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With seemingly every aspect of our lives now subject to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence(AI) digital metamorphosis – be it work, education or even the way we play – it appears that business has universally embraced the inevitability of Klaus Schwab’s Fourth Industrial Revolution and joined the RPA/AI road train with great gusto.  Following fairly typical global IT trends, the more mature markets of North America and Europe saw the light around three years ago and the Asia-Pacific basin (where the enormous market opportunities now reside) is approximately 12 months into the journey proper in terms of applying RPA and AI to modern Enterprise Services via highly evolved, sophisticated, open-platform software application deployment and integration.

Yes, there have been some disastrous implementations along the way much like CRM from the late 90’s and ERP ever since but wholesale digital transformation is a complex beast for Enterprise and Government entities requiring complete calibration of all customer-contact-centric People/Process/Technology/Finance inputs. If your business houses 30 customer contact channels then all 30 must be part of any RPA/AI scope or frame of reference since the digital skin which all companies must now propagate will surely expose that one, non-aligned process or interaction channel quicker and at greater cost than ever before.  Those “failed” implementations were more the product of poor scope, design and execution than failure of the proposition itself – ironically, human error!  

It is the URGENCY of this Fourth Industrial Revolution which distinguishes it from its predecessors. Old-fashioned ROI modelling never seems to cater for (or at least reference with suitable weighting) the opportunity costs of the life time value of customers who walk, not to mention having one’s brand trashed on global social media as they exit, within minutes – this is what keeps CEOs awake at night!  And all of this precisely at the time when it has never been harder to win or canvas for new customers courtesy of increasingly punitive legislation – think Do Not Call Register Lists, Privacy Acts and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) as just the tipping point of sledgehammer Consumer Protection Laws attempting to play catch up with the inordinate power of smartphone technologies.   Digital reinvention for any business is no longer a choice but an absolute necessity to maintaining relevance let alone competitive advantage and has been a matter of survival for some time to those awake to it.

The bottom-line equation makes everything pretty simple: automate and transform digitally or your OPEX will be unsustainably higher than those of your competitors, within the space of months in many circumstances.  This equation does not even factor in the positive gains in NPS and CSAT widely referenced from successful RPA/AI deployments since the increasingly digitally-literate consumer has been telling us for several years now, via every mainstream reputable Customer Satisfaction Survey or Index, that their preferred medium of communication with their service or product provider is via self-service channels. Why has it taken business so long to listen and act……?

If you subscribe to the above then you will know that RPA/AI digital reinvention is URGENT, NECESSARY and needs to be DONE NOW and DONE PROPERLY. A failed implementation is too costly to fathom by destroying confidence in the whole notion of digital reinvention making the next attempt too circumspect to truly deliver the desired results and probably too late given it will then be three years behind competitors in this sense. It then becomes too easy to simply do nothing and hope this will all go away but the ‘boiling frog’ parable does spring to mind here!  So, how do you correctly scope, design, deploy, service and continually advance a successful RPA/AI transformation?  Well, I’d like to think this is a no-brainer but my answer is that it is truly all about selecting and retaining the very best PEOPLE!  This has always been the equation to my mind for any hire in any context but the aforementioned consequences of not getting these deployments right are placing the ‘white-hot’ spotlight on the importance of engaging the very best RPA/AI talent to future-proof your business in setting RPA/AI programs up for success.

The complexity, scope, pace, ambiguity and mission-critical characteristics of RPA/ AI implementations are all on a grander scale by comparison to the earlier-referenced CRM, ERP,… “digital transformations” of yesteryear. Consequently, the people required to scope, design, deploy, service and run these programs of work must draw on a broader collective of skills, knowledge and attributes to be relevant to the cause. Given RPA/AI is really only 2-3 years old in its present form, the pool of truly qualified candidates is in chronically-short supply and salaries are correspondingly trending upwards at a rate of knots.

With Tanna Partners’ core consulting pedigree around CX, WFO, ITO/BPO, Big Data and Analytics being arguably the ground from which the whole RPA/AI domain has spawned, we have committed heavily to profiling the very best talent around the APAC region in this space. I take this opportunity now to share some of our findings in terms of the roles typically required to run a successful RPA/AI program and the salaries you would expect to pay for such skill sets.  The following guidelines are not the result of salary surveys but rather pure ‘coal face’ consulting in the field. We’ve learnt from trial and error as to what may work in the RPA/AI domain and formed the view that it’s a complex systems integration discussion well beyond simply automating a process in isolation. The market is volatile, dynamic and still quite raw with notable inconsistencies in salaries between companies so our salary ranges will be broad, assume a Sydney or Melbourne locale and are quoted in terms of what we believe is required to not just attract but also retain suitably qualified talent competent for the task at hand:

