TL;DR
Avid Solutions, an R&D firm, used IBM watsonx Orchestrate to automate repetitive HR and operations work like onboarding, expense reporting, and recruitment messaging. Orchestrate learns task sequences and saves them as reusable "skill flows" across apps like Workday, SAP, and Outlook. The result: a 10% drop in project-management errors and a 25% cut in customer onboarding time, plus happier employees freed from busywork.
A recent survey revealed that up to 90% of employees are often overburdened with repetitive and unproductive tasks. Avid Solutions, a prominent research and development firm, encountered a similar issue. They sought an innovative solution to enhance efficiency and accuracy in their HR processes, aiming to boost employee satisfaction.
Addressing the primary recruitment challenge, CEO Malcolm Adams noted:
To tackle these challenges, Avid Solutions developed a strategy with clear objectives to improve their HR operations:
- Easing operational burdens in HR processes.
- Reducing overall errors.
- Increasing efficiency and accuracy in customer onboarding, expense reporting, project management, and more.
They chose to implement IBM Watsonx Orchestrate, a tool that can "learn" skills, create skill flows, and interact meaningfully with users. This decision proved successful for Avid Solutions, leading to a 10% reduction in project management errors and a 25% decrease in onboarding time.
IBM watsonx Orchestrate as a solution
The team at Avid Solutions leveraged IBM watsonx Orchestrate to automate repetitive tasks typically assigned to customer service representatives, accountants, and project managers.
Using a conversational interface, IBM watsonx Orchestrate assists users with mundane tasks, such as sending emails, drafting job descriptions, entering data, and sending initial recruitment messages. It classifies these tasks as skills, which HR employees usually perform using multiple apps like LinkedIn, Workday, SAP, Asana, and Outlook.
The tool learns the sequence in which users typically complete these skills and saves the sequence as a “skill flow.” For instance, it might recognize that a user usually “identifies opportunities,” “crafts an email,” and “sends the email.” It then provides auto-suggestions for these saved skills and skill flows, saving time. Users can edit the output at every stage and give final approval.With these features, IBM watsonx Orchestrate enabled Avid Solutions to achieve its HR objectives.
What was the outcome?
- Increased Efficiency and Accuracy - IBM watsonx Orchestrate helped Avid Solutions reduce project management errors by 10% and cut new customer onboarding time by 25%, allowing HR employees to focus on more meaningful tasks and business expansion.
- Enhanced Employee and Customer Satisfaction - The company saw an increase of 10% in customer satisfaction and overall employee happiness. Customer onboarding processes became streamlined, and employees were relieved from repetitive tasks with a reduction of 5% in employee turnover.
Speaking about this transformation, Adams states:
What organizations should know when implementing a similar tool
While IBM watsonx Orchestrate has been largely successful for Avid Solutions, adopting AI in the workplace can present initial challenges which companies should be aware of:
- Initial Problems with Assimilation - Getting accustomed to an AI tool can be a challenge for those who are used to manual processes. A study by EY revealed that about 71% of employees are concerned about adapting to AI, with 48% more concerned than a year ago. Companies must prepare their workforce for this transition.
- Training Data is Everything - AI relies heavily on training data to understand and mimic business processes. Problems with training data can lead to errors in the tool’s performance and companies must ensure that the training data is accurate. However, getting access to this information might not always be possible. For example, in Orchestrate’s case, the sequence of HR business processes in the training data determines the sequence of skills in the “skill flows” that the tool creates. Companies implementing a similar tool would need to ensure that the training data fed to it is accurate.
- Integrations with the Existing Ecosystem - Using an AI tool effectively requires training. For instance, IBM watsonx Orchestrate performs tasks through other purpose-specific apps like Outlook for emails or SAP for attendance data. HR employee must know how to integrate their existing apps with the AI tool to utilize it successfully.
IBM watsonx Orchestrate has proven effective for Avid Solutions by reducing errors, increasing workplace productivity, and ensuring consumer and employee satisfaction. However, companies must ensure their HR employees are proficient with the tasks they want to automate and help them integrate AI tools seamlessly with other apps.
We look forward to seeing how HR professionals assimilate with IBM watsonx Orchestrate and AI in general.
Let us know your thoughts!
Frequently Asked Questions
What measurable results did Avid Solutions get from IBM watsonx Orchestrate?
Avid Solutions reduced project management errors by 10% and cut new customer onboarding time by 25% after deploying watsonx Orchestrate. Per IBM's case study, those two figures are the achieved outcomes, while a 10% lift in customer satisfaction and a 5% drop in employee turnover were stated as longer-term goals rather than confirmed results.
What is a "skill flow" in IBM watsonx Orchestrate?
A skill flow is a saved sequence of individual tasks (skills) that Orchestrate learns by watching how a user normally works. For example, it might chain "identify opportunity," "draft email," and "send email" into one reusable flow, then auto-suggest it later. Users can edit the output at every stage and give final approval, so a human stays in the loop.
Which apps does watsonx Orchestrate connect to for HR tasks?
Orchestrate runs its tasks through the purpose-built tools HR teams already use, including LinkedIn, Workday, SAP, Asana, and Outlook. It doesn't replace those apps; it coordinates across them via a conversational interface. That means your team still needs to know how to integrate their existing stack with the AI tool for it to work.
Why are employees nervous about adopting AI tools like this?
Switching from manual processes to an AI assistant is a real behavior change, and the data shows the unease is widespread. EY's AI Anxiety in Business Survey found 71% of US employees are concerned about AI, with 48% saying they're more concerned than they were a year ago. Companies need to prepare and train their workforce before rolling a tool like Orchestrate out.
What's the biggest risk when implementing a tool like watsonx Orchestrate?
Bad training data. Orchestrate mirrors your existing business processes, so the sequence of steps it learns is only as good as the data it's fed. If that data is inaccurate or incomplete, the skill flows it builds will be too. Companies should also confirm employees are genuinely proficient at the tasks they want to automate before handing them to an AI.
