2017 AN EVEREST GROUP VIEWPOINT

Enterprise Bots Adoption

Business Assurance Needs Yugal Joshi, Practice Director
Siddharth Muzumdar, Senior Analyst
Bot Assurance
Copyright 2017, Everest Global, Inc. All rights reserved.

w w w . ever est g r p . co m

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017
Bot adoption cannot
be a siloed, ad-hoc
initiative. Rather, it has
to be driven enterprise-
wide with a view to
create value through
orchestrated bot
assurance and
governance.
w w w . ever est g r p . co m
EGR-2017-4-V-2277
ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION
Executive Summary
In todays digital world, automation and user experience have become critical
for enterprises. This has made bots central to the strategy of any forward-looking
enterprise. These bots drive operational efficiency and facilitate consumer
engagement. Their rapid adoption is witnessed across customer engagement,
IT operations, and various other business processes.
However, as these bots proliferate, enterprises face significant challenges in
their assurance and governance. They are unable to assess which bots arent
working per design or which one will fail and the resultant impact on
business. A poor remediation strategy is further creating business risks. These
challenges stem from limited planning, inadequate validation, fragmented
control, and lack of attention to security and scalability.
A successful bots adoption strategy is critical for the digital world
1 and should be assisted by a strong vision and structured assurance
Enterprises are struggling to assure bot outcomes and govern the
2 bot ecosystem in light of rapid and voluminous adoption
Enterprises should adopt a new Remediation, Orchestration, and
3 Integration (ROI) to derive meaningful value from their bots adoption
Bots can create business challenges if not assured and governed with a holistic
strategy. They can result in business downtime, increased reputation risk, and
significant overhead costs. This defeats the very purpose of bots adoption. As
increasing number of enterprise processes get impacted by bots, a carefully crafted
assurance strategy becomes the fulcrum for any successful digital enterprise.
With the increasing adoption of bots, enterprises should reconsider typical metrics
to evaluate success. They need to conduct a thorough assessment of their current
bots adoption and identify gaps in assurance, governance, and security.
Enterprise-wide bots collaboration in an automation-assisted environment will help
to drive bot assurance and minimize governance challenges.
This research addresses the concerns and challenges enterprises face in bots
adoption. It analyzes the adoption of bots by enterprises, the challenges they are
facing, and recommends a strategy to drive breakthrough value through an
assured bots adoption philosophy.
2
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Enterprise Landscape for AI Bots Bots Are Everywhere

Why bots?
In todays digital world where users consume services on their mobile devices,
interact with businesses via social media, and expect rapid resolution of their
issues regardless of the communication channel, enterprises need to ensure that
they can cater to the needs of these finicky customers. The advent of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and its subsegments, Machine Learning (ML) and Deep
Learning (DL), have opened new avenues for enterprises to leverage automation
and deliver improved experiences to their customers.

Enter bots
A bot (short for robot) is not a fear-inducing machine out to destroy mankind.
Rather, it is a way to automate activities, reduce manual intervention, complete
jobs faster, and engage users.

EX H IBIT 1

Benefits of leveraging bots Accessibility

Streamlined
Source: Everest Group
processes

Informed
Enhanced decision-
experience making

Reduced
overheads
Improved
productivity

The enterprise Streamlined processes: Bots automate processes and eliminate friction among
landscape is getting different departments (e.g., running IT policy automation, driving self-service desk,
flooded by bots that and helping contact center operations)
provide multiple benefits Informed decision-making: By quickly fetching data from multiple sources, bots
beyond standard enable more informed decision-making for users (e.g., scanning thousands of IT
automation. operation logs for root cause analysis or providing history of all previous interactions
to a sales representative enabling her to chart out a suitable course of action)
Accessibility: Bots are always-on, connected, and contextual. Often accessed from
users mobile devices or simply running on their own based on business rules, they
offer ease of access and connectivity (e.g., bots invoked through spoken or textual
inputs on mobile devices)

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 3

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Improved productivity: By enabling automation of repetitive, tedious tasks, bots

improve user productivity and resolve issues faster (e.g., 30% less wait times and
15-20% faster transaction completion through chatbots on mobile devices)
Reduced overheads: Bots take away the burden of administrative overheads
and free up time for more complex, innovative activities (e.g., automated meeting
scheduling, email management, and reminders)
Enhanced experience: End-customers that interact through mobile-enabled bots
witness an enhanced experience through smoother interactions via messaging
channels (e.g., chat-like experience on bots on Slack messaging platform)

