Intelligent automation in Asia-Pacific (APAC) is on the rise. Both artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) are gaining significance across key countries in the region, according to the report “Technology Advancements Transforming the Asia-Pacific Intelligent Automation Market, 2020-2024” by ResearchAndMarkets.com.
In this report the industrial automation market is categorized under 2 broad segments – AI and RPA. AI is mainly being used for better decision making and strategic thinking, while RPA is used for repetitive manual processes.
Automation
There is a growing need for automation across different industry verticals owing to the various efficiencies that it offers. APAC has seen major adoption from verticals such as banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics among others. Others such as the government/public sector, retail, and hospitality are also expected to witness growth in the next few years. Within the APAC region, some countries are ahead of others in terms of IA deployment.
Adoption
For instance, China and Singapore are already leading the adoption and are expected to further emerge as global leaders. Singapore is witnessing a strong adoption of IA technology. The APAC region as a whole is expected to emerge as a hub for excellence in automation. The use of AI/machine learning (ML) is more concentrated in Singapore, China, and Japan.
Business efficiency
Enterprises are adopting automation solutions to achieve enhanced business efficiency and better employee engagement. However, they continue to struggle with adopting these solutions owing to the limited availability of budgets, a weak digital transformation strategy, and limited skill sets of employees.
Skills
There is already a high demand for people with RPA and AI skills and enterprises struggle to meet these gaps with the available talent. As the adoption of IA is expected to increase, the skills shortage will continue to pose a challenge.
COVID
With coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) impacting most sectors globally, IA solutions will witness increased adoption in the next 2-3 years. Increased demand could come from enterprises in the BFSI, manufacturing and healthcare sectors.
