Summary: In this episode of Autom8 with Frends, Tiki is joined by Asmo Urpilainen, the CTO of Frends Technology. They delve into the world of Integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS) and discuss the future of generative AI (GenAI) in automation. Asmo provides insights into the evolution of Frends, highlighting how the platform supports businesses in automating data and process integration. He also shares his thoughts on the growing importance of real-time, event-based systems over traditional file-based integrations, and how AI is shaping the future of IT.

Key takeaways:

The Shift from File-Based to Real-Time, Event-Driven Integrations. Asmo Urpilainen emphasizes the industry's transition over the last decade from traditional, file-based integration methods to real-time, API-driven and event-based systems, which enable businesses to respond more dynamically to changes and process data instantly.
The Impact of Generative AI on Business Automation. Generative AI (GenAI) is poised to revolutionize automation. Asmo explains that AI is moving beyond simple chatbot interactions to autonomous agents capable of performing complex tasks and automating end-to-end business processes, leading to unprecedented leaps in productivity and efficiency.
GenAI enabling productivity gains. AI tools such as GitHub Copilot are already driving significant productivity improvements within Frends by assisting developers with coding and abstracting repetitive tasks. This real-world application demonstrates AI’s immediate and practical value in optimizing operations across various departments.

In this episode of Autom8 with Frends, Tiki interviews Sami Öfverberg, Head of Business Operations IT at ISS Palvelut, discussing the company's extensive services and their focus on automation and robotics. Sami shares insights on the role of robotic process automation (RPA) in legacy systems, the evolution of IT solutions over the past 15 years, and the impact of generative AI on their operations. The conversation also touches on future aspirations for automation and the importance of sharing success stories in the industry.

Key takeaways:

Automation and robotics initiatives. ISS Palvelut uses a combination of RPA (Robotic Process Automation), integration, and generative AI to enhance processes and user experiences and to automate bottlenecks and remove mundane tasks from employees. 
GenAI applications. As one example ISS Palvelut has implemented generative AI to automate invoice description writing, where the AI corrects typos, arranges actions in incremental order, and removes inappropriate language, with human oversight for approval.
Best practices sharing. There's a lot of hype and huge expectations for GenAI, but in general we see a lot of discussion about experiments and ideas, but less concrete real-life success stories of big scale AI implementations with tangible business benefits. 

Learn more about Frends Technology at:

https://frends.com