Part 1. Our Automated Future Introduction to Part 1 Chapter 1 Automation is Here Chapter 2 The Economic Case for Automation Chapter 3 The Molecules of Algorithms Part 2. (Digital) Nuts and Bolts Introduction to Part 2 Chapter 4 What is Automat-able and What is Not? Chapter 5 Diagrammatic Decomposition of Corporate Functions Chapter 6 The Technology Suite of Automation Chapter 7 Building an Automaton From A Diagram Blueprint Chapter 8 Testing and Dear Rubber, Meet Road Part 3. Institutionalizing Automation Introduction to Part 3 Chapter 9 Automation as a Business Strategy Chapter 10 Automating an Entire Baby steps on a long road Chapter 11 Where do we put the humans? Chapter 12 Automation Sandboxes Chapter 13 The Corporation as an Algorithm Factory Chapter 14 Monetizing a Tapestry of Algorithms Chapter 15 What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Chapter 16 Your Turn
For businesses, the use of Artificial Intelligence has resulted in reduced labor costs and, even more importantly, creating a competitive advantage.
Published January 31, 2019, this book by George E Danner provides the blueprint for automating critical business functions of all kinds. It outlines the skills and technologies that must be brought to bear on replicating human-like thinking and judgment in algorithms.
Many believe that algorithm design is the exclusive purview of computer scientists and experienced programmers. This book aims to dispel that notion. An algorithm is merely a set of rules, and anyone with the ability to envision how different components of a business can interact with other components already can work in algorithms.
The author also identifies parts of the business that are best targeted for automation. This book arms businesspeople with the tools needed to automate companies, making them perform better, move faster, operate cheaper, and provide great lasting value to investors.
If the hallmark of the future is automation and algorithms form the “molecules” of an automated system, one cannot escape the inevitable conclusion that those who participate in the design of algorithms will thrive in the coming economy.
Even though the bigger wave of automation is still a few years away, there are health and hygiene steps that can be taken now as an easy on-ramp to tomorrow:
1. Build an ideation engine to foster clever thinking about ways to automate the business.
2. Master the art of understanding systems (any system) through diagramming.
3. Create sleeper cells of automation talent that can spring into action quickly as the wave approaches.
4. Develop a working knowledge of the technology tapestry of automation.
5. Make a science of studying other firms in industries completely different from your own.
6. Compile good quality data, but do not allow the data collection effort to dominate the work.
7. Build a sandbox for experimentation with automation concepts.
We sit on a unique moment in history. The past has brought us technological innovations that allow us to mimic the complex decision-making process of humans very closely. It has also produced organizations with vast numbers of complex problems to solve every hour of every day. Up to now, most organizations operate with an army of humans somehow making it all work by the end of the day.
The future will be different. Very different.
Because we possess the potential for automation that we did not have before, we are set to embark on an unprecedented wave of automation for organizations of every shape and size. This book is purpose-built to get you ready for that highly automated future.
Everything is automatable, including highly cognitive processes involving judgment and reason. But some processes are more automatable than others and these are the better starting points. You are now equipped with enough criteria to sort through the candidates for automation and skillfully choose the best ones, to begin with, thereby building momentum for the later, more difficult children.
interesting, I would have appreciated more time and a well fleshed out example/walkthrough of the creation of an complex automation diagram, since the author felt it was the most important element to automation