As companies switch their systems from legacy to digital, chief financial officers juggle driving the transformation process with keeping an eye on the bottom line. So when a technology comes along that can be directly correlated to reduced operational costs, it’s a must-have item.

Robotic process automation is just such a purchase, according to one CFO.

“We’ve saved 342,000 hours per annum,” said Rajesh Garg (pictured), group CFO at the Landmark Group Inc., citing wage expenses saved thanks to helpful RPA bots.

Garg spoke with Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during UiPath’s Forward IV conference. They discussed Landmark’s digital transformation and how RPA can bring hard-line dollar benefits to legacy corporations. (* Disclosure below.)

RPA accelerates digital transformation

Landmark is a 40 year-old global conglomerate with diversified interests, mainly in the retail and hospitality sectors. The company is currently undergoing digital transformation, and RPA is making the process smoother, according to Garg. He recommends rolling out RPA across the organization before starting the digital transformation process itself.

“Digital transformation can be hugely aided and accelerated if you first put an RPA layer, because that is the layer which goes between the humans and whatever technology is out there,” he said. “It’s a predecessor to your broader digital transformation rather than just a part of it.”

An inverted pyramid is how Garg visualizes the benefits of RPA. The widest band at the top is the cost savings, but directly beneath this is increased speed. A clear example of how RPA both reduced expenditure and decreased time to complete a task came when, in the middle of the pandemic, one of Landmark’s largest markets changed their certification requirements.

“They announced all products that are being imported, which is for us about 80,000, needed to have a whole bunch of compliance forms on the government portal,” Garg stated.

For most companies, this meant a scramble to hire and train new employees who could then complete the paperwork. Landmark bypassed this costly and time-consuming process entirely, thanks to RPA.

“We built the bots, and we were ready, ahead of competition,” Garg said.

Streamlining the workforce is one benefit of RPA, but the real value is in maximizing the potential of existing staff, according to Garg.

“We’ve got a lot of people. But what we are using … is their fingers, their eyes, ears, and that’s about it. Now we can get them to use their brain,” he said. “That’s what this technology does; it takes away the grunt [work].”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of UiPath’s Forward IV conference. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the UiPath’s Forward IV conference. Neither UiPath Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE