| | NOVEMBER 20208CIOReviewLike any company, people are at the core of who HSBC is and what we do. That's why we're always looking for new technology to help us and our clients do more, better and faster. For most banks, that's typically meant creating front-end, easy-to-use digital product solutions. While these projects are still critical, HSBC is turning its attention to the back office as well ­ looking for innovations that provide frictionless servicing and zero contact resolutions which also minimize the risk of errors.In the past, improving client service often focused on adding more people or bringing in new platforms. The end result, however, can be an increase in the overall cost of servicing without a significant ROI or meaningful impact on how the client operates. For one thing, teams can become more bureaucratic and less efficient over time as they continue to grow and as end-to-end processes are shared more widely across multiple business units. When targeting large new platforms, long rollouts and integration challenges make it rare for these projects to deliver on their promises in the expected timeframe. They can also often miss the mark in terms of intended effect to the overall client experience. Emerging technologies, such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), are changing that. RPA can improve back office efficiency quickly and cost-effectively by automating manual, repetitive and error-prone processes. Once RPA is in place, outcomes can be further enriched with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as application programming interface (API) software. The question for many is where to start with technologies like RPA. Following is a synopsis of HSBC's approach and what we've learned along the way.DEMYSTIFYING THE ROLE OF RPARobotics is an intimidating term for many people. Employees assume right away they will be replaced by robots and clients might feel they will lose the human touch to service. At HSBC, we look at it through a different lens. We use RPA to augment the work we do by putting the `bot' in the middle of a process. The bot takes on monotonous day-to-day tasks that don't add value to client interactions and relationships ­ freeing staff up to manage exceptions, focus on more in-depth analysis or work more closely with clients.CONSIDER CLIENT AND EMPLOYEE IMPACT FIRSTHSBC's client-centric business model means everything we do must have a positive impact on our clients. It's equally important that the effect is a positive one for the immediate team as well as all of HSBC's global colleagues. That's why we started with the people who know our clients best and have the deepest understanding of how our processes work.The first step in our transformation journey was to understand the key process "pain points" in our service teams. To do that, our employees came together to share their experiences and bring opportunities to the forefront, looking at solutioning across processes. Our goal was not By Drew Douglas, Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC North AmericaROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION ­ OVERCOMING CHALLENGES TO ADD DAY-TO-DAY VALUEDrew DouglasIN MY OPINION
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