Generative AI revolutionised content creation. But AI’s role is expanding beyond chat interfaces. Today, AI agents can flag anomalies, solve problems, inform decisions, and coordinate execution. Think of it as evolving from a large language model to a large action model.
It’s already happening. At IQX Automation, we’re using agentic capabilities to reimagine end-to-end processes and to orchestrate operations on-demand, creating a digital workforce as a true strategic asset.
A great example: I&M Bank in Kenya. Working with their forward-thinking COO, Jamie Loden, we're helping the bank use AI and automation to leapfrog the competition: driving rapid growth while containing costs.
So where do you start?
Know what you want. Set bold business objectives.
It’s critical, in our view, to break the “bottom-feeding” cycle we saw with early RPA adoption, where automation focused on narrow, As-Is tasks. Instead, we recommend structuring your transformation programme around a portfolio with three “buckets”:
1. Run the Business: These projects build foundational efficiency and stability, optimizing current processes to reduce cost and risk. They’re necessary to keep the lights on, but typically focus on the As-Is and offer modest returns.
2. Grow the Business (the big bucket): These projects deliver revenue uplift and customer experience improvements, for example by reimagining onboarding, loan approvals, or service requests. These have a To-Be orientation: e.g. reimagine customer journeys - and deliver the strongest ROI.
3. Innovate the Business: This is your sandpit. It’s a smaller bucket, but successful experiments can deliver disproportionate returns and unforeseen competitive advantage.
Using agentic automation, two core attributes drive successful business transformation:
1. Reimagined business processes
Combine RPA, IDP, and AI agents to guide conversations, extract and structure data, make decisions, execute tasks, and orchestrate workflows. Reducing time, cost, and manual touches is good. Adding intelligence is even better. The goal: synchronise people, bots, and agents to personalise solutions and streamline processes for superior customer experience. This means breaking silos, bridging legacy systems, and ensuring data flows seamlessly from customer engagement to fulfilment.
2. Digital workforce as an enterprise asset
Don’t deploy bots and AI agents as isolated solutions locked within organisational silos. Instead, position the digital workforce as a strategic enterprise asset. Deploy AI agents and digital workers to collaborate seamlessly with people, running processes 24/7 to create an optimal operational cadence, dynamically meeting SLAs and variable demand to deliver super-productivity and operational agility.
Of course, security is paramount. Agentic automation must include robust access controls, encryption, and built-in compliance safeguards to ensure consistent, trustworthy operation at scale. For example, UiPath's agentic automation logs every action, making it explainable and auditable.
But there’s more. Agentic automation should empower people. The most important enabler is human leadership. Leaders set direction, define tasks, ensure guardrails, oversee execution, and take accountability. People make the big, complex decisions - even when advised by AI - and they’re the ones who face customers, regulators, stakeholders, and their own teams.
If you’re exploring agentic automation - or wrestling with where to start - let’s connect. I’d love to compare notes, share lessons, and help move the conversation forward.
