FUTURE OF

WORK
© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.
PART ONE

Welcome To The Future

PART TWO

Automation In Strategic Context

PART THREE

The Future Of Work

PART FOUR

Putting The Future Of Work To Work

PART FIVE

What It Means

PART SIX

What You Can Do Today

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART ONE

Welcome To The Future

Automation promises to change the nature of what an organization
is, what a company does, and how work is done. It will at the same
time free humans from mundane tasks and enable more complex,
fulfilling, and impactful work. It will also complicate economies, social
order, and an individual’s ability to make a living. It is the stuff of
science fiction and at the same time the pragmatic search for margin
expansion and better ways to create value.

Automation is a useful but awkward term, as it includes a family

of diverse technologies. It’s helpful to organize automation in the
following way.

Forrester’s Automation Framework

Success With Bots And Virtual Assistants Depends On The Human Element

Automation type Examples

Decision automation Digital intelligence platforms, image and video analysis

Design automation Continuous integration tools, code optimization

Test automation Functional test automation (FTA) design automation, FTA

execution automation

Human/machine automation Customer service robots, chatbots, intelligent assistants

Industry automation Inspection and surveillance robots, automated vehicles

Marketing automation Sales enablement automation, channel marketing automation

Process automation Robotic process automation (RPA), low-code development platforms

Technology infrastructure automation Serverless infrastructure management, security automation

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

Automation is a transformation in waves. This is best seen in the
jumps that technology makes due to an innovation chain: the
combined impact of technology advancements created by a step
function change to what automation is and what it can deliver.

This is a fundamental challenge for leaders:

How do I prepare for a disruptive future that
can evolve in fits and starts?

Move too slow, and risk acute competitive risk; move too fast, and
create operational complexity that weighs down the organization
and confuses (or disenfranchises) customers. Regardless, automation
gaps will create the next level of technical debt, where companies
can’t or are slow to reap the expected benefits.

This guide is intended to get beyond the hype and provide a

pragmatic view of the future of work; what it means to leaders,
employees, customers, and companies; and what you can do now
to stay in front of this revolution.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART TWO

Automation In Strategic Context

Automation is not happening in a silo. In fact, future-of-work
scenarios are informed by parallel and large trends such as
sweeping organizational change, the gig economy, the increasing
desire for privacy or transparency, the long-term journey of shifting
to customer-obsessed operations, the destruction of industry lines,
and strengthening of “super-platforms.” Islands of automation are
everywhere. Automation, therefore, synchronizes with parallel
trends that inform the different scenarios.

1. Automation must create the adaptive enterprise 3. Ultimately, automation fuels and is driven by
— with an adaptive workforce — able to disrupt shape-shifting organizations.
and respond to disruption. The organization of tomorrow is nothing like today’s
Organizations that exist in the next five years will hierarchical and siloed firms with clarity of jobs
do so because they were able to leverage digital to and boundaries. Instead, it will have a powerful
adapt to customers, competitors, and disruptors. In core of purpose and culture with a central control
10 years, adaptive enterprises will be table stakes. framework for automation — a task- (not job-) driven
The question is which companies used technology organization leveraging both the gig economy
as the aperture to pursue new opportunities — to and digital outsourcing. This shape-shifting
act as disruptors as disruption becomes normal. organization gives context to the structure and
role of automation.
2. Automation influences and is influenced by the
gig economy. 4. Automation should assume the emergence of
Automation will accelerate the need for and size of personal data twins (PDTs) and more transparent
the gig economy, as it displaces jobs and sources and balanced privacy rules.
the talent able to deliver on certain competencies Customers are becoming increasingly wary of
and tasks. Automation will also enable the gig institutions that use their data outside their sight and
economy to exist by connecting buyers and sellers. permission. Expect customers to build PDTs based
on zero-party data and governed by a select set
of trusted entities able to act as identity stewards.
PDTs will be a key currency of tomorrow's
enterprises and ecosystems.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

5. Automation must create new ways to deliver 6. Automation evolves value.
differentiated experiences and value. New forms of commerce and social platforms
The journey to become customer-obsessed is are already placing pressure on the companies
constant. Customer experience (CX) will remain a between the customer and those platforms. These
central strategy to win hearts, minds, and spend. platforms will become more formidable and place
Automation — AI-led whispers to frontline workers those unprepared or unable to appeal to human
and predictive experiences to customers — will emotions and needs farther apart from customers.
be fundamental in delivering digital and human
experiences. Those that ignore these whispers will
have their CX suffer as a result.

