustaining cooperation can be difficult. Successful firms have deployed efficient remote access and collaboration technologies that have made the employee experience flexible, standardized, secure, and simple to use while also allowing for increased productivity. Such a strategy can amplify employee engagement, productivity and retention, and will benefit the business in the long term.

• Practice empathetic leadership

The importance of compassionate leadership is felt keenly now, more than ever. Empathy was always considered a key trait of a good leader, who puts people at the center of business or technological decisions, from a work, personal or wellness level. When CEOs, managers, team leaders and others in decision-making roles put themselves in employees鈥� shoes, they are able to make informed decisions that have positive implications for the workforce. This enhances employee well-being, boosts their morale, increases their loyalty and sets in motion the wheels for business resilience and growth.

• Ensure communication is clear and consistent

As work models, expectations and processes churn rapidly, it is vital that communication channels between employees and the management remain open and clear. Employees should have regular updates on how the organization is moving forward. They need clarity on how the company will address issues related to workplace health, safety and well-being, flexible work models, etc. Timely and transparent communication will engender employee trust and build employee and business resilience.

• Ensure safety and well-being of employees

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant uncertainty and fear it created has affected the physical and mental health of employees across the world. While each individual responds to stress in unique ways, it is established that stress affects employees鈥� ability to empathize, be open-minded, engage with the organization, take up challenging tasks, and to learn and grow. Thus, the health, safety and well-being of employees should be the highest priority for all organizations as workplaces reopen. While some industries with high-risk jobs have long prioritized safety, Covid-19 mandates that all businesses, regardless of location, have safety practices in place to protect their employees and show that they care.

• Update R&R programs to reflect what employees really want

Companies need to revisit their Rewards and Recognition (R&R) programs considering the new reality. They must figure out what is more likely to motivate their employees, since monetary rewards may not hold the same sheen as before. Experiences are more important to new-age workers. Thus, personalized rewards aligned to individual preferences and lifestyle choices are more likely to appeal to them. Even acknowledging the dedication and hard work of employees through small acts of everyday appreciation can go a long way to make them feel valued.听

By using technology such as virtual working platforms and remote collaboration applications, companies can give their R&R strategies a digit redesign to deliver an employee experience that fosters pride and a sense of belonging.

• Provide training and upskilling opportunities

Building the most effective, resilient workforce necessitates not just new hiring but also the development of existing talent. As the way we do things changes because of digitalization, businesses have a big potential to make the most of their existing staff.

Many of the duties that today’s employees perform are monotonous and unfulfilling. However, if advanced machines take over most of the monotonous, repetitive work, employees can be reallocated and upskilled to more satisfying occupations that provide them with greater happiness.

Training and learning initiatives are important for the career development and growth of employees. Identifying unique skills or traits such as initiative, creativity, and problem-solving, and creating training programs to sharpen them, will benefit both the employer and the employee. Personalized learning journeys boost the self-esteem of employees and their feelings of inclusion and belonging. Future-ready organizations must invest in upskilling and reskilling initiatives in transferable skills that cut across domains, functions and businesses to remain competitive.

• Leverage technology to ensure high employee engagement

Employee engagement is better in organizations that provide effective collaboration tools and integrated digital workspaces to access apps. With a majority of the workforce staying connected to the firm for longer periods of time now, compared to before the epidemic, these measures allow improvement in employee productivity.

AI, machine learning and cloud-based tools have proven to be highly efficient for multi-regional teams to communicate, collaborate and work together. For example,听听is a single cloud ERP solution that connects every function across a company with proven best practices and in-depth analytics to build business resilience.

Companies that use digital analytics and data tools to identify and fulfill employee needs are more likely to succeed in the new normal.听听of solutions can assist leaders make informed decisions with access to real-time insights on a single, scalable platform 鈥� leading to standout employee experiences and business transformations.听

Conclusion

To summarize, resilience is required for firms to sustain global competitiveness since it equips them to recover from any organizational setback. It is tough to build a resilient workforce, but with proper planning and execution, as well as trust and open communication, one can succeed.

