Teaming Humans with Bots – Workplace strategy for the Future

  • Teaming Humans
    with Bots
    Workplace strategy
    for the Future

Teaming Humans with Bots – Workplace strategy for the Future

by Rajhans Gupta and Nikita Mapari

“Robotgeddon” has become an awfully popular expression nowadays. The term was put together from the word “robot” and “Armageddon.” Could AI really replace humans? Let’s investigate a bit.

We are living in the golden age of digitalization: in the past few years, many new technologies have emerged. Two significant ones are artificial intelligence and automation. These rapidly developing fields have an effect on almost every area of business. If businesses want to work efficiently and successfully, they have no other choice but become better at AI and automation.

Automation or Artificial Intelligence

Automation means that a software (bot) does an activity automatically which could otherwise be done by using actual manpower. This is also the field where robotics is most useful. A machine that had been set up appropriately is able to do the task it has been programmed to do. Thanks to automation, you can put an end to boring and repetitive activities, which can easily and perfectly be done by a machine instead. The most important areas where automation is used are manufacturing, online marketing and sales processes.

Artificial Intelligence

AI is no different than a set of computers and automated software's that normally require human cognitive functions (e.g. the ability to learn). You can see that there are similarities between the two technologies, but there is a significant difference too: while AI is able to learn and apply the things it had learned in practice, automation can only perform those monotone tasks that it had been programmed to do. The most important companies to consider when talking about artificial intelligence are Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.

Productivity Fluctuation: Robots Vs Humans

Creating a balanced and even workflow will optimize productivity for robots – in the same way as it does for human workers. Surely robots don’t get tired, can work 24/7, are fully skilled at what they are programmed to do, and don’t have any pesky motivational issues – so must their productivity always be consistently high?

For a bot or human, productivity is best measured as a ratio of output: input. How much work did we get out for the amount of time we put in? For this to make sense we generally convert time into “capacity to do work” based on some idea of how much work could be done in a given time.

So, if Person A completes 75 tasks in a day and they had the capacity to complete 100 then their productivity was 75%. Similarly, if Robot B completes 500 tasks in a day and had the capacity to do 1,000 then their productivity would be 50%. As we begin to increase our investment in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI: the productivity of this (potentially) cheaper processing resource will matter – if not so much now then certainly when everyone is employing RPA to do similar tasks within the same services.”

But why would Robot B only do 500 tasks? They wouldn’t dawdle because they didn’t like their boss. They wouldn’t spend hours on social media, and they would surely only be allocated tasks that they were 100% capable of processing. Maybe Robot B could only process 500 tasks because there were only 500 available to be done. The plain fact of the matter is that with humans and robotics increasingly working alongside one another in service operations a blended and balanced approach needs to be taken on the issue of productivity.

Working Together

When thinking about smart machines or robots entering many domains of our lives, several visions come to mind: robots taking over the world, jobs disappearing, and machines running amok and reproducing themselves. But a look at what’s being developed today, and the potential of these new powerful machines, yields an optimistic view of the future.

Despite generations of new technologies, we’re now working more rather than less. Adult male peasants in the 13th century in the United Kingdom worked an average of 1,600 hours a year; a manufacturing worker in the United Kingdom in 1990 worked 1,850 hours; an investment banker in New York today works close to 5,000 hours. There hasn’t yet been a technology that has resulted in our working less.

This is because machines don’t just replace what we do, they change the nature of what we do: by extending our capabilities, they set new expectations for what’s possible and create new performance standards and needs.

So will robots take our jobs?

You’ve got no reason to worry though. An article from Forbes sums up beautifully the biggest paradox that comes to mind in connection with automation and AI. It is a generally accepted view that a software can do a human job more efficiently and with a smaller chance of errors than an actual human being. If you want to apply this theory to all aspects of life, then that means that robots are actually better at educating people and raising children, too. And the paradox is right there: if humans do have to compete with such smart machines, then there are also machines among these which educate and train humans to be better and to take advantage of their qualities (and these people will continue to build robots and make them even better so that the robots can further educate them, and so on). This way, it is already not so easy to imagine that robots will take jobs, right?

To Sum It Up

Amateurs armed with good strategies and harnessing the computational power of machines turned out to be the winning combination! That’s the best metaphor for the evolving new machine-human partnership: with smart machines as our partners, we can operate at the level of grandmasters, not just in chess but in most domains of our lives, from science and medicine to gaming and commerce.

The combination of humans partnering with bots and using superior strategies opens up new worlds for exploration. The thought of robots taking over the world one day and people losing their jobs, there is no reason to worry about such things. Automation and artificial intelligence are rather a blessing than a curse – they actually don’t take jobs from people but complement them.

About the Author

The authors, Rajhans and Nikita work with Tangentia India Technologies and are based out of our Goa and Pune operations in India respectively.

Tangentia is an implementation expert in AI,RPA & Automation solutions & has partnerships with UiPath, Automation AnywhereBlueprism.

To learn more about Automation & what Tangentia can do for you please follow this link .

