DigiBlu: The Digital Workforce of the Future

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is software that mimics human workers in conducting routine rulesbased activities. It automates tasks by interacting with any application or system using non-invasive techniques, without need of systems integration, and can orchestrate activities across boundaries. RPA enables cheaper and faster processing and reduces errors, improves security (reduces fraud) and enhances compliance. Used strategically, it enables business and operating model innovation.
At DigiBlu, the company has experienced increased Net Promoter Scores of 30% as a direct result of RPA implementations. Depending on the process, volumes, and the number of human workers involved, cost reductions range from 30-80%. The company’s clients are achieving year one ROI of 200% plus. DigiBlu helps organizations leverage the power of Intelligent Automation to implement and operate Digital Workforces. The company has designed an operating model for the Digital Workforce that aligns the core processes with organizational competencies.
In an interview conducted between Insights Success and Steve Burke Co-founder & CEO, shares his deep experience in leading enterprise transformations and DigiBlu’s objective of realizing the full potential of automation.
Below are the highlights of the interview between Steve Burke and Insights Success:
What led to the inception of the DigiBlu? 
DigiBlu was established in 2014 as a high-value strategy & transformation consulting firm. In mid-2016, we saw the potential of RPA to transform operating models and we repositioned ourselves to become wholly specialist as an RPA delivery and capability partner.
Could you throw some light on your mission and vision statement? 
Our mission is to be a world leader in implementing, delivering and operating digital workforces. Our vision is to create the workforce of the future, organized around multi-skilled, multi-purpose digital workers, integrated with human workers, to create high-performance enterprises.
Describe your company’s cutting-edge RPA solution, which addresses all the needs of your customers. 
The need of our customers is to innovate their business models to improve the customer experience, deliver new offerings and increase revenues, while creating low cost, super responsive and agile operating models. Automation enables this, and specifically the automation of routine / transactional activities from customer engagement to fulfillment. This requires the seamless integration of cognitive and robotic capabilities, sometimes delivered over the cloud. This enables omni-channel engagement, the ingestion, structuring and sense-making of data, which informs decisions and triggers execution using RPA. DigiBlu’s platform approach extends the reach and value of the core RPA technology into Intelligent Automation.
How does your RPA solution differ from the other companies’ offerings? 
Our integrated Intelligent Automation solutions automate end-to-end activities along value chains and they orchestrate activities across business ecosystems. Used strategically, this solution enables the innovation of offerings and the reimagination of business processes. Other companies focus mostly on automating discrete activities, including desktop and document automation. DigiBlu has no proprietary technology, but rather combines technologies into platforms so that one plus one equals three, and so that our clients can transform their organisation, reimagine their offerings and redesign their processes, from end-to-end. Our differentiators then, are strategy and transformation consulting and our deep process expertise, which is backed up by technical expertise, great software and excellent delivery.
What technologies are you leveraging to make your RPA solutions resourceful and bringing advancement in the industry?
We mostly use Blue Prism RPA as the core RPA technology. We add TrustPortal for managing human-to-robot interactions, Antworks’ Cognitive Machine Reading for ingesting and structuring data, and Merlynn’s expert system for decision-making. Our Robotics Operations Centre is powered by the Thoughtonomy platform, which delivers Intelligent Automation over the Cloud.
Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learned that have shaped the journey of the company. 
No one really knows where the journey to digital workforces will take them, and our learnings are continuous. First we had to master the laying of foundations, then we learned how to scale, now we are asking, ‘how does an enterprise operate when it is organized around a Digital Workforce and, how should we organize and reskill to get the very best out of human workers?’ We consider ourselves a learning organization and organize around specialist competencies to capture experience from large implementations (we have one client, for example, where we are helping to implement 500 bots). We have won numerous international awards, including a coveted Partner of the Year award from Blue Prism in 2019.
What according to you could be the potential future of Robotic industry and how does your company envision sustaining its competency? 
The future lies in the creation of digital workforces that will speed innovation and enable unprecedented levels of operational agility. The Digital Workforce will be a key feature of 4IR. The digital workers will require multiple skills, beyond mere robotic execution, which will be enabled by other digital technologies. This puts digital workers at the core of digital transformation. In DigiBlu we are constantly evolving our own offerings, including Automation-as-a-Service offerings such as the provision of digital workers on demand and Business Processes-as-a-Service (we have an outsourced payments solution, for example). The as-a-service offerings are delivered over the cloud to customers around the world from our Robotic Operations Centre in Cape Town.
About the Leader 
Steve Burke’s first career was as an officer in the British Parachute Regiment after which he turned to high-value management consulting. His influence over DigiBlu is to bring a transformative mindset and method, which raises RPA from being a mere tool. As a member of Blue Prism’s Partner Executive Council and a keynote speaker, he influences the industry with visionary thinking about the workforce of the future that he combines with deep experience in successfully leading transformational change.
Steve holds a Masters degree in the Design of Information Systems (Cranfield) and an Honours degree in International Politics (UCW Aberystwyth) and was trained in leadership and strategy at Sandhurst and the Army Staff College.
Testimonial 
“In March 2019 Investec outsourced the RPA implementations and day to day monitoring efforts to DigiBlu’s Robotics Operations Centre. Since the change in approach we have been able to implement faster by introducing governance structures and at a much higher quality by applying best practice standards.” — (Investec Asset Management)