Automation is not a singular trend: You can argue that automation

will open the aperture to new, previously unthinkable business
opportunities as well as be the necessary engine to execute on
business strategy.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART THREE

The Future Of Work

Automation is a force multiplier that will disrupt economic opportunity
for many. The global marketplace, labor dynamics, and how work is
done shape the future of work. Apart from the apocalyptic scenarios
that engender fear, the future of work has a sensible and systemic,
yet acute, impact on the opportunities for customers, employees, and
company leaders.

1. Impact on jobs Four Options Are Emerging For The Future Of Work
Human-touch workers, cross-domain knowledge
workers, teachers/explainers, and digital elite jobs
will grow. Single-domain knowledge workers,
The talent Automation
physical workers, function-specific knowledge economy deficits
workers, location-based workers, coordinators, 30% 29%
and cubicle jobs will shrink. (Skills to tasks) (Job loss)
Disruption to
traditional
2. Impact on economic opportunity and disparity employment
Job Automation
Automation will exacerbate income disparity, dividends
transformation
as dividends shift to digital-savvy leaders and
80% 13%
negatively impact non-digital workers unable to (Restructured work) (New
automation jobs)
skill up fast enough.
Skills and income gap
3. Impact on global markets
Source: Forrester forecasts
Outsourcing and evolving supply chains
have favored low income economies able to
match skill level and capacity to global needs.
Automation disrupts offshoring: substituting low- 4. Impact on how work is done
cost manufacturing with less expensive localized The way we have done work has already
automated manufacturing that is responsive to changed significantly. The difference in the
customer demand; replacing human outsourcing; future is those changes measured in decades
and applying additional pressure on economies will now be measured in years and months. Work
to build domestic demand that is able to counter- will depend on a symbiotic relationship between
balance changing global demand. man and machine. This is not a man-led, machine-
do structure; instead, it will match leadership,
decisioning, and execution tasks across robots
and humans that best deliver the desired outcome.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART FOUR

Putting The Future Of Work

To Work
The future of work is often described in dispassionate numerical
and structural terms, leaving far too much to the imagination to what
it looks like underway. We created a simple scenario that focuses
attention on the four players we see as most important in the story:
the customer, the leader, the employee, and the robot.

Rideshare Scenario Customer Leader Employee Robot

In 7–10 years, rideshare via semi- and fully PRE-ARRIVAL

autonomous vehicles will become widespread.
This is especially true in cities and countries that Mary has
have more centralized controls and can therefore preselected
Neomobile’s Employees have
shorten the distance between policy development rideshare service Leaders at worked the
and infrastructure on the ground. Advances in based on Neomobile have ecosystem to
preferences and established establish APIs
edge computing will ensure safe, efficient rides. prior riding a semi- and fully and supporting
experiences. autonomous fleet business
In this scenario, Mary — traveling on business of Neomobile relationships to
vehicles with provide a seamless
to Singapore — is met by an autonomous vehicle variety to match array of services to
to attend a global leadership meeting. Singapore different customer passengers.
configuration
has put in place infrastructure to support vehicle- Experience design
preferences.
includes
to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure such that Leaders have preestablished
directed the design rules that will
traffic management is semiautonomous with
of white-glove govern the
central controllers (both bot masters and bots) services to interface between
customers. Neomobile and
managing the overall environment, constantly Mary’s personal
optimizing signals to ease congestion, and data twin (PDT) that
carries Mary’s rules
intervening on exceptions. and preferences.

