Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a business futurist specializing in technology trends including big data, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation (RPA). Patrick is the author of the award-winning book Anarchy, Inc.: Profiting in a Decentralized World with Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain (2018, Authority Publishing) and regularly speaks about job displacement at the hands of automation. He’s a regular speaker for Bloomberg TV and has lectured at various academic institutions including Purdue and Stanford Universities. The impact of accelerating technology on our society is enormous, and it is poised to disrupt existing social structures even more in the future, particularly because it will result in massive structural unemployment. Patrick’s focus on disruptive innovation and exponential technologies provides perspective for attendees and allows them to see both the advantages and disadvantages of increasing automation.
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Expert on Robotic Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers the use of software robotics to do jobs traditionally filled by human workers. RPA doesn’t refer to actual robots. Instead, the label applies to increasingly sophisticated software solutions, combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning, to complete repetitive tasks in a reliable, consistent, and fully-documented fashion. The advantages are enormous. Once the software has been developed, the time-to-market is very short, and it is usually designed to use existing systems and software applications. As a result, existing infrastructure doesn’t need to be modified to accommodate the new processes.
The danger of this, of course, is that the barriers to entry are low, making it easier and easier to replace human workers with software solutions. A study by the Hackett Group found that the number of finance employees per billion in revenue has already decreased by 40% (between 2004 and 2014), so the notion that this job displacement will begin in some distant future is categorically untrue. White collar jobs are being replaced right now! It’s happening today, and it will accelerate even further in the future. Already today, enterprise software solutions (including ERP and CRM providers like Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, Epicor, and BMW Software among others) are incorporating robotic process automation in their standard configurations.
A simple model proposed by Shelton Leigh “Shelly” Palmer suggests that all jobs in our economy can be categorized into either MANUAL or COGNITIVE. Within each bucket, we have REPETITIVE and NON-REPETITIVE tasks. Over time, the repetitive manual jobs will be replaced by robots, and the repetitive cognitive jobs will be replaced by algorithms. Robotic process automation refers to this latter category. Algorithms are replacing white collar repetitive tasks. We can even go further by ordering these tasks in order of complexity. Technology is climbing a ladder of complexity, so it’s logical that the simplest tasks will be replaced first, followed by more complex tasks later. That’s what artificial intelligence is! Computers are starting to handle some incredibly complex tasks.
Robotics Keynote Speech
Patrick builds his keynotes with case histories and success stories from the leading companies (both startups and established enterprises) in the industry, including the following:
- UI Path: Design, deploy and manage robotic workforce in daily operations
- Softomotive: Reliable and scalable RPA technology solutions
- Pegasystems: Cloud-based platform for RPA in ERP and CRM systems
- Kryon Systems: innovative and intelligent RPA for digital transformation
- Kofax: Simplify business operations with RPA technology solutions
- IntelliCog Technologies: End-to-end RPA consulting and outsourcing
- DayThree Business Services: replaces repetitive service processes with software robots
- Blue Prism: Agile and cost-effective RPA of rules-based office admin tasks
- Automation Anywhere: RPA solutions for BPO, IT, Healthcare, Finance, and Insurance
Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a keynote speaker who has spoken at business conferences in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
