In this episode, Markus sits down with Michael Heric, Senior Partner at Bain & Company and leader of Bain’s global automation capabilities, to explore how enterprise automation has evolved from traditional RPA to the era of Generative AI and intelligent agents. With 25 years of industry insight, Michael shares a compelling roadmap for leveraging automation at scale, drawing from real-world client experiences and internal Bain initiatives. From the early challenges of BPR to the promises and pitfalls of AI adoption today, this episode offers a grounded, strategic perspective for enterprise leaders navigating digital transformation. Timestamps00:00 Episode Start02:45 History of workplace automation06:00 Finding the right tool at the right time13:35 Change management at scale16:15 Who ends up implementing these new toolsets?18:20 Challenges and success stories from real organizations21:45 Getting ROI by learning from the past24:10 Some underrated use cases for LLMs26:50 Putting trust in GenAI toolsets29:20 Are organizations ready from a data perspective?32:45 Adapting at the same rate the world is changing40:05 Leveraging AI to create better products 44:20 Conclusion and final thoughtsEpisode Key TakeawaysThe opportunity still exists in the back office: Despite clear value potential, finance, HR, and legal remain under-automated due to data, trust, and auditability concerns. These areas are poised for transformation with the right approach.Success depends on sticking with it: Many organizations fail not because their data or ideas were worse, but because they gave up too early. The companies winning with AI are the ones that iterate and persevere.Apply innovation where you have gaps: Don’t waste generative AI on processes that already work with existing automation. Focus on "white space" opportunities—areas where older tools failed or never reached.Use the right tool for the job: Traditional automation (like RPA) still delivers value in structured, rule-based tasks, while AI agents excel in dynamic, ambiguous environments like customer service and sales.Top Quote"Doing business process redesign, even doing some of these large ERP implementations…the world is moving so fast, these business processes are changing. By the time you’re done with the redesign, the world’s already moved past it. So you're constantly multiple steps behind. And I think now we're finally getting to a spot where technology can be flexible enough to adapt at the same rate the world is changing." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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