Unlocking peak performance: maximizing workplace potential with AI

High-performing, growth-driven organizations have several traits in common. While many pundits and strategists have weighed in on this topic with slight differences, the consensus is that growth-minded companies have a strong leadership culture with a clear vision, employee engagement, adaptability to respond quickly to changes, alignment of ambitious goals and costs, and a focus on innovation.

Let’s take these overarching strategies and dive into practical applications for achieving employees’ full potential and workplace experience. To maximize the potential, businesses of all sizes must embrace AI in the workplace. Research shows that AI-powered workplaces outperform their counterparts with “1.5 times higher revenue growth, 1.6 times greater shareholder returns, and 1.4 times higher returns on invested capital.” ¹

An AI-powered workplace integrates process automation with AI to streamline repetitive tasks and workflows. In turn, organizations have actionable information, which improves decision-making based on data-driven insights. This creates an environment with operational efficiency, where employees are more strategically focused, creative and productive — paving the path to becoming a growth-centric company.

Applying process automation with AI solutions starts with good, clean, structured data, which will feed into your business systems company-wide. While it may sound simple, many organizations still struggle with transforming their trapped unstructured data into actionable, searchable, structured data. Advanced capture or intelligent document processing solutions are the foundations for all process automation and AI-powered workplaces.

AI document capture and management solutions will minimize manual data entry and manual processes to increase accuracy, productivity and operational efficiency. The technology provides the foundation for creating better customer experiences and higher growth rates.

From this point, interoperability will be key for automated workflows and communications. AI solutions for industries with high volumes of documents (physical and electronic) will see the immediate highest growth transformation — typically in financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, government, and education. Horizontal or core business functions like accounting, mailroom and human resources can also make a significant impact quickly.

Once your data can be efficiently managed, organizations can continue expanding their AI-powered workplaces for optimal performance and growth — simplifying the flow of inbound and outbound information.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to consider process automation solutions like these:

• Connected, all-in-one IT device agnostic platforms that enable real-time problem detection and resolution with actionable insights and reporting

• Cybersecurity solutions that incorporate AI

• Intelligent Business Platform solutions can automate inbound and outbound mail delivery, claims management, accounting, robotics, and analytics

• Intelligent digital document workflow management tools for business agility

• Reception and hospitality services can be automated with workflows and logic

• Optimize the flow of information across the enterprise with low-code/no-code solutions

• Take a Microsoft Copilot Readiness Assessment

• Robotics are helping create new opportunities and growth

Even as our world leans into AI and, more recently, generative AI, our human employees are still essential to the workplace. We’ve reached the point where there is no going back to a world without genAI, especially with free access to leading platforms.

According to Gartner®, “Content requires significant human effort to capture, classify and generate. AI features in document management tools have high potential to remediate these longstanding challenges. In fact, nearly 50% of digital workers already report using AI to find information or data to do their work, as well as generate content for emails, responses, and documents.”²

GenAI is doing much more than eliminating manual and tedious steps — it is helping employees gather intelligence and work faster and smarter.

McKinsey reports that the economic potential for genAI could enable labor productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6 percent annually through 2040 and can augment individual worker capabilities to absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time today.³ That type of potential can shift business models, create more time to innovate and focus on differentiation to continue growth.

Customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and R&D are all prime areas to kickstart automation processes with genAI: chatbots, digital assistants or agents, marketing support, and fraud detection are resonating with companies.⁴ The upside can be substantial when companies find the right balance of human interaction paired with process automation.

Achieving peak performance with AI in the workplace involves research, planning, preparation and a priority list — attached to a budget and strategy. For example, business leaders must know how data and information move in, through and out of the organization and its processes. An IT gap analysis can help identify areas of improvement. Are my company data and applications siloed or connected? Are they properly secured? What are tasks that can be more efficient? Cross-functional project teams must be put into place, with an executive sponsor.

Aligning the company’s vision, business goals, ambitions and culture must take a front seat to every project consideration. Is it worth the effort? As noted previously, the research says yes — workplaces will see higher revenue and growth than those that do not prioritize operational efficiency and process automation with AI. Businesses must adapt to today’s technology and be ready for the future — or risk failure or stagnant growth.

At Ricoh, our professional team is committed to helping our customers embrace today and tomorrow. Our R&D team has over 300 AI developers and data scientists involved in many co-innovation projects who are working hard to bring our AI “game” to achieve peak performance and growth. Curious to see how our solutions and services can help you?