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Interested in Automation but don’t know where to start? Looking for a reliable Automation reseller with the best possible pricing? Looking for somebody to help maintain, support and enhance your existing bots? Or just want to say hello? Contact us now. We promise a human will answer your query, not a bot.
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Cycloides Inc Canada closes strategic funding round led by Tangentia Ventures.

Cycloides Inc Canada closes strategic funding round led by Tangentia Ventures.

Cycloides Inc Canada today announced the closure of a Strategic Funding round led by Canada based Tangentia Ventures Limited. This partnership aims to accelerate growth for Cycloides Inc and Tangentia in the technology Consulting and R & D verticals. “What Anil and team have created in five years is really impressive,” says Vijay Thomas, CEO of Tangentia- “This partnership will create a very productive and unique eco-system where one organization complement’s the other in technology, growth, and strategy. This is a huge step for both Tangentia and Cycloides”, he added. “We are positioning to launch ourselves to other niche verticals and Tangentia Ventures would be an ideal partner for us to scale our business globally”- remarked Anil A R, Cycloides Inc. Technology Consulting and Digital Transformation are the major focuses of Cycloides Inc. They have developed state of the art solutions for enterprises across the world. Many of the Cycloides’ R&D projects are changing the way we live.

About Cycloides

Cycloides is now one of the fastest-growing and technologically proficient Technology Consulting Companies in Canada. With their global Excellence Delivery Centres in India as its backbone, Cycloides have been able to deliver projects with unparalleled quality and reliability. With their headquarters in Toronto Canada, Cycloides has two global Delivery Centres in Thiruvananthapuram India, one of the best Technology eco-centers in the country. They also have a presence in four other technology and business hubs around the world- Vancouver, New York, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

About Tangentia

Tangentia is a leading global boutique digital transformation firm with a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that can bridge the most challenging technology gaps while creating significant cost efficiencies and competitive advantage across an organization and its supply chain. Tangentia is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in New York, USA, and Goa, India. Tangentia made the 2018 GROWTH 500 list with five-year revenue growth of 586% for the 6th year in a row. This achievement reflects the consistently high growth rate that Tangentia has been able to achieve over the almost 15 years of its existence since its inception in Toronto in 2003. Tangentia America was also on the INC 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the USA in 2018. Tangentia business divisions include Tangentia AI which provides AI, RPA and Blockchain solutions, Tangentia B2B provides EDI, Ecommerce, Data Sync, and PIM solutions and Tangentia Consulting provides Salesforce & IBM consulting, Mobile and Application Development. Tangentia provides these solutions to multiple industries like Banking & Financial Services & Insurance(BFSI), Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Telecom, Healthcare and Government.

Tangentia moves to Toronto Waterfront, fastest growing global tech hub

  • Tangentia moves to Toronto Waterfront,
    the fastest growing global tech hub

In the last few years here at Tangentia, we have experienced tremendous growth as a Global Boutique Digital Transformation company. We have outgrown our offices in Toronto twice and are now moving to the beautiful new building, 130 Queens Quay. With many customers in the downtown area, it made sense that our new office be closer to them.

We will be in good company as Microsoft, Google and Facebook will all have offices in and around the area. The Sidewalk Lab (Google City) will also be in the neighbourhood. It’s great to be right in the heart of the action. “When customers and partners visit our office we want them to feel comfortable, confident and calm. We feel this move says we mean business.” say Vijay Thomas, CEO of Tangentia.

For many years, we have been doing a lot of work in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). With many business rethinking how they optimize business processes, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects have been continuing to gain traction and are expected to only increase in demand.

Did you know that according to HFS, the RPA market is expected to be $4.8 billion USD in 2022 and according to IDC, the AI market will be $77.6 billion in 2022. This means lots of opportunities for everyone and a transformational shift for business and the future of work.In the next few weeks, we plan to host a customer appreciation event to thank and acknowledge those who have helped make our growth possible. So stay tuned.

One of my favourite aspects of our new office is the rooftop terrace which will be a must-see when customers and partners visit our office. It is without a doubt the best view in the building as it overlooks Sugar Beach and a sprawling Lake Ontario.

When it’s time for lunch, St. Lawrence Market is a 5 minute walk up the street. There are so many great food choices that it will be hard to pick a favourite. Come and join us for lunch and help us decide where to eat next.

Our new office is more accessible, as it is just a 10-minute walk from Union Subway Station. In the short time we’ve been here, I have seen some great patios along the lake and a vibrant community of businesses and creative enterprises. Here is a photo from right outside Union Station .

Recently, we had a traditional Earthen Lamp prayer ceremony to bless our office with good fortune. Part of the ceremony also involved smashing a coconut against the ground, which proved to be more difficult than originally thought. Here is a photo from the celebration.

At the moment, we are putting the final touches on the office. Stay tuned for an invitation to join us for the official grand opening. While your anticipation builds, please feel free to check out our Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) updates.

If you need a great team to deliver your RPA or AI projects on-time and on-budget, look no further than Tangentia, the leader in Global Boutique Digital Transformation.

Get Started today

Interested in Automation but don’t know where to start? Looking for a reliable Automation reseller with the best possible pricing? Looking for somebody to help maintain, support and enhance your existing bots? Or just want to say hello? Contact us now. We promise a human will answer your query, not a bot.
Contact Us