Workflow Automation That Actually Saves Time: Six Research-Backed Moves

Vertex Tips:
- Map before you automate: use process mining to baseline cycle time, rework, and variance, then target the highest-value bottlenecks for automation (Deloitte 2025; Srivastava et al. 2025). Deloitte United Kingdom+1
- Treat automation as a product: set clear ownership, goals, and KPIs; build an Automation COE to set standards while federating delivery to business units (Deloitte 2025). Deloitte United Kingdom
- Avoid “agent silos”: deploy an orchestration layer and unified data fabric so AI agents can collaborate across systems with centralised policies and observability (Livingston 2025; NIST 2025). TechRadar+1
- Move from pilots to value: prune low-yield experiments and empower domain leaders to own automation backlogs focused on the minority of use cases delivering most of the benefit (Wall Street Journal 2025). The Wall Street Journal
- Measure and reinvest time saved: require teams to capture where AI/automation saves minutes (e.g., diary/time-tracking) and reallocate to higher-value work (Harvard Business Review 2025). Harvard Business Review
- Build governance in from day one: align to ISO/IEC 42001 and NIST SP 800-53 overlays; version agent logic, log decisions, and audit non-human identities (A-LIGN 2025; NIST 2025; Samanta 2025). A-LIGN+2NIST Computer Security Resource Center+2
