Generative AI (GenAI) has caught business leaders' and stakeholders' attention alike, but its success will be highly dependent on the human capabilities that empower it, reveals Deloitte and ServiceNow's "2024 Workflow Automation Outlook." Amid the undeniable energy around GenAI, organizations can unlock value by managing the new landscape with operating models that turn unexpected benefits into real business wins. In its third year, the outlook shares five crucial steps leaders can take to gain a competitive edge, build a proactive strategy, and fuel industry innovation — all backed by the power of GenAI.

"Heading into 2024, it's clear that getting the most out of every technology investment remains a number one priority — and leaders need to meet this moment," said Asish Ramchandran, global chief commercial officer, ServiceNow Alliance, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Now more than ever, organizations must deliver enterprise-wide wins to support revenue growth, while managing operating margins. Modernizing technology stacks and enterprise service management with a focus on cost management and trust will help organizations unlock value with speed, scale and insight."

"To put AI to work, we need to find the right balance between risk and opportunity," Erica Volini, senior vice president, Global Partnerships and Channels, ServiceNow. "Deloitte and ServiceNow are stepping up to help organizations benefit from GenAI — more personalized, deeper insights and extraordinary business outcomes and value."

"In harnessing the transformative potential of GenAI, we're hearing from leaders across industries who are looking to put a solid and agile foundation in place to drive value realization," said Christina Bieniek, deputy chief executive officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Through our longstanding relationship with ServiceNow, we're supporting organizations as they face both the challenges and opportunities presented by GenAI to emerge with a competitive advantage and strategic roadmap for the future."

The "2024 Workflow Automation Trends Outlook" outlines five areas of focus:

1. Tap the human element of AI: With 79% of CEOs looking to GenAI for increased efficiency, engaging with investors, management, board members, employees, and customers will be crucial to mitigating risk and enabling growth. GenAI presents the opportunity for leaders to serve as their stakeholders' trusted advisors, addressing concerns and building their confidence.

2. Invigorate the digital core: While GenAI enthusiasm soars, leaders should focus on managing digital sprawl by modernizing and unifying technology infrastructure, systems and tools. Proactive monitoring tied to risk management and a natural cadence of operational upgrades isn't just better for organization dynamics — it could result in long-term savings and value creation.

3. Protect data with confidence: Trust is top-of-mind for organizations tapping into large language models (LLMs) and other types of GenAI. Digitizing processes to cleanse data, creating secure work environments, enhancing organizational reputation, and promoting ethical use are all actions leaders can take to build a robust, reliable and safe GenAI approach.

4. Innovate in each industry: Enterprises have complex and specific needs around security, customization, and ROI — and they are looking for GenAI to deliver personalized results. Examples can be seen across several industries, including health care, to relieve clinician burnout, manufacturing, to resolve supply chain issues, and education to simplify knowledge management.

5. Unlock value from next generation of managed services: Enterprises are faced with a lack of agility and productivity as market conditions and the shape of business consistently evolves — and quickly. Tap into industry experience and proactive market knowledge to elevate ongoing operations and unlock new value from technology enhancements.

The 2024 Outlook comes on the heels of several announcements from the ServiceNow and Deloitte alliance, including a recent alliance expansion to integrate Now Assist GenAI capabilities with Deloitte's Operate services globally. Deloitte has also launched its new ServiceNow Assets & Solutions Group (ASG), a dedicated team built to harness the power of the ServiceNow platform to deliver industry-specific outcomes for clients. Additionally, Deloitte has been recognized by ServiceNow as 2024 Partner of the Year, building on an 11-year alliance relationship.

In addition, Deloitte was very recently recognized for a series of ServiceNow global awards including:

• Worldwide Built With ServiceNow Offering Partner of the Year – Worldwide: Reflects Deloitte's  development of unique, repeatable service offerings, solving of specific business problems, delivery of customer value, and impact on net-new implementation service(s) revenue.

• Worldwide Creator Workflow Partner of the Year: Awarded for Deloitte's application of Now Platform's low-code app development and hyper automation capabilities to modernize legacy processes and extend workflow automation enterprise wide.

• Worldwide Employee Workflow Partner of the Year (including APAC region): Recognizes Deloitte's use of the Now Platform to improve the employee experience and increase productivity with time-saving self-service and guided journeys.

• Worldwide Public Sector Industry Partner of the Year and Healthcare Industry Partner of the Year: Acknowledges Deloitte's deep domain knowledge and robust offering development for the public and health care sectors.

Deloitte continues to scale its AI capabilities, alliances and offerings following the introduction of its Generative AI practice in 2023. With a full spectrum of tailored AI services, Deloitte supports clients at every stage of their transformational journey, from developing AI strategies to building and implementing GenAI solutions that enhance productivity and deliver greater client impact. These tools are applied with Deloitte's Trustworthy AI™ framework to manage AI risks and improve user confidence. Deloitte is also investing +$2 billion in global learning and development initiatives to boost skills in AI and other areas.

To read the full 2024 Workflow Automation Outlook and learn more about the ServiceNow and Deloitte alliance, visit: Drive Value from GenAI—and Beyond (deloitte.com).