Jess O’Reilly, UiPath’s Asia Vice President
In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, Generative AI (GenAI) is emerging as a game-changer, pushing the boundaries of automation and reshaping how businesses operate.
Recent insights from UiPath’s Asia Vice President, Jess O’Reilly, reveals that while GenAI offers better improvements in speed and quality of work, its true potential is realised when combined with business automation.
O’Reilly shares with iTNews Asia how GenAI is already delivering results for companies in automating their business processes, what should SMEs consider when integrating GenAI into existing operations and how to manage the ethical issues they may face.
iTNews Asia: How is GenAI transforming productivity?
GenAI is only half the equation, as it can’t act or interface with other enterprise systems. The other half lies in automation, which is the missing piece of the puzzle that provides AI with the integrations, data, context and ability to take action in the enterprise.
Singaporean workers who use GenAI and business automation together have seen even greater productivity gains according to a recent UiPath Global Knowledge Worker survey. One in two of them have seen the ability to get tasks done faster, while close to half (46 percent) have seen an improved work life balance.
The age of AI is already upon us, and it’s not just automating tasks – it’s reshaping how we work. Looking ahead, employees will increasingly find themselves collaborating with GenAI systems and business automation so that they can focus on higher-value, strategic work.
iTNews Asia: What are some emerging use cases of Gen AI within the workforce of any organisation?
MongoDB’s finance team used to manually review hundreds of order forms each quarter to check for signatures. By implementing document understanding and GenAI to scan invoices for authorisations, they increased task completion by 90 percent and eliminated manual checks. Over the past three and a half years, this automation has saved the company over 230,000 working hours and more than US$7 million (S$9.5 million).
Another example is Dentsu, an advertising and marketing agency network in Japan. It used the popularity of large language models like ChatGPT to create dentsuGPT, a tool that gives employees easy access to important company information.
DentsuGPT helps employees from HR and compliance to automation knowledge, boosting the company’s automation efforts. Dentsu is also developing a guidebook to help tech-savvy users create their own GenAI bots.
iTNews Asia: How can small to medium businesses (SMBs) leverage GenAI effectively without significant investment in data science resources, and what steps should they take to integrate this technology into their operations?
SMBs have far fewer resources than large enterprises, and they lack the ability to implement and apply technologies like GenAI to business use cases.
In Singapore, while SMEs recognise AI as a top business trend, only a small fraction of SMEs have incorporated AI into their operations.
SMBs should begin by identifying where GenAI can benefit their business. Without in-house AI expertise, they can use prebuilt AI models or easy-to-use, low-code platforms. This approach reduces the need for specialised knowledge and provides quick benefits with minimal setup.
SMBs can also use government resources to prepare their workforce for AI. For instance, in Singapore, SMEs can join training workshops and consultations through the Digital Enterprise Blueprint to build a strong AI foundation.
iTNews Asia: With all the data and language models involved in GenAI, what are the key ethical issues in developing and using this technology?
Alongside addressing several ethical issues like bias, copyright and intellectual property infringement, privacy and data security, organisations can use GenAI solutions that have built-in ethical features and guardrails.
We believe an open approach to AI will allow organisations to leverage its capabilities and stay at the forefront of technological advancements.
Secondly, AI models must be flexible and adaptable to users’ specific tasks and domains.
For instance, we provide users with the flexibility to combine multiple AI models, user interfaces, and APIs, enabling them to create comprehensive and targeted solutions.
Lastly, there needs to be controls in place to ensure that data is of good quality, sourced lawfully and securely managed. Having the platform actively reviewed for privacy, bias, and data security concerns is also key to the development of responsible and trustworthy AI.
iTNews Asia: Should we use a third-party model, or build, train and operate our own?
Third-party GenAI models like ChatGPT and Dall-E are easy for businesses to implement, as they don’t require major changes to existing systems.
These models are trained on broad, publicly available data, making them versatile but sometimes less precise for specific business needs.
This underscores the criticality of integrating these models with Specialised AI, which is trained on specific customer data, and can provide more accurate results.
Organisations should assess their needs, budget, and goals to decide between using a general model or a specialised one for the best AI investment.
– Jess O’Reilly, UiPath’s Asia Vice President
iTNews Asia: What kinds of practices and policies should we be considering towards ethical use of GenAI tools?
According to the survey, Singaporean workers are most concerned about security risks, inaccurate output, and compliance risks.
They are also experiencing a lack of direction around company policy on the use of GenAI tools, with 42 percent of them indicating that their company has not offered any training or guidelines on how to use GenAI.
Organisations need to implement safeguards to manage risks and use both Generative and Specialised AI to benefit from various AI capabilities. It’s also important to set up structures that support employees in an AI-driven environment, such as offering targeted training and reorganising roles. Since AI often progresses too quickly for policymakers to keep pace, the onus falls on creators and users to help ensure the ethical use of AI.
iTNews Asia: What can employees do to mitigate potential job displacement by GenAI?
Democratising technology is key to getting better at driving the continuous development needed to make the human-machine dynamic work.
This also involves the reframing of job security – while GenAI might automate certain tasks, it’s equally important to recognise its potential to enhance human productivity.
Employees will need to learn new AI-related skills like prompt engineering and large language model (LLM) management.
Organisations should also provide dedicated training services to support employees’ upskilling and reskilling. Successful companies will be those that integrate AI with their workforce effectively, fostering collaboration between humans and AI.