How to use AI for process automation in your business

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the primary catalyst for business transformation. A survey indicates that 94% of business leaders recognize AI as essential for their organizations' success over the next five years.

The growing interest in AI requires companies to revamp their operational procedures because of recent advancements in generative AI technology. The transition to automated processes stands as a vital component to handle manual work.

Process automation functions as a core operational tool in modern businesses to automate repetitive work and reduce human error rates. Process optimization software with machine learning and AI enhancements has elevated the capabilities of automated systems. These intelligent platforms move beyond static rule systems by continuously analyzing workflows to optimize data-driven decision-making and reduce inefficiencies.

This blog explains process optimization and how it differs from automation. We will discuss how AI-driven software can help businesses optimize processes smarter, faster, and more dynamically.

What is process optimization?

A simple process optimization definition would be that it is the practice of refining business processes to achieve maximum operational outcomes. It focuses on three main objectives: cost reduction, process acceleration, and operational performance optimization.

Workflow optimization is the practice of improving a process to achieve the best possible results while staying within specific limits. It helps companies maximize their resources by identifying areas for more efficient operations.

Traditional (non-AI) methods of process optimization

Before AI-enhanced tools, businesses conducted their operations using structured, human-driven methodologies. Here are a few of the methods businesses use for process optimization:

Lean management: The primary principle of the lean methodology involves eliminating all steps that do not add value to the process. This allows organizations to minimize waste while continually enhancing their workflows.
Six sigma: This approach uses statistical methods that minimize errors and reduce process variability. The DMAIC cycle enables users to enhance quality through the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control phases.
Total quality management (TQM): This method engages employees in quality initiatives to enhance long-term business success by prioritizing customer satisfaction. It implements quality management standards at all organizational levels.
Business process reengineering (BPR): BPR requires changes to vital operational procedures, leading to lower costs and better quality outcomes. Organizations must undertake extensive operational revamps beyond just improving workflow productivity.

Challenges businesses face without optimization

Businesses that lack process optimization encounter significant operational obstacles that hinder their expansion and operational efficiency. Here are the challenges that they may face:

Difficulty scaling: Businesses that fail to optimize their processes will encounter more bottlenecks and performance limitations as they expand. Higher workloads become challenging to manage efficiently when organizations use manual methods.
Increased human error: Processes that depend heavily on human intervention produce more errors. A basic operational mistake made at any point will lead to time-consuming and expensive corrections.
Inconsistent quality: Standardized processes deliver consistent quality results across all stages of production. Service quality inconsistencies between customers of the same provider will create difficulties in building trust and customer retention.
Poor agility: Organizations must be agile to succeed in today's rapidly changing business environment. Businesses that do not optimize their processes frequently encounter difficulties responding to market requirements and regulatory shifts.

What is process automation?

Process optimization enhances operational efficiency, but process automation executes procedures with minimal human intervention. It handles routine manual work tasks, benefiting business operations.

A system using scripts and software executes data entry tasks and file transfers instead of human operators. Automation seeks to eliminate human participation from repetitive work. This leads to improved operational efficiency and effectiveness.

The broader approach to optimization involves determining the most effective method to achieve a desired outcome. Within the strategic framework, automation is a key implementation method that uses technology to automate specific process elements.

Process optimization without automation produces results, like streamlining steps or rearranging tasks. However, significant efficiency gains come from automation. Organizations optimize processes by implementing automation across operations.

From industrial automation to digital automation

During the industrial era, factories used assembly lines to automate their physical manufacturing operations. The development of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools enabled software to emulate human input. These tools allowed for the automation of applications that followed traditional programming methods.

Implementing automation doesn’t mean it has to be AI-based to function. Rule-based automation systems without AI yield substantial advantages through their ability to perform tasks consistently and operate nonstop. This results in cost reductions, faster processes, and fewer human mistakes.

Various departments can enhance efficiency by automating repetitive tasks. Here are a few examples:

Business operations: Process automation allows teams to manage repetitive tasks such as data entry, payment processing, and account reconciliation.
Human resources: These departments can use process automation to enhance standard onboarding processes. This includes system data entry for new hires, scheduling orientation, and producing ID badges.
Engagement automation: Marketing teams can automate the email follow-up based on the user behavior. This kind of automation delivers personalized messages without needing manual intervention, improving engagement time.

Organizations that automate processes allow staff to focus on strategic tasks instead of repetitive work.

Common enterprise processes ripe for automation

Organizations starting to automate their processes should focus on repetitive, high-volume processes first. Automated processes improve efficiency and create opportunities for broader AI-driven process optimization.

Finance: Accounts payable and receivable

Manual invoice handling leads to mistakes and prolonged delays. Automation systems extract invoice data to validate information before matching it against purchase orders. This helps speed up the entire accounts payable workflow.

