Digital Innovation
F
ar from sitting in an ivory
tower, surrounded by
cyborgs and contemplating
the future of an automated
w o r k pl a ce, A n d re w
Wayland, Alexander Mann Solutions’
director of technology and business
intelligence, is responsible for all the
underlying tech that supports the
company – from phones to instant
messaging and conferencing. He then
puts on his ‘business intelligence hat’
to deliver reporting and talent analytics
to clients.
Only when these elements are
fulfilled can he indulge in helping to
facilitate the rise of robots: “If those bits
aren’t working, I have no credibility on
the other stuff,” he admits.
In this Q&A, he contemplates the
tech that is transforming the workplace
and is simultaneously celebrated for its
ability to remove the tedium of simple,
repetitive tasks from our daily ‘to do’
list, and feared for its potential to
render humans obsolete.
Could you begin by defining
artificial intelligence (AI)
and robotics?
People bundle them together but they
are two distinct things. AI is a tool we
use with large volumes of data to look
for patterns – for example, in CVs – and
link outcomes to situations.
Robots are macro-driven. You
write a piece of code, a flow chart or
process diagram, and the robot follows
it blindly. It allows you to automate
human processes. The robot can
control applications like a person can:
it can send an email, put an entry in a
diary, log into a system, enter data. It
works at about 15 times the speed of a
person because it operates 24/7, takes
no breaks and doesn’t need to pause
between tasks.
But it has limitations: people
assume the robot’s going to learn or
that it works with some kind of neural
network, which isn’t the case. It only
sees what’s on screen, and the data it
has to work with; it can’t work within
the context around it. Typically, the
robot will bridge two different systems,
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where you’re entering data into
one and then the same data into
another, or for really repetitive tasks.
Why is it relevant to
talent acquisition?
Ultimately, this tech allows us to create
a compelling candidate experience,
because speed of delivery, accuracy
and execution are key. There’s also
an efficiency piece, but the end
user experience is much better. For
recruiting teams, it will mean they get
to do more of what they are good at;
their USP will be more pronounced.
In recruitment, you deal with lots of
“This tech allows
us to create a compelling
candidate experience”
different types of document and you’re
following processes. Plenty of people
within the talent acquisition space are
looking at where they can outsource;
how to deliver efficiencies.
Many have moved towards an
outsourcing model and that includes
offshoring, but there’s an opportunity
for those who haven’t to move to an
automated solution instead. That is even
more efficient and raises the quality of
the experience further still.
Are bots beneficial
to candidates?
There’s value in dealing with a robot:
you get an immediate response and
useful information, not just a fobbing
off. The bot acts instantaneously.
We have to create compelling
interactions so that it feels better to
do that than to make a phone call to a
human in order to get service. It’s a bit
like when you use a really well-designed
mobile phone; we’ve got to emulate
consumer experience. I think you
should disclose that it’s a bot, though,
people can tell.