It doesn’t take long today to come across headlines focusing on the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation and its potential impact on jobs in the finance industry. In fact, a study from McKinsey finds that by 2030, up to an estimated 800 million jobs could be lost worldwide to automation, with data-centric roles like accounting being the most susceptible. Technology is introducing new tensions as well as opportunities for the finance industry to transform the way business is done.

While the industry navigates through disruption, I believe there is a way to strike a balance between adopting innovation and maintaining a human approach to doing business. Rather than resisting technological change, companies can control how they respond and take advantage of it in a way that doesn’t lose sight of the customer. For companies that are unsure of how to approach these changes without risking customer backlash, there are several things to consider to ensure these values coexist. 

Use tech to improve human relationships.

Today, companies need to evaluate how they can adopt technological innovations, while ensuring that doing so is in the name of solving real human problems. Making a conscious choice to balance the promise of technology with human benefits also allows organizations to take a more strategic approach to running a business. For instance, customer service is seen as a key area of focus for many companies in financial services. Adobe’s 2018 Digital Trends in Financial Services report found that 36% of those surveyed in the financial services and insurance sectors said customer experience is the main way they’ll differentiate from competitors over the next five years.

The importance of customer service to financial organizations shows exactly how the human-technology balance can help you come out ahead. Take the example of customer service agents using AI and machine learning to respond to customer requests. These technologies can allow them to quickly identify customer needs and spend more time solving problems and maintaining a human touch. Before these technologies were created, many agents struggled with the volume of requests or understanding issues at hand and lost critical time addressing this instead of customer concerns. By enhancing the human elements with their customers through technology, companies can strategically approach areas that impact their bottom line.

Refocus on becoming people-centric.

While many businesses consider themselves customer-centric, I challenge them to become people-centric. This means putting people first — including not just your customers, but employees — and placing them at the heart of your company’s mission and strategy. When people are placed at the center of your organization, adopting innovations will always focus on solving real human problems. 

This is the approach my company takes as it delivers accounting industry technology, while partnering with accountants. Accounting is often viewed as an industry that will lose jobs due to advances in AI and machine learning. And while new technology is changing the way accountants work, these developments are also evolving the role of accountants and providing new opportunities for them and their clients to thrive. This is the true power of “human technology” — taking advantage of the latest technological advances, while still prioritizing the unique things that only human interactions can deliver. 

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Find ways for tech to complement what you do.

When faced with disruption, technology does not have to be the only solution — instead, organizations should uncover ways that tech complements what humans do. James Bessen outlines a clear example of this in his book “Learning by Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth.” In the mid-1990s, when ATMs started becoming widespread in the United States, many people assumed this would be the end of the bank teller job. However, Bessen shows that was far from the case. Even though people could use ATMs to deposit a check or withdraw cash without the help of a human, the number of teller jobs actually increased. 

Bessen explains that the rise of ATMs cut the average number of bank tellers from about 21 down to 13 per branch, so it became cheaper to operate a branch and open up more of them. Soon after, the demand for bank tellers increased, signaling how this labor-saving technology was actually creating more jobs. Aside from banking, this has happened across other industries — including the rise of e-discovery software in the legal profession and scanning technology in grocery store cash registers — where new technology comes in and seemingly threatens the human aspect in these jobs. However, it’s far from the case, and these examples show that technology can, in fact, enrich the human elements, which is especially relevant in today’s age of AI and machine learning. 

Advances in technology will continue to rewrite the rules for how business is done across all industries. Faced with these changes, companies should choose to champion their people and strike a balance between the human and technology elements that will let their business flourish in new ways.  

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2019/05/22/find-the-human-technology-balance-to-champion-your-customers/