EX H IBIT 2
Customer
Major areas of bots adoption engagement Business
in enterprises
operations
Source: Everest Group

Employee
engagement

IT operations

Over 90% of Because of these and several other such benefits, bots have captured enterprises
enterprise bots are attention. They offer the opportunity to not only engage end-customers more
chatbots or script- effectively, but also improve internal operations. Consequently, several use cases
based automation have emerged of bots being used across organizations.
engines.
The Bots bonanza
There are four major types of bots:
Chat-based: Often called Chatbots, these are invoked through textual triggers
such as a message through chat interfaces. This is the most common type, as it is
also easy to develop and deploy
Video-based: There is an avatar of the bot that interacts via video and checks

for emotional response, facial cues, and mood through facial mapping and facial
recognition technologies
Audio-based: These communicate via audio media and respond by using natural

language generation

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 4

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Rules-based: These faceless bots generally used in back-office operations are

typically automation engines, often without a user interface, that run scripts based
on pre-defined business rules

Within an enterprise, we see increased adoption for chat-based and rules-based

bots. More than 90% of bots fall under these two categories

EX HIBIT 3
Chat-based Video-based
Major types of bots
Source: Everest Group

Use cases of enterprise

bots span customer-
engaging chatbots,
back-office scripts, and
commerce-enabling
assistants.

Audio-based Rules-based

Some popular use cases of bots include:

Bank of New York Mellon Corp: Developed back-end bots that automate
previously human-led activities such as responding to data requests and fixing
errors in fund transfer requests
The Weather Company: Developed chatbots on the Kik and Cola mobile
messaging platforms to facilitate interactive communication on weather
Bank of America: Developed an audio-based and chat-based bot, Erica, that
can be accessed through consumers mobile app. Erica allows users/consumers
to check balances, check FICO scores, and make payments
Taco Bell: Built TacoBot on the Slack communication platform that allows
consumers to interact through Slack to check out the menu and order items
Shell Oil: Launched Emma and Ethan, virtual self-help assistants on the Teneo
platform to enable customers and distributors to learn more about its lubricant
products and get customized, automated responses

Clearly, bots adoption is among the top priorities for enterprises. There are several
other use cases of bots being adopted as customer service agents, personal
assistants, IT operations assistants, communication agents, and even in cybersecurity.

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 5

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Challenges in Enterprise Bots Adoption Limited Assurance is a

Big Risk

Enterprises forget that While these are interesting and certainly innovative use cases of bots adoption, most
bots are pieces of enterprises are facing challenges in smoothly running their bot-enabled environment.
software and need They are struggling to answer four major questions:
assurance. This
assurance includes
availability, validation,
1. Can we identify which of the bots have stopped working?
and, traceability.
2. Can we assess which of the bots will stop working and when?

3. Can we address why the bots are not working the way they should?

4. Can we govern the lifecycle of bots across our ecosystem?

The four questions above are tightly intertwined with a few fundamental dimensions
enterprises struggle with, as described below:
1. Vision: Bots adopted without a specific purpose and vision yield suboptimal
results owing to inadequate planning
a. Limited planning: Implementing a bot without evaluating its scope
(which activities and processes it can automate) and purpose (whether it is
needed in the current environment) leads to hindered adoption. A narrow
scope provides minimal returns, while an excessively broad scope becomes
a management hassle and defeats the very definition of a bot. Many
enterprises end up adopting bots with overlapping capabilities, which
diminishes business benefits that can be derived
b. Siloed adoption: Ad hoc and hasty adoption, which often stems from the
fear of missing out, ends up being an overkill. Each business unit and IT
function ends up driving its own bot agenda

2. Assurance: Bots based on AI techniques operate in a closed-loop system that

learns over time. Owing to the fundamentally closed architecture of these
systems, business assurance is put at risk
a. Availability: Bots need to be monitored continuously to ensure they are
available and operating as expected. Bot downtime (planned or otherwise)
impacts assurance significantly. Enterprises that neglect ongoing monitoring
and remediation of bots will lose sight of the processes it impacts and will
find it difficult to manage the bots ecosystem
b. Validation: Given the learning nature of bots, unlike traditional software,
they need to be validated periodically to ensure they are working as
designed. Any issue regarding divergence from expected performance
should be analyzed and documented. The algorithms running these bots
need to be open enough to be debugged and rectified