During the epidemic, firms that prioritized robust processes, agile decision-making, technological investments, and nimble organizational structures survived and even prospered. Those that redesigned work had lower attrition rates, improved employee experience, engagement, and productivity.

With the support of technological tools, data and people analytics, organizations can mine employee data, analyze it and come up with actionable insights and solutions to create employee experiences that are meaningful. Pivoting to an employee-centric approach when adopting technology will establish a work environment that fosters productivity and engagement.

To find out how to accelerate your journey to becoming digitally resilient and setting yourself up for success in the long run, learn how you can integrate听听into your operations. Listen, understand and respond to employee needs and experience gaps to ensure your employees, and your organization, stay resilient and productive in the long run.

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In a company鈥檚 product and market life cycle, disruptions and obstacles are common. But project leads and the management isn鈥檛 always ready for these, and the pandemic is a good example of unprecedented disruption.

Some organizations survived this and have come back stronger, while others have had to struggle.听And what made all the difference? A business continuity plan.听Business by design听is created with fallback options and how to survive every eventuality.

What is Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a document that details how a company will keep running in the event of an unforeseen service disruption. A BCP is all encompassing and more elaborate than a disaster recovery plan. It needs to account for and include all contingencies for business processes, assets, human resources, and business partners 鈥� all components of the company that could be impacted.

When offices worldwide were closed down in February- March 2020 indefinitely, this wasn’t something anyone could have anticipated in the past. The complete work-from-home setup was unthinkable even ten years before,听business by design听was not meant to be run from coffee shops and couches. Like fire drills, organizations had a template that kicked into place when the government declared lockdowns, and it was prepared for every eventuality.

The beginning of the millennium saw significant expansion in corporate globalization and data accessibility. Businesses considered the entire business continuity process rather than just disaster recovery. Companies learned that if they didn’t have a comprehensive continuity strategy in place, they might lose their clientele and fall behind in the race.听

Business continuity planning became more difficult as application architectures such as distributed applications, distributed processing, distributed data, and hybrid computing environments were considered.听

3 Key prospects that need to be taken into consideration when formulating a BCP:听

1. Availability and Accessibility:听Modern businesses are run on data, and be it a natural disaster or IT failure, access to information is a MUST, or the industry will crash, and it would have a domino effect.听
2. Continuity plan:听Business by design isn’t meant to stop, especially in industries like Finance, Healthcare, and IT. Operations have to continue despite any hurdles that might come your way.
3. Recover information:听Backups are the need of the hour because IT disruptions would make any organization inoperable. Two types of backups are necessary: on-site and off-site.

Disruptions: Setbacks or accelerator for growth?

Disruptions cannot be predicted, but you can be prepared for the eventuality.听

Some common types of disruptions that organizations can face during their lifetime are mentioned below:

• Environmental disruptions:听Often infamously known as the “Act of God”, due to ecological changes, wildfires, cyclones, tsunamis, and earthquakes have become very common. These can harm your physical setup and lead to huge losses in terms of property and resources. Lack of preparedness by the government authorities can also lead to the shutdown of offices. This can negatively impact your services and lead to insurmountable losses. Employees can be adversely affected by this occurrence as well.
• Technological disruptions:听A technological blackout is unimaginable in today’s digitalized world. The entire operation will standstill, and these data-sensitive organizations will become vulnerable. This also includes cyberattacks, data breaches, and malware hacks- that can expose company secrets and put the security of the company and its end-users at stake. Today not just the IT organizations but every sector should have multiple backups- a fail-safe method like cloud storage and spread across several nodes.
• Human disruptions:听The pandemic has shown how vulnerable and fragile human life is. Millions of people have lost their life. Also, sickness, layoffs, and an employee can quit, and without proper resources in place, it becomes difficult for a department to function smoothly until a replacement is found.听

2021: A year of adapting to the future

As we come to the end of the year- one that has been a landmark in many senses: we saw abysmal lows in the form of the second wave of the COVID-19 attack, and then came the highs with the arrival of vaccines and herd immunity, the world is once more opening up.听

While offices are slowly beginning to open up and life is going back to normal, there鈥檚 anticipation of new waves of the pandemic. Reports of new variants are getting businesses and communities to exercise caution.听

A听听with over 200 organizations across various industries has shown that more than 90% of the respondent expect COVID-19 to fundamentally disrupt the way they do business over the next five years. With nearly as many saying the crisis will have a long-term impact on their consumers’ requirements.