This scenario shows the obvious and less obvious

characteristics and impact on automation.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

The scenario describes the presence of ARRIVAL
new jobs and the absence of jobs and
tasks that today seem normal. Mary arrives in Customer data and
Singapore and is preferences power
met with a the experience and
message and governance.
navigation to a
Neomobile
waiting vehicle.
Automation Dividends (Example) delivers the car
The color and configuration that
• Remote piloting configuration best meets the
match Mary’s preference and
• Autonomous vehicle experience design
digital twin best prior
• City transportation infrastructure design and preferences — experience.
implementation the digital signal on
Upon arriving,
the car enables
• Planning and logistics science Neomobile sends a
Mary to easily
notice to her family
• Bot master identify the car
(that Mary
without disclosing
• PDT design and governance maintains through
Mary’s identity to
• PDT/personal ecosystem design her PDT) that she
others.
has arrived and is
• Real-time CX design and management inside the vehicle.

U N DE RWAY

Automation Deficits (Example)

Mary, through Neomobile
• Taxi/rideshare queue coordination a simple voice employees
• Scheduler/logistics manager command, have interfaced
configures and with Mary’s PDT to
• Taxi drivers/rideshare drivers activates a video capture and deploy
• Coordination/travel management call with her team Mary’s preferences
that is already in for the vehicle.
place in Singapore, Leaders oversee
A large screen is
all supported city-level and
preloaded with
through secure regional
social connections
communications experiences.
and media access
and in adherence Leaders receive
and preconfigured
to Mary’s privacy exception notices
with family, friend, Digital workers
This example highlights automation settings. from customers
and colleague monitor city-level
or vehicles (e.g.,
creating a more efficient work market, natural disaster) to
contacts. experiences and
fleet status,
enable proactive The navigation
removing areas where humans needed intervention. system guides her
receiving all
real-time signals
to the meeting.
to intervene to support interfaces or just from customers
This screen and all and vehicles.
to make things work. services are now
managed by a
personal bot that
operates on behalf
of Mary’s PDT; the
personal bot is a
next-generation
offering (what Siri
or Alexa will look
like with real
personal
intelligence).

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

As another example, one can imagine DE ST I N AT I O N
a time when financing a mortgage will
no longer require human workers, as Mary transfers Mary’s PDT
video call to her considers the
leadership and regulators trust the device, creating an actual experience
uninterrupted to inform future
consistency, predictability, fairness, and experience for the experience design.
team.
efficiency of bots’ complex processes
She exits the
that span functions or institutions. car, and at that
moment,
These traditional and robust back-office Neomobile and
the PDT part
and mid-office roles are critical now ways: The actual
due to the imperfection and fragility Neomobile
experiences
of processes that flow across people, enrich the
preferences
functions, technologies, and institutions governed in
the PDT.
— but not in the future.

The front end is not spared, but the

impact is different. In this example and
within the context of the individual’s
PDT and associated preferences,
automation can be trusted to make
daily financial transactions to maximize
personal benefit, no longer requiring
those that recommend or execute
those transactions.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART FIVE

What It Means
Intelligent technologies and the future of work will have far-reaching
implications: some we can imagine now and some we cannot. This
is not a future-only narrative that allows leaders to wait until it clearly
arrives at your doorstep; this is a dynamic already underway that will
pick up substantial speed and scope and requires attention now.

1. Government policy 3. Business planning

Automation will have far-reaching implications Changes in organizational structure, new
to societies and economies, pressuring some to market models, more aggressive action on
alter their social contract with citizens displaced disruptive technology, and new ways of
by automation, creating infrastructure, cities, and working are just a shortlist of items in board
economic zones that differentiate based on the and executive rooms. External changes will
best-laid policies and strategies. We already see come in fits and starts, virtually precluding
many in power who don’t understand today’s digital graceful planning cycles. Instead, this is about
world. Governments will need to move faster than anticipating disruptive forces and sufficiently
most to catch up to a digital-automation dynamic bending them to create competitive advantage.
that can threaten or empower their jurisdictions.