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 6

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017
Enterprises struggle
to plan their bots
adoption and often
fail to ensure proper
functioning and
monitoring of the bots
ecosystem. They often
also struggle to manage
the security and
integration of bots across
the enterprise.
EX H IBIT 4
Enterprise challenges in
bots adoption
Source: Everest Group
2. Assurance
4. Security
w w w . ever est g r p . co m
EGR-2017-4-V-2277
ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION
c. Traceability: Once the bots are operational, most enterprises struggle to
identify the bots that are not working as per the design. They witness an
underperformance of their systems; however, they are not able to identify the
bots responsible for this. To ensure a proper root cause analysis, enterprises
will need to have strong traceability built into their bots operation framework
3. Governance: This is a commonly overlooked aspect of enterprise bots adoption
a. Control: Each business unit within siloed enterprises adopts, operates, and
governs bots in its own way. This fragmentation of bot governance creates
operational challenges such as lack of visibility on performance. Moreover,
as each unit defines its own bot workflow and policies, assessment of bot
impact across the enterprise becomes difficult
b. Standardization: Business units adopt bots with narrow scope within their
domain without an enterprise-wide governance and management policy.
This poses challenges for standardization of bot governance. Moreover, lack
of a centralized and orchestrated governance strategy creates management
complexities and prevents executive leadership from having a consolidated
view of bot performance across the board
Where are enterprises going wrong?
1. Vision
3. Governance
5. Scalability
7
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

4. Security: One of the major areas of enterprise oversight on bots is security

a. Privacy and regulations: Bot workflows often transcend system boundaries,
extending across multiple applications, infrastructure, and data sources.
Enterprises that design bot-based processes without due consideration to
privacy, security, and compliance norms are inviting trouble. For instance,
HIPAA and SOX regulations (healthcare and financial services industry
regulations) need to be stringently followed when implementing a customer
service chatbot that gathers data from multiple systems and interacts with
customers on their mobile devices
b. Bot masquerading: The vast volume of bots within and beyond the
enterprise exposes them to malicious activities. For instance, botnets (systems
with malicious software that attack other systems) may scan for enterprise
vulnerabilities in a bot environment and masquerade as a genuine enterprise
bot. This not only exposes loopholes in enterprise bot security but also allows
malware bots (mal-bots) to engage with the external users environment

5. Scalability: Enterprise bots need to be scalable and flexible so that they can be
tweaked to users changing demands and avoid the rigidity associated with
monolithic systems
a. Volume-value balance: Bots usually perform specific functions such as
scheduling meetings, interacting with consumers, and automating IT
operational activities, among others. Owing to this typically narrow scope,
the number of bots adopted in an enterprise across business units balloons
over time. This burgeoning volume results in management complexities
including resource costs to manage bots, maintenance costs, and overheads.
Additionally, bot implementation across siloed units leads to multiplicity of
bots, creating redundancy and reduction in value derived
b. Extensibility & integration: Bots with point solutions lack the extensibility to
be integrated with other existing systems. In an enterprise landscape, bots
that cannot integrate with systems such as CRM, ERP, and mobile platforms
pose scalability challenges. Without cross-platform integration and
extensibility, bot adoption suffers

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 8

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017
Enterprises should
devise a structured
assurance and
governance strategy
in order to derive value
from their bots adoption.
This involves planning
for bot remediation,
orchestration, and
integration in a way
that does not hurt
business outcomes.
EX HIBIT 5
Considerations for enterprise
bots adoption
Source: Everest Group
w w w . ever est g r p . co m
EGR-2017-4-V-2277
ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION
Recommendations for AI Bots Adoption Leverage a Different ROI
Bots are here to stay. Every enterprise will, of course, create a business case for bots,
will have a strong purpose of adoption, will build an architecture, and evaluate their
impact. However, all of this can happen only when enterprises focus on ROI -
Remediation, Orchestration, and Integration.
1. Remediation: Assuring that the bots are running and working as per design is
the most critical aspect of a successful bots adoption strategy. Moreover, in case
bots go wrong or fail, enterprises will need to design fail-safe mechanisms to
ensure business continuity while remediating the bots. They also need to have a
mechanism to identify and rectify these failures. They should not only develop a
mechanism to sustain the business process when the bot is down, but also
develop ways to fix, train, and validate bot outcomes
2. Orchestration: Enterprises can address bot multiplicity challenges by
orchestrating the bot ecosystem and governing their performance. Bot farms that
can be orchestrated across business units help to deliver a seamless experience
to the user. For instance, an IT operations policy control bot may act on specific
servers; however, multiple applications across businesses will be dependent on
that server. Therefore, enterprises need to have an end-to-end view of such bots
3. Integration: Enterprises will integrate bots with their customer-facing systems as
well as with other sources of data. However, one key integration should be with
IT management systems. This integration is often overlooked and when things go
wrong, enterprises are unable to recover or remediate effectively. Therefore,
functional integration, which ensures that the bot works as per design and gets
the requisite data, is important. At the same time, integration with systems
management platforms to ensure that the bots run smoothly is equally valuable
for a bots adoption strategy
Orchestration
Integration
Remediation
FOCUS
ON ROI
9
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Conclusion

Enterprises are already adopting bots and the implementations will only increase in
the future. We believe that though bot design and structured onboarding are
important, the true differentiation is the ability of an enterprise to make its bot
environment work holistically.

