It’s common to hear automation advice along the lines of “Don’t stop expanding your automation efforts until they’ve reached every department.”
But the reality is, not every process will benefit equally from automation, and if your automation efforts aren’t thoughtful, they’re likely to fall flat.
Thoughtful automation should:
The 3 Pillars of Thoughtful Automation
- Start with the aim to solve real problems your organization and its customers face, not “because we should be using [insert new hyped-up tool here].”
- Have a “why” that can be explained with well-defined objectives that are specific to the process at hand, not just “because we might as well.”
- Reimagine the processes behind those problems. Automating a broken process will not fix it, it’ll just be a broken process with fewer keystrokes.
At IA Day Reno 2025, three IT leaders gathered on a panel to discuss their top strategies for modernizing their organizations through thoughtful automation.
Keep reading to walk through the thought processes that have helped these three pros achieve far-reaching, sustainable results in their automation journeys.
Real-World Examples: How 3 IT Leaders are Automating Thoughtfully for Optimal Results
1. Don’t Get Stuck on the Allure of New, Hyped-Up Tools
For our first story, let’s revisit thoughtful automation pillar #1’s focus on solving real problems rather than finding an excuse to start using the newest, most hyped-up tool.
When our first panelist, a State Senior Deputy CIO and Operations Officer, set out to solve her list of operational challenges, she soon discovered that she already had a tool at her disposal that could help her redesign her processes to achieve her goals.
As it turned out, a whole world of transformation began with a platform virtually everyone had forgotten about that was “living under a desk in the archives.” That platform was OnBase, originally used by the state’s Library and Archives department. As word spread, demand grew.
“It grew beyond what the library could actually handle to the enterprise level,” the Senior Deputy CIO and Operations Officer said. “Through a legislative move, that contract actually migrated over to the office of the CIO.”
Soon, her team stabilized the platform and expanded it to 12 partner agencies. “We bring in our experts, and we also partner with Naviant at times for those special, larger projects that they need,” the Senior Deputy CIO and Operations Officer explained.
The office now supports agencies of all sizes, helping them build workflows, train admins, and modernize operations. “We have two full-time equivalent folks that are actually working on this and responsible for it within our agency,” the Senior Deputy CIO and Operations Officer said.
As exciting as it can be to imagine diving into a new tool, this panelist’s story shows that transformative results absolutely do not hinge on hype. Rather, they rely on a thoughtful approach to automation that considers all options.
2. Automate with (Multi)Purpose
We all know that automation can have transformative benefits. But as we established in thoughtful automation pillar #2, any successful automation effort requires a strategic approach that’s tailored to the process at hand, including specific goals.
Our second panelist, the Director of IT at an aerospace manufacturer, made this pillar a key part of his journey. At every turn, he has led his automation efforts with highly specific goals.
For example, when he targeted his quality assurance and accounts payable processes, he led the initiative with the goals of maintaining compliance and enabling scalability. Keeping his sights set on these goals was especially invaluable in the case of compliance, as this manufacturer operates in a highly regulated environment, making it vital to ensure that their systems meet the criteria of these regulations. Ultimately, this focused search led the team to choose ABBYY and OnBase, which have helped them make a significant impact while facilitating growth and remaining compliant.
The Director of IT noted, “Between ABBYY and OnBase, the ability to transform manual processes into an automated capability was significant, saving us at least one annual headcount.”
And since their solution scales so effectively, the manufacturer is now expanding its automation efforts into other areas of the organization, with a whole new set of strategic objectives for each.
In recent years, this manufacturer has been growing 15–20% annually, and the Director of IT sees strategically designed automation as critical to continuing to achieve this growth without sacrificing quality.
3. Put People First, Technology Second
As we established in pillar #1, any automation implementation should result from a real human need. And to ensure optimal, targeted results, that pain point should be thoroughly investigated before the question of “what tool should we use?” arises.
For our third panelist, a DMV Administrator, the objective behind the DMV’s transformation was to make people’s lives easier, starting with the top, most urgent pain point.
The pain point: Coming out of the COVID shutdown, the DMV faced an influx of demand for its services. Given that the DMV’s business model was set up for walk-in services, that equaled a substantial backlog, leaving a lot of customers who either couldn’t drive legally or couldn’t get a job.
To meet this demand, the DMV used workflow automation and ABBYY intelligent capture to digitize key services.
“ABBYY was one of the first pieces of functionality we wanted to implement because it solved the problem of a customer having to walk in the door and show us documents,” the Administrator explained. “We’re very focused on making sure that we can give our customers, business customers, and individuals the ability to communicate with us, provide the required documents, and apply for our products online, even if they’re first-time customers.”
And the results have truly delivered, with the DMV receiving over 10,000 online applications for new vehicle registration and nearly 2,000 title applications just in the first few months.
“We’re automating for staff and customers with every iteration,” the Administrator added. “Our next big delivery is disabled placards, which is really exciting.”
How Can You Elevate Your Approach to Automation?
Whether it’s rediscovering overlooked tools, staying grounded with specific goals, or solving urgent human challenges, these stories show that automation succeeds when it’s driven by purpose, not hype. The most impactful automation strategies begin with a clear “why,” stay focused on real outcomes, and prioritize people every step of the way.
