What Is AI Automation? A Guide for Modern Teams

Operational efficiency and continuous innovation are essential for modern businesses. That’s why more and more organizations are turning to AI and automation technologies to handle routine tasks and streamline workflows — cost-effectively and without errors. In fact, Slack Workforce Lab research found that executives are all in on AI, with 99% saying they would invest in AI in 2024, and 97% saying they feel some level of urgency to incorporate AI into business operations.

But what is AI automation, and how businesses are using it? Let’s explore AI automation and how you can implement it to benefit your business.

What is AI automation?

AI and automation are today’s business buzzwords. It’s nearly impossible to open your inbox, sit through a company meeting, or scroll your news feed without seeing someone’s take on this hot topic. But what exactly is AI automation?

Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, AI and automation are two distinct things with different business applications:

• AI refers to artificial intelligence: systems and machines that mimic human intelligence. AI can learn from data, recognize patterns, make decisions, and improve its output over time.
• Automation uses technology to perform specific, routine tasks that require minimal human intervention. This type of technology often follows predefined rules and workflows to carry out tasks.

AI automation combines these two technologies to not only complete tasks, but to also adapt, optimize, and make decisions in real time. In the workplace, teams can offload tedious, repetitive work to AI automation, allowing humans to focus on creative, high-value, and strategic activities that move work forward.

AI automation can be used across business operations. From data analysis to decision-making processes to customer interactions, it’s reshaping the way many organizations approach work.

Preparing for AI automation: What you need to know

While AI automation can potentially transform your organization, finding the right tools is critical.

Before implementing new tools, evaluate your current tech stack to understand how AI automation could fit in. Can your existing system integrate with automation technology? For example, if your organization relies on legacy systems, it may need upgrades or replacements to effectively implement and support AI and automation.

Start by defining your current needs, goals, and potential limitations to avoid inefficiencies or costly rework during implementation.

The importance of data

The right tools are crucial for AI automation success. But tools on their own are not enough. You also need good data.

Well-organized, high-quality data helps AI systems make effective decisions, find patterns, and deliver reliable and successful outcomes. Using AI and automation without clean data will produce flawed and ineffective results.

Many leaders struggle with this issue while implementing AI automation. A recent Capital One survey found that 87% of business leaders believed they were ready to deploy AI at scale, but 70% of technical practitioners reported spending hours daily fixing data issues. Even if you have clean and available data, you may have to improve it to see the best results. Prioritize data readiness when you prepare for AI automation. Ensure your data is diverse, accurate, and securely stored to tap AI’s full potential.

A step-by-step beginner’s guide to implementing AI automation

Implementing AI automation at your organization can be intimidating. Concerns about investment, integration, and potential disruptions are common. But a strategic approach that includes thorough planning, employee training, and a focus on slow, sustainable changes can effectively address these challenges.

Step 1: Identify areas that need AI

Not all AI technology will suit your business. Choose tools that will directly address your organizational goals and challenges. Say you need to streamline operational processes. You should focus on workflow automation tools that are specifically designed to automate repetitive tasks and improve operational efficiency. For example, Slack’s AI-powered Workflow Builder lets teams instantly create time-saving workflows by typing a command for Slack AI to build out the steps.

Identify the bottlenecks in your current processes and workflows to determine where AI can best serve your organization. Look for tasks or processes that are time-consuming, tedious, or prone to errors. Pinpoint where inefficiencies in your organization lead to wasted resources or delays. Some examples include manual data entry, slow approval processes, or customer service backlogs.

Step 2: Find the right AI tools

When choosing the right tools, scalability, flexibility, and seamless integration with your existing tech stack are crucial. These factors affect how easy the tools are to implement and how capable they are of growing with your organization. 

Just as important is usability. Your chosen tools should be intuitive and easy for your team to adopt. But you should be ready to provide training and guidance as needed, so make sure your solution provides ongoing support such as Help Centers for FAQs and tutorials.

Also, consider your future company growth. The right tools will scale in size and across teams and departments, helping you unify your organization’s approach to automation. Consider a solution with customizable AI agents that can help you scale operations and support your team and customers with specific workflows and tasks. For example, when you use Agentforce in Slack, custom agents can execute prebuilt workflows to automate business processes for a variety of tasks and industries, effectively becoming digital members of your team.

Step 3: Integrate AI systems

While you might be eager to implement tools that could transform your organization, a gradual rollout is often the most effective approach. Integrating tools in one department, workflow, or process lets you get valuable feedback from initial users to refine and scale your efforts.

