3 Automation Trends in 2024

28 Mar 3 Automation Trends in 2024

Posted at 06:55h in Automation by Simon Spencer

As with any technology, 2024 is bringing a host of new and emerging trends for automation — with businesses furthering the capabilities and the utilisation of automation like never before. Knowing these trends will help you get ahead of the curve, and will ensure that you start your automation journey by hitting the ground running.

In this article, we will go over the top three automation trends you need to be aware of in 2024. These trends are all significant and will help you ensure you can get the most out of your organisation.

Trend 1: Democratisation of Automation

In the world of technology, democratisation is the process in which a certain technology becomes more accessible to new people. Whether through general access or the creation of more accessible and user-friendly interfaces to enable use far more widely, the democratisation of automation has meant that it’s become far more popular than ever.

This especially means that there is no reason not to look towards automation for your organisation if you’re not already using it. Programs such as Microsoft’s Power Automate exist to give you access to a wealth of tools that can help you use automation to truly ensure that your organisation is able to take advantage of the cutting edge of automation.

Here are some of the ways that the democratisation of automation is helping the industry as a whole —

Increased accessibility: Automation technology becoming more accessible to a wider audience is good for a lot of different reasons, mainly due to the increased eyes that are now on automation. As automation becomes the industry standard, more benefits to the whole industry will follow.
Components: Automation is a key focus for a lot of different companies and organisations, meaning that there is simply more of a need for new plug-and-play components — to help organisations get the most out of automation. These components are easy to install and exist to counteract the growing skills shortage.
Narrowing the skill gap: The skills shortage has meant that organisations have struggled to implement new technologies as they’ve emerged — after all, without the knowledge, who’s going to implement them? The democratisation of automation solves that, as it makes it more accessible to those who are not as skilled.

With these, it’s clear that the democratisation of AI is only going to yield increased benefits as time goes on, meaning that organisations can fully take advantage of the power of automation without having to worry about its accessibility.

Trend 2: Integration of AI and Automation

If any technology took over the world in 2023, it was artificial intelligence. The rise of AI has been unprecedented, and the technology only seems to be getting stronger as time goes on. For businesses, this is incredible — AI has truly transformed the workplace in so many ways.

For automation specifically, the power of combining the pure efficiency of automation with the power of AI has meant that it’s easier than ever to unlock new possibilities to truly take your workplace to the next level. And, with organisations like Microsoft looking to embrace AI in every way possible — the combination of automation and AI isn’t an idea that’s far in the future. In fact, Power Automate already has AI integrations — and they’re only growing.

Here are some of the ways that AI is transforming automation —

Generative AI: Generative AI is incredibly popular, but it also transforms the way that automation works within your organisation. Unlike traditional automation — known as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) — generative AI lets users find new ways to tackle challenges that would otherwise be difficult to solve.
Scaling: AI lets you scale your automation and enable more processes to be completed, meaning that your automation setup will become incredibly efficient while also being replicable — letting you cut out repetitive tasks with ease throughout your organisation.
Ease of use: The ease of use of AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot — which exists within Power Automate — means that it’s never been easier to utilise AI to get the most out of automation within your organisation.

Trend 3: Ethical Automation

As new technologies become widely adopted, it’s important that they remain ethical — and that they’re used responsibly when considering socioeconomic and environmental factors. This means that there should be a focus on ensuring that there’s no way that your practices are exploiting or undermining core principles of responsibility.

There are a few different things to consider here —

Fairness: Avoiding bias in decision-making, and ensuring that no discrimination is used within your organisation’s decision-making process or automated processes.
Transparency: Ensuring that everyone on a need-to-know basis is always aware of how decisions are being made.
Privacy: This is making sure to look after the data of people within and outside of your organisation.
Accountability: Ensuring that there is accountability in your organisation — and that everyone who is meant to be accountable has their responsibilities clearly defined — will make sure that if something goes wrong, it’s easy to see where and with whom.
Social accountability: Ensuring that your organisation is considering the wider social impact of automation — including job displacement and economic implications.

How To Get Started

Automation is a key technology in the modern world, and ensuring that you’re up to date with the latest information on automation will let you keep up with the industry trends to ensure that you’re always in the loop about how to take your organisation to the next level.

If you’re looking to get started, but don’t know where to start, reach out to us today. Our experts are here to help and will ensure that you’ve got a helping hand along the way.