For this to happen, their vision, assurance, governance, security, and scalability need
to evolve. Everest Group observes enterprise bot adoption happening in three broad
models. The key is the value derived from bots adoption. Enterprises at different
stages in the maturity curve will exhibit unique characteristics across various
dimensions described below.

EX HIBIT 6

Value derived from bots

adoption and characteristics

Source: Everest Group Fragmented Optimized Breakthrough

Task-driven bots Process-driven bots Outcome-based bots

Vision
Limited collaboration Team collaboration Enterprise wide collaboration

Individual driven, Team-aligned bot assurance Portfolio-driven bot assurance

Assurance bot-based assurance Shared custody of Automated and orchestrated
Limited orchestration bot assurance assurance

Loosely structured Well-defined function-driven Scaled governance

bot governance bots governance of bots landscape
Governance
Manual management Automated management Automation-assisted
and monitoring remediation

Bots integrated with Bots well-entrenched

Basic security policy adoption
enterprise security tools into enterprise security
for bots
Security and processes architecture
Issues resolved with siloed
Aberrations handled at Predictive security
Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
department level, via RCA management and assurance

Business case owned by Business case owned Strong enterprise-wide business

teams, less visible outside by functions case for additional bots
Scalability
Bots overload due to excess Bots configurable to Customizable and configurable
functionality address changes in ecosystem as per business needs

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 10

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

Irrespective of the adoption strategy or models that enterprises eventually adopt,

once the bots are deployed in an enterprise, the enterprise will need to
continually invest in enhancing their business value. We believe that much like
other technologies, enterprises will adopt different types of bots for varied
business objectives.

Focus on general AI to create thinking bots that

can take decisions by connecting the dots
Well orchestrated bot management platform to
introduce, augment, and remove bots from enterprises
Feature functionality and underlying technology
constantly monitored and proactively upgraded
Bots become an enabler to drive growth with a
Entrenched constantly monitored feedback loop and business case

Focus on narrow AI to create intelligent bots for

specific functions
Business value

Emergence of standardized operating model for bots

Functionality upgrade based on feedback from
select channels
Well-designed performance metrics that are
Embedded regularly tracked and updated

Mostly handle mundane repetitive tasks with elemental

leverage of AI principles
Operating models and knowledge sharing are scattered
across enterprise silos limiting the business value
Typically deploy and forget model with limited
evolution of the bot lifecycle
Business case focused on immediate gains, long term
Entrant benefits are not clearly articulated

Bots adoption journey

All enterprises need to assess their bots adoption and understand specific
characteristics they exhibit. They need to invest in bots assurance to derive sustained
value. Simply adopting bots and expecting business value to materialize will not
work. An enterprise with full visibility of its bots landscape, strong remediation
processes, and where the teams work in tandem to derive business value from bots
will succeed in the new digital era.

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 11

EGR-2017-4-V-2277
 2017 ENTERPRISE BOTS ADOPTION

About Everest Group

Everest Group is a consulting and research firm focused on strategic IT, business services,
and sourcing. We are trusted advisors to senior executives of leading enterprises, providers,
and investors. Our firm helps clients improve operational and financial performance
through a hands-on process that supports them in making well-informed decisions that
deliver high-impact results and achieve sustained value. Our insight and guidance
empower clients to improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness, agility, and
responsiveness. What sets Everest Group apart is the integration of deep sourcing
knowledge, problem-solving skills, and original research. Details and in-depth content are
available at www.everestgrp.com.

This study was sponsored, in part by Accenture

For more information about Everest Group, please contact:

+1-214-451-3000
info@everestgrp.com

For more information about this topic please contact the author(s):

Yugal Joshi, Practice Director

yugal.joshi@everestgrp.com

Siddharth Muzumdar, Senior Analyst

siddharth.muzumdar@everestgrp.com

w w w . ever est g r p . co m 12

EGR-2017-4-V-2277