Ensure that your chosen tools fit well with your current day-to-day. This is a critical point that many companies miss. One recent survey by Boston Consulting Group found that about 70% of challenges with scaling AI are due to people- and process-related issues. By starting small, you can ensure that AI affects your organization positively without causing unnecessary disruptions. Test how well AI integrates with your existing workflows, measure its effectiveness, and gather input from users before expanding.

Step 4: Train team members

The right training will ensure your employees have the knowledge they need to use new tools effectively and feel confident in the transition. AI tools with intuitive interfaces and built-in guidance features can help you reduce the learning curve. For example, Slack’s Workflow Builder allows employees to automate tasks without advanced technical skills. Intuitive tools empower your team to use AI automation immediately without being overwhelmed by complexity.

Hands-on and role-specific training can help you demonstrate how AI automation will streamline various day-to-day tasks. When training employees, emphasize the “why” behind AI, and highlight the direct benefits they’ll experience, like improved productivity and less repetitive work.

Many employees hesitate to use AI because they worry about job security. In fact, EY research found that 65% of U.S. employees said they were uneasy about AI replacing their roles. Framing AI automation as collaborative intelligence that enhances work and frees people to be more creative and innovative can help address job security concerns.

Step 5: Monitor and optimize

Establish clear metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you track AI automation performance. Your KPIs must align with your initial goals and objectives for implementing AI automation, such as cost reduction, reduced error rates, time savings, or improved customer satisfaction scores. Dashboards and reports can help you regularly monitor KPIs to assess the effectiveness of your new tools and processes. Reach out to the teams that use these tools to understand their feelings about them as well.

AI models may need to be retrained or fine-tuned over time to maintain accuracy and relevance. Optimize algorithms to ensure that they continue to be effective and enhance efficiency. Also, your business will likely change over time. Adapt your AI tools to evolve with your business processes, customer needs, and market conditions.

Applications of AI automation across industries

AI automation is not limited to a single industry or function. Across sectors, automation helps streamline business workflows, enhance decision-making, and improve the customer experience. It provides adaptability that makes it valuable for solving challenges in diverse fields. Here are just a few examples of what it can accomplish.

Increased productivity for manufacturing companies

Manufacturing has always relied on the latest technology to streamline operations and serve as many customers as possible. A popular luxury car manufacturer showcases this by embracing AI in its factories, integrating AI-managed robots to streamline operations alongside humans. The company saves about $1 million annually by automating routine and repetitive tasks, allowing its workforce to take on more complex and creative challenges.

Smaller-scale companies can also benefit from AI automation. For example, an operations manager at a bike manufacturing company uses Slack’s AI search to surface information and context. With AI automation integrated into its manufacturing processes, the company has improved its ability to promptly deliver custom-made bikes to customers.

Enhanced customer care for service teams

By seamlessly integrating AI automation into your organization, you can reduce workloads for routine tasks and give time back to employees to focus on complex issues. This not only contributes to less burnout, but it also helps drive a better customer experience and meaningful business outcomes.

One financial technology startup uses Slack’s automation tools to respond to customers quickly and effectively, taking its service to the next level. Even social media mentions are automatically flagged in Slack, helping customer service teams respond promptly to customers and resolve issues as they arise.

Better patient outcomes for healthcare providers

AI is not only transforming business operations, but also patients’ lives and medical outcomes.

One large clinic spent the past few years using AI to make medical breakthroughs and improve patient outcomes. Most recently, its physicians started using AI algorithms to detect pancreatic cancer up to a year before patients even experienced symptoms, dramatically improving outcomes.

Patient care has also gotten better with automation. A multi-specialty physician group uses automated workflows and Slack AI to streamline the patient journey and eliminate time-consuming administrative tasks for doctors. This gives them time back to devote to crucial patient care. Plus, the company saved over $1 million in administrative costs since implementing AI and automation.

Operational efficiency for financial institutions

AI transforms how banks and other financial entities approach risk management, operational efficiency, and more. 

A major U.S. bank also uses Slack’s automation tools to enhance data security and operational efficiency. By implementing automated workflows, the organization improved data security protocols and streamlined internal processes, leading to a more secure and efficient work environment.

The future of business with AI automation

AI-powered automation is helping organizations reach new heights for efficiency and productivity. It’s also enabling long-term growth and scalability by streamlining processes and providing support for teams juggling high caseloads and administrative work. By identifying where AI automation can best serve your team and customers and steadily implementing it across your organization, you can stay agile while achieving more strategic goals.

Learn how to elevate your team’s productivity with Slack AI.