1. Automation Analyst/ Test Analyst – Remuneration is based  on experience and subject matter expertise and  can range between $75,000 – $120,000 base + super. The RPA Business Analysts are the Process SMEs located in business operations and are responsible for end-to-end process assessment for automation feasibility. They then design automation solutions for existing business processes and identify the impact of policy, legislative changes etc.  on existing RPA processes. They typically assist in definition of project scope, requirements and objectives involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility whilst developing test specifications and undertaking functionality tests;
2. RPA Developers/Programmers/Automation Engineers – $90,000 – $125,000 base  + super + bonus (10-20%) – these people are able to grasp the RPA/AI piece and add discernible value.  They will have 3+ years ICT experience, an IT degree, be fully proficient in .net / java / C# / agile and able to develop a PoC for clients whilst looking at other opportunities and processes for optimisation so almost a hybrid/BA with effective communication skills. They probably won’t rewrite the application, just develop solutions using/leveraging the application.  Finding Blue Prism/Automation Anywhere/UiPath-certified programming experience is difficult and may add a margin on top of these numbers. Many are training their own rather than pay the premium. Most RPA/AI models are geared towards the bulk of Development being conducted offshore (especially India) but these “masthead” onshore development teams are critical to the whole equation and the real engine room for any successful  RPA/AI transformation;
3. Solution Architects – $100,000 – $130,000 base + super + bonus (10-30%) – helping with customer presentations in what is really a junior Pre-Sales position. They will produce PoC’s as well and will have approx. 5+ years of PS enterprise software experience, about 3 years of which will have been gained on automation and/or integration projects using C# et al. They’ll have competent project and relationship management skills and proven ability to analyse processes and assess for automation potential, work through business process mapping exercises and identify where variations etc. may be required;
4. Pre-Sales Consultant – $115,000 – $140,000 base + super + bonus (10-30%).  This is effectively a senior solution architect with more customer-facing and sales skills/responsibilities – must be able to answer the technical questions in front of a board room of senior decision makers and be able to instil confidence in the architecture of the solution, selling the benefits and putting clients at ease re risk mitigation etc. A very important go-between role that straddles the sales, architecture and delivery functions;
5. Customer Success Manager – There are 2 levels of this role out there really. The more seasoned campaigners are probably being paid $170,000 – $210,000 base + super + bonus (10-20%) in the bigger vendor or end-user environments and then there are the more junior operators with fewer years’ experience and operating in smaller, less complex environments being paid c$130,000 base + super + bonus (10-20%); 
6. Alliance Manager – This is where there will be significant variation in salaries.  Most of the vendors run to a predominantly indirect GTM model in pushing services onto their partners who sit in a big-end-of-town ecosystem of large Consulting houses and multinational System Integrators.  You would be paying c$200,000 base + super + comms for OTE $350,000 – $400,000 (commissions ideally uncapped with accelerators) and equity is usually part of the discussion for the heavy hitting “whales” who are currently earning $400,000 – $500,000 OTE probably already residing somewhere in the aforementioned partner ecosystem. These are critical appointments which will go a long way towards defining the success of the vendors who are positioning to make a big play for the APAC region. These individuals are the face and voice of the group, are few and far between in the comparatively tiny Australian market and must be courted with great tact and diplomacy;
7. Manager / Program Director, Centre Of Excellence – There is significant variation in remuneration based on the size of the Enterprise, the quantum of the RPA deployment and if existing senior executives within the  organisation  are appointed to the role. Remuneration seemingly varies from $180,000 – $230,000 base + super + bonus (10-30%). This is a key role providing the strategy and vision for RPA, evangelising the importance at senior levels to ensure buy-in and support, raising awareness, celebrating success and showcasing the impact. These individuals will also establish and chair the steering group to drive engagement and direction at executive level whilst taking accountability to ensure appropriate standards are established and maintained; and
8. GM / Head of Robotics, Automation & Information Management – $200,000 – $350,000 base + super + incentives. These are the people who carry ultimate responsibility for the success (or failure) of any RPA/AI initiative! They work with strategic automation partners, stakeholders and customers to deliver process simplification and business optimisation through the use of leading-edge RPA and AI solutions. Often leading Big Data teams, they are responsible for thought leadership on industry evolution, identifying new applications for automation technologies and for building and implementing solutions which transform the operational capabilities of the business and championing automation across the Enterprise.

So our philosophy and advice is that people are still the most important resource within any company – this reality has never changed.  It’s just that in the context of an RPA/AI transformation where so much is at stake, reputations are made/lost and second chances not an option, people are now more important than even before.

Please do not hesitate to contact us @ www.tanna.com.au if you are embarking on the RPA/AI journey, be it as a candidate wishing to assess career options; an RPA executive wishing to build a centre of excellence; or even a vendor wishing to establish an office in the APAC region with highest quality resources.  We have built strong consulting capability in this domain, long before it became fashionable, and would happily share our experiences and knowledge with you.  

Over a career spanning 24 years in Executive Search & Selection,  Greg Tanna is an established leader in the supply of highly specialised talent to the Australian and broader Asian markets in the domain of Customer Experience spanning ICT, Sales, Service, Analytics, Digital, Robotic Process Automation, AI & Big Data. See his latest interview @ CIO Advisor Magazine  which recently ranked Tanna Partners as one of the “…Top 10 most valued vendors of the RPA space.”