The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

56 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om V I EWPO I NT T his year has been one of transformation for businesses around the globe. If an organ- isation had not started digitising its paper processes at the beginning of 2020, it had almost certainly begun doing so at the end of 2020. Synergy Technical has seen an overwhelming interest fromour customers to automate tradition- ally paper-based processes.This has been driven by several factors, including both the need to enable remote workers and advances in Microsoft tech- nologies like Power Automate and PowerApps. One particularly notable technology our cus- tomers have adopted is AI Builder, a turnkey solution within the Power Platform that allows organisations to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) without needing deep coding or data science skills. AI Builder gives organisations the tools to simplify tasks and automate key busi- ness processes using prebuilt AI models, includ- ing prediction, form processing, object detection, category classification and entity extraction. By using a combination of PowerApps, Power Automate and AI Builder, Synergy Technical has helped organisations across all industries digit- ise processes such as accounts payable, invoicing processing, expense report submission and approval management. This has allowed these organisations to continue performing key busi- ness functions during the pandemic while also improving their operational efficiencies. One of the most interesting use cases we’ve seen for AI Builder is organisations implementing the object detection model to train an app to detect specific items in images to make it easier for their first-line workers to collect data. For example, a commercial property management company could use AI Builder to train an app to recognise fire extinguishers and read the data on their inspection tags in photographs taken during property inspec- tions. Once an inspector has taken the photographs with their mobile phone, Power Automate would take the data and accurately update the inventory of fire extinguishers in the building with information about their current location and inspection status. This automates a previously paper-based process. Organisations that have embraced key tech- nologies like AI Builder will have a significant competitive advantage going forward. AI is a transformative technology that enables compa- nies to uncover deep business insights, augment the human experience and drive operational efficiency. The technology has allowed Synergy Technical to automate processes that have con- sequently extended our engineers’ capacities to achieve more. We’re excited to see what advances come to these technologies in 2021. Rohana Meade is president and CEO of Synergy Technical Why AI is the key to digital transformation Automating paper-based processes is now a top priority for most companies and an easy way to achieve this goal is to harness the power of artificial intelligence ROHANA ME ADE : S YNE RGY T E CHN I CA L