Digital transformation powered by automation has changed the way organizations around the world operate. It’s sped up product and service delivery. It’s created operational efficiencies throughout the business. But automation has its limits. Traditional automation uses tags and triggers to initiate the next event in a sequence. It certainly keeps things moving, but it falls short of intelligently orchestrating entire business processes that go across multiple systems and departments. This is because traditional automation is static. If processes, workflows, apps, or data change, developers must update their automations – essentially turning an automated process into a manual one.

The practice of hyperautomation, on the other hand, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to identify patterns to create smarter automations that can evolve and adapt to change at the speed and scale businesses need now. From self-service digital channels powering government services to real-time predictive analytics guiding manufacturing through supply chain crises, hyperautomation is expected to blossom into a $600 billion market in 2022. The adoption of these practices and technologies will pave the way for new streams of work and next-level innovation in every sphere of business over the next year.  

Here are five predictions about how hyperautomation will replace automation as the next business imperative for organizations undergoing digital transformation in 2022:

1. Hyperautomation will remedy the global supply chain debacle

COVID-19 and labor shortages over the past year have created a global supply chain nightmare, and more specifically exposed the flaws in just-in-time manufacturing. Remember toilet paper shortages? Over the next year, more organizations will turn to modern business-to-business (B2B) or electronic data interchange (EDI) technologies powered by AI/ML to modernize the supply chain to be more responsive to the dynamic ebbs and flows of today’s supply and demand.

2. Data integration will take center stage in cloud-focused digital transformation initiatives

AI/ML is only as good as the data fed into it. Bad data leads to bad decisions, resulting in poor outcomes. Organizations will embrace data integration tools for a more unified workflow across disparate business systems. Their ability to ingest reliable, accurate, and complete datasets from multiple sources on-premises and in the cloud will ensure data quality, security, and compliance while driving greater ROI for digital transformation initiatives.

3. The number of low-code engineers and developers will explode

The need to automate the connection of disparate data sets, apps, and business systems will lead to an explosion of lightweight, simple apps that will enable the rise of citizen engineers and developers. Expected to grow 24% in 2022, the low-code development market will allow anyone to create and edit apps with no coding experience, closing the skills gap of traditional IT know-how. This will lead to a golden age of agile innovation in the workplace as small, simple apps can be created and rolled out quickly to solve workflow roadblocks and bottlenecks. 

4. Labor shortages will accelerate low-code development, which will result in the acceleration of hyperautomation at scale

As wages increase, companies will seek to automate many of the repetitive, tedious tasks that sap their workers’ time. However, there is no single solution or vendor that can deliver this level of hyperautomation at scale. Organizations will need to rely on home-grown low code apps to connect and integrate disparate systems, data, and workflows. This will let workers focus on more strategic tasks that deliver value. For example, rather than manually entering customer information from an application, a government worker can use low-code to build a self-service customer portal that automatically collects the information. That worker can then spend her time on assessing the applications or working through a backlog of edge cases. 

5. Hyperautomation will have the most impact on customer experiences

Rising expectations and increasing competition are forcing businesses to have a laser focus on the customer experience. In fact, 59% of consumers say they have no qualms about abandoning a brand after a few negative experiences. Hyperautomation will be used in 2022 to speed up and improve business processes that relate to customer experience – especially for consumers. Watch for automations like recommended purchases at checkout or resolving service issues with self-service to gain momentum, paving the way for businesses to create even more digital-first customer experiences. 

Get Ready for an Avalanche of Innovation Powered by Hyperautomation

The global pandemic radically changed customer expectations and business models for good in 2020 and 2021. Now organizations will need to innovate and evolve at new speeds to meet any challenge that 2022 throws our way. Hyperautomation will be key, enabling the level of agility organizations need to adapt automated business processes on the fly to meet dynamic demand. You thought innovation and flexibility dominated the past two years. Just watch what happens in 2022.