World Economic Forum Identifies Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain as Game-changers

Technological advancement is the single biggest driver of change in modern society. Whether it’s healthcare, scientific research or business, technology is opening new doors, and making new initiatives possible.Each year the World Economic Forum – an international organisation which works towards improving the state of the world – releases what it believes are the top ten emerging technological trends. This year’s report makes particularly interesting reading for Shared Services professionals, as it features both Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain; two trends anticipated to have a real impact on the space.Artificial IntelligenceAs we moved into 2016, SSON’s Dart Institute claimed that 58% of companies had yet to implement Robotic Process Automation (RPA). And while that percentage had fallen to 35% by May 2016, it proves that there are many companies that have yet to take the first step towards incorporating the latest of technological developments: RPA.For the Shared Services space, this would imply that we have a long way to go before Artificial Intelligence is commonplace within the industry. There are a number of advantages resulting from intelligent automation, with purchase-to-pay and accounts-payable commonly cited by companies as finance functions which shared service centres could automate and make more efficient moving forward.Our research indicates that once companies have implemented automation they discover more value in it than expected. Just 3.1% of Shared Services centres prior to implementation felt that they would automate over 60% of their functions, while at the implementation phase this percentage had risen to 36.4%. The jump demonstrates the real value of automation and the impact that Artificial Intelligence is likely to have on the industry.In the next couple of years, it is expected that RPA will steadily become the norm in organisations. The next step in the intelligent automation process will be implementing Artificial Intelligence – and this will see companies not just using automation to replicate current processes, but expanding the effort in order to maximise efficiency and profitability.Artificial Intelligence might not be an influential driver in the Shared Services space at the moment, but intelligence automation promises to transform the industry in the short-term.BlockchainIn addition to AI, there was also a place for ‘Blockchain’ on the World Economic Forum’s list. By using a combined network of nodes, a Blockchain is a ledger which uses mathematical principals to ensure that every transaction within it is bona fide. If someone attempts a corrupt transaction, the nodes will be unable to reach a consensus, and therefore reject it. The network records the details of every transaction automatically, and due to its shared nature, it is completely trustworthy. Blockchains have been described by the Wall Street Journal as the “technology underpinning the bitcoin currency,” with the system taking on heightened importance as companies think of new ways to overcome the challenges created by data security. For Shared Service centres, Blockchain could prove important as it may offer significant flexibility in vendor selection and vendor partnering as a result of predetermined validations.ConclusionThe World Economic Forum’s report makes interesting reading, with a number of important technological trends – like autonomous vehicles and two-dimensional materials – featuring on the list.For the Shared Services community, the presence of Blockchain and AI is pertinent as two trends predicted to have a real impact – and both apply to the Shared Services landscape. Together, they will not only promote improved data security but also increase efficiency and drive extra profits.Note: Download the World Economic Forum's "Emerging Technologies" report.[inlinead]

World Economic Forum Identifies Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain as Game-changers

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