2. Economic planning
Automation will disrupt global, national, and
local economies, from where goods are made
and sold to the emergence of more complex
ecosystems and changes in the labor markets.
Governments and companies need to join
together to create economic policy to maximize
commercial opportunity while minimizing the
impact to local jobs.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

4. Leadership planning 5. Individual planning
Leading in tomorrow’s environment will not be like From one person’s perspective, automation is a
leading today. Harnessing the combined power of game of winning and losing — and winning and
human capital and robots, leading organizations losing big. Employees already struggle with change
will adapt and shift to market demands, be able and the constant need to reassess and build new
to source talent rapidly, and be able to participate skills to keep apace with the market. As much as
in ecosystems without getting devalued and companies must become learning institutions,
disintermediated by them. Leaders will need to so must employees become learners — learning
anticipate and act on automation dividends while core skills, adapting to new working models, and
addressing the deficits. understanding what it means to be ready and fit for
the future, maximizing their Robotics Quotient.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

PART 6

The Automation Playbook:

What You Can Do Today
Independent of whether the future of work is alien, elusive, and
seemingly far away, leaders must gain clarity where they can and
embrace a far-reaching and disruptive operational force. Automation
will make sweeping, sensible, and sometimes cruel changes that can
place the unprepared on their heels or in peril.
But there are steps you can take in the near future to play offense
and come out the other side better off.
1. Manage the automation portfolio: Most firms are already managing a portfolio of
intelligent technologies that affect the way the enterprise works, albeit in small, surgical
ways. Automation will be placed in different parts of the operation with different risk/
reward profiles. Those in the back office will pay margin expansion dividends with
moderate market risk; those in the front end can pay significant customer experience
gains but with acute risk. Leaders must manage the expanding portfolio holistically so
that risk and reward is balanced — with special attention to automation that touches
customers and can cause unintentional and uncontrollable customer and brand risk.
Forrester’s automation framework guides decision makers on how to build out that
holistic strategy while rationalizing their automation portfolio.

2. Prepare and hone leadership: Leading organizations and teams will be markedly
different than today. The future enterprise will be a shape-shifting one with adaptive
workforces that flex as needs evolve. Maintaining a purpose, culture, and brand that
establishes distinction and power, managing talent across the gig economy to align
to tasks as they come and go, determining the best fit and purpose for robots, and
ensuring that employees are empowered and outfitted to navigate this more complex
work environment is no easy task. Forrester’s Future Fit allows leaders to assess
where they stand to take on this challenge, creating a baseline and development
path to advance leadership.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

3. Maximize employees’ value: Employees don’t become less valuable — the opposite
is true: They are the critical cultural glue and internal force in the future of work. With
fewer employees, they are self-initiating, adaptable brand and culture ambassadors.
They keep the core organization whole and maintain the soul of the company’s front-
and-center gig economy workers, who come and go while robots make more and more
decisions. The question is not simply how well they are engaged — it needs to be
broader: Forrester's Employee Experience Index assesses how empowered, outfitted,
willing, and able they are to take the mantle, catalyze change when needed, and be
ambassadors — to be purpose workers.

4. Build Robotics Quotient (RQ): Emotional quotient (EQ) became an important

measure to go beyond how innately smart someone is to how emotionally capable they
are in engaging, influencing, and working with other humans. RQ is the critical next
step: how well can humans work with and sometimes for, robots that will play a more
sizable impact in day-to-day work life. Forrester’s RQ assessment creates a critical talent
acquisition, management, and development measure to maximize the value of
the human-machine relationship that will be the bedrock of future organizations and
the future of work.

5. Build a learning enterprise: We are past the days of classic change management
where the goal was to move a human or team from point A to point B. Going forward,
change will be constant, meaning there is no point B. An employee’s ability (and, in
some ways, desire) to learn will be a differentiating competency for firms — moving
learning from a tactical hygiene to an economic engine. Forrester offers learning
products designed to build fundamental skills and competencies in burgeoning areas
such as customer experience.

Automation will drive significant change, but it will not change what
a company is and how it works. The basic meaning and purpose of
the company remains intact — to prosper by creating differentiated
value for customers. In other words, leaders must guide change and
performance in a remarkably different context, mastering the obvious
and nuanced in the future of work.

© 2019 Forrester Research, Inc.

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