Automating payment reminders and reconciliation tasks in accounts receivable operations leads to quicker collections and enhanced financial accuracy.

Human resources: Recruitment workflows and onboarding

The recruitment process involves numerous repetitive tasks, including evaluating candidate resumes and scheduling appointments. AI systems can identify the best-matching candidates by processing candidate information and handling communication tasks.

Invisible Technologies collaborated with a North American furniture retailer with 700 locations to optimize recruitment procedures. They struggled with employee retention and their traditional selection system.

The team at Invisible managed candidates’ resumes through automated processes while conducting initial screening calls and organizing job interviews. The solution enabled the pre-screening of 65% of job applicants while saving hiring teams 38% of their work time.

Customer service: Chatbots and automated ticketing systems

The repetitive nature of inquiries becomes a common challenge for customer service departments. Chatbot automation quickly responds to basic customer inquiries while human representatives handle complex matters.

Automated ticketing systems direct incoming requests to the appropriate teams for prompt responses, improving customer satisfaction. These tools enhance customer satisfaction by enabling human agents to handle complex issues needing personal attention.

Supply chain: Automated inventory management and efficient workflows

Order processing and inventory management are time-intensive operations. Automated inventory systems track inventory quantities and initiate new orders when stock reaches specified limits.

Order processing workflows guide the verification procedures and the generation of shipping timetables. These solutions optimize resource allocation and maintain streamlined supply chain management.

Process automation tools can execute individual tasks, but reaching maximum efficiency requires a complete system evaluation. AI-driven process optimization requires organizations to assess workflows and identify delays before implementing tailored innovative solutions. AI insights and automation create a unified system that enhances operational efficiency and scalability.

How AI enhances process automation and optimization

Traditional automation systems work with predefined rules, but they become ineffective with the shift in operational conditions. AI transforms static if-then logic into algorithms that learn and adapt while improving their capabilities over time.

The inflexible nature of traditional RPA tools restricts their operation to predefined scenarios. AI systems address this problem by analyzing complex or unstructured data to inform decisions. Technologies such as computer vision and natural language processing extract meaning from these sources.

How AI process optimization dynamically improves processes over time

AI systems achieve real-time process optimization through dynamic performance monitoring and automatic system responses. Active self-management replaces static execution in automated systems.

The AI system analyzes situations to select appropriate responses and provide instructions on what actions to perform based on learned patterns or rules. AI models improve over time, enabling processes to optimize their operations autonomously without human intervention.

AI-driven process mining tools analyze system logs with user behavior to generate optimization suggestions. This establishes a continuous feedback loop for process enhancement. Here are a few examples showing how AI process optimization improves processes over time.

Predictive analytics in supply chains

AI systems move beyond traditional rules by evaluating historical patterns and behavioral data to predict market demand. AI-powered IBM Watson Supply Chain uses predictive analytics to forecast inventory requirements, delivering actionable insights and preventing both stockouts and overstocking.

AI-Driven RPA

AI-Driven RPA is a transformative application of AI automation. The integration of intelligent process automation with AI and RPA improves efficiency and effectiveness. Companies that combine AI and RPA can uncover previously hidden value and achieve significant efficiency gains.

The intelligent automation market is growing quickly, with projections estimating it will reach $37 billion by 2030. Companies are actively investing in AI-driven automation to drive this growth.

Product data enrichment in retail

Through AI-driven product data enrichment, retailers have transformed their ability to manage and display their product catalogs. The automation of product classification through image and description tagging enables retailers to eliminate time-consuming manual processes that frequently result in errors.

The Big 4 retailer collaborated with Invisible Technologies to revamp over 50,000 inactive stock-keeping units (SKUs) in their product catalog.

Invisible solved this problem by combining generative AI with a trained team of 70 agents. They completed a six-step enrichment process in just 16 days. The generative AI managed the data enrichment steps at an unmatched scale, identifying and flagging records with potential errors.

Through this implementation, the company achieved impressive results. This includes a 49% increase in conversions and a 9 times greater return on investment. The case illustrates how AI-driven product data enrichment enhances retail operations by helping businesses scale their operations while meeting the evolving demands of modern customers.

Benefits of AI-powered automation

AI-powered automation delivers multiple advantages, including:

Speed and throughput: AI eliminates human intervention points, allowing systems to process large data volumes at high speeds. Fujitsu implemented an AI system for sales proposals, resulting in a 67% increase in proposal productivity.
Accuracy and consistency: AI reduces data errors and human judgment mistakes. It detects anomalies, ensures compliance, and delivers more reliable results.
Scalability and flexibility: AI systems offer greater flexibility and scalability than traditional rule-based programming. They support business growth without requiring extensive software reprogramming.
Personalization: AI employs personalized methods to tailor operations to each user or specific situation. AI-driven personalization leads to enhanced experiences combined with better outcomes.

