The robots in our offices

As demands on technology and operations capabilities increase to meet ever-growing client, risk and regulatory requirements, robotics and process automation offer us potential solutions for keeping up with the demand.

So, what is a ‘robot’?

Anne,a robotics program lead at UBS, gave us her description.

“The robots at work here are not physical machines – they are, in fact, more similar to exaggerated excel macros, or coded scripts that can capture a process. They are programmed to mimic the actions of humans, which can provide incredible benefits for completing time-consuming, monotonous tasks. They can open emails, attachments, move folders, follow rules, extract and update data, prepare and send statements, download reports, check the integrity of trades and much more. In short, if we have structured digital data as an input, plus a defined process using a clear set of logical rules, we can use robots to complete it.

What are the benefits of using them?

“Robots can provide significant benefits if applied to the right processes,” noted Anne. “They are scalable and reliable - helping us to improve productivity, streamline processes and minimize errors. In addition, the work executed by robots is fully traceable. This provides us with a necessary audit trail, additional control, and data intelligence leading to further improvements.”

What’s the difference between this and older types of automation?

Although the concept of automating processes is far from being new, the key advantage of robotic process automation lies within modern sophisticated software. It can now allow process automation much quicker. This means our colleagues can focus on adding value and serving our customers.

And how about the future of robotics?

The application of robotics has a very bright future. Aside from deploying them for repetitive tasks, more advanced robots can complete specific tasks on their own, unattended, and can also trigger other robots to complete their tasks too. Lastly, you have the higher end, cognitive-type robots. These robots are capable of learning and making their own decisions and are largely envisioned for areas of investigation, data-mining or research. Just don't expect to share an office with physical robots…at least not yet!

Are you interested in learning more about a career in robotics? Read the stories below for more insight into what our robotics colleagues do, or simply apply today.