More than 60% of the C-suite executives in the survey believe that this will be the most difficult moment of their executive career.

Ensuring seamless running of business in spite of the odds

Customers are in constant need of essential products and services – pandemic or no pandemic. A bank customer needed the help of the service centers when the physical banks were closed. Telecom customers more than ever needed the assistance of customer care services as most of the work was done via mobile, and eCommerce agents were working round the clock to provide support to the people when physical stores were shut or operated for a few hours in a day. 听

These services could be provided seamlessly because businesses had BCP in place and things kicked into gear. Even though the management, partners, and stakeholders were not present, they could still steer their businesses and satisfy the requirements of their end-users while looking out for the safety of their employees.听

What to include in Business Continuity Plan?

Here are the听key features of a good BCP,听one that caters for all sorts of conceivable eventualities and helps stay prepared to ensure business 鈥榓s usual.鈥�

1. Communication

Having a clear and concise communication clause is important to implement because this is the tipping point between chaos and clarity. Some of the key personnel who need to be contacted in times of crisis are:

• Stakeholders
• Key personnel
• Backup site or cloud operation operators
• Resources (equipment, services)
• Emergency responders
• Third-party vendors
• Facilities managers
• Incident response team(s)

Make sure the communication to the public is consistent, honest, and has a tone of authority. The right tone can help prevent panic and minimize your losses (in terms of a drop in share prices, exodus of employees, etc.)

2. Roles and responsibilities and identifying the point of contact

To successfully deal with any disruption, it is important to have strong leadership. The BCP should clearly mention the roles and responsibilities of the point of contact or a BCP committee to manage the crisis efficiently.

3. Plan of action

Everything you’ll need to keep your business running should be outlined in your Business Continuity Plan. Even if some of your essential staff or supervisors are temporarily unavailable, operations should be able to continue.

Your supply chain should be able to cease and resume delivery听swiftly. Alternative suppliers and delivery channels should be identified and engaged, and storage alternates for inventory, equipment, and orders in transit should be discussed.

4. Testing and training

An outdated BCP might be worse than having none at all, giving you a false sense of security. Review and update your strategy frequently to reflect changes in your IT environment, business priorities, operational structure, and other factors. Conduct drills involving everything from app recovery to crisis messaging.

5. Uninterrupted access to resources and continual IT operations

Provide options that will allow people to access data and work from anywhere. In the case of an unforeseen disruption, identifying important functions will disclose which procedures are critical to maintaining and running a business. These include:听

• Payroll and time tracking
• Revenue operations
• Information security
• Core business functions
• Data protection after recovery
• Identity & access management

The final element is data center continuity. For scale and redundancy, most major enterprises already have many data centers. Having cloud backups and easy accessibility will allow you to continue your operations.

Advantages of Business Continuity Plan

1. Helps maintain the trust and faith of the customers
2. Establishes an open and confident relationship with employees, and this leads to employee retention, especially in a management position
3. It helps in preserving and protecting your brand name.
4. Provides valuable business insights and can help mitigate or reduce financial risks and fallouts.
5. Protects your supply chain
6. Provides an edge over your competition
7. Increases compliance with industry regulations
8. Helps restart your operation after the disruption.

In today鈥檚 world filled with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, organizations are better off having a well-thought-out business continuity plan to survive disruptions. A plan that provides a blueprint to cater to any and all types of emergencies helping you stay resilient and carry on business 鈥榓s usual.鈥�

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