Case studies: Real-world applications of process automation

Process automation is a fundamental operational framework enabling businesses to achieve efficiency improvements and scalability goals. The following case studies discuss how organizations have implemented automation to address operational challenges.

Restaurant onboarding for a delivery platform

A global on-demand delivery company needed to quickly onboard thousands of restaurants during the pandemic. The conventional manual restaurant menu digitization process was time-consuming to remain efficient.

The team at Invisible Technologies built a tailored automated system that transformed the restaurant onboarding process. Their custom-built seven-step system with proprietary Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool accelerated onboarding speed by 233%. The system processes 1.5 million distinct data points monthly, cutting onboarding expenses by 50%.

Streamlining data standardization for Nasdaq

Nasdaq launched a new product that required the integration of extensive, unstructured, and diverse data. This resulted in extended two-month onboarding times and necessitated significant engineering resources.

Invisible Technologies collaborated with Nasdaq to develop a comprehensive integration system facilitating seamless data exchange between various information platforms. The new approach reduced onboarding duration by 63% and freed up 10,000 developer hours. This empowered Nasdaq to provide enhanced proprietary data services to its 400,000+ clients.

Scaling proposal generation to meet growing demand

A solar solutions company experiencing rapid growth required improved proposal creation capabilities to handle rising client volume. The company worked with Invisible Technologies to build Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that detailed cost-saving proposal development.

Through their proprietary software and satellite information, they could forecast sunlight availability to determine energy cost reduction possibilities for homeowners. This initiative decreased the average proposal turnaround time to 25 minutes, while the system produced more than 180 contracts per day within 30 states.

Emerging AI use cases for process automation

Artificial intelligence continues to expand its automation capabilities. Generative AI transforms organizational automation strategies by allowing systems to create content, make decisions, and engage in more intelligent interactions.

These capabilities allow organizations to develop new use cases beyond traditional rule-based workflows. Some of the emerging use cases of AI for process automation are:

Code generation: With tools like GitHub Copilot and OpenAI’s Codex, developers can obtain code snippets, automated documentation, and error debugging capabilities. The combination accelerates software development while reducing IT team responsibilities.
Customer interaction: Generative AI generates dynamic responses that adapt to customer inquiries across various channels, including email, chat, and social media platforms. AI-driven systems that learn from historical data with current interactions dynamically adjust their responses.

AI agents that handle multi-step workflows spanning different departments will shape the future. These autonomous agents execute linear task sequences while adapting to new data inputs and working alongside other agents or human staff members.

A single AI agent collects data, another assesses risk, and a third triggers payment or escalation. The coordinated system can replace fragmented manual workflows through fully autonomous systems that function across sales, finance, customer support, and HR.

How businesses should prepare to leverage these innovations

Businesses must take deliberate steps to maximize benefits from AI-driven process optimization. These include:

Build a strong data infrastructure: AI needs structured and easily accessible data to operate efficiently. Successful AI implementation requires businesses to integrate their data systems into unified platforms. A robust data structure is essential for developing scalable and intelligent automation systems.
Identify high-impact automation opportunities: Not every business process suits AI's application capabilities. AI automation benefits repetitive processes requiring quick decisions or time-consuming data entry. Strategic prioritization helps organizations direct their resources to the most important areas.
Involve the teams who rely on the process: AI tools yield optimal performance when they integrate seamlessly with operational requirements. User input helps teams identify errors that prevent them from implementing flawed automation solutions or skipping vital exceptions.
Partner with enterprise AI experts: Basic automation software manages simple tasks, while advanced AI requires a detailed understanding from experts. Businesses must collaborate with specialists who combine technological expertise with a comprehensive understanding of enterprise operations.

You can create secure solutions and intelligent, customized applications that support your organization's business expansion through these steps.

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AI is changing how businesses approach process automation and optimization. Moving beyond traditional automation, AI-driven systems can learn and adapt, improving operations in ways that are smarter, faster, and more efficient. This allows businesses to enhance accuracy, scalability, and personalization.

However, achieving success with AI isn’t just about implementing the latest technology. It’s about integrating AI in a way that aligns with your specific business needs. This is where partnering with experts becomes invaluable. With deep knowledge in AI process optimization, these experts help businesses unlock the full potential of AI, ensuring operations are continuously optimized and streamlined.

To move beyond manual processes, you need more than just tools. You need a trusted partner with deep knowledge of AI and automation. Invisible can partner with you to transform your workflows and fully embrace AI-driven optimization. Schedule a demo with us to learn how.