Dive Brief:
- UPS' technology vision for the future is "autonomous everything," according to CIO Juan Perez, who spoke with the CIO Journal.
- UPS has a budget of $1 billion to spend on tech each year, and Perez, who took over as CIO earlier this year, is tasked with continuing the company's modernization efforts. To remain competitive and stay ahead of shipping competition, UPS is researching and deploying up-and-coming technologies such as autonomous vehicles, virtual assistants and drones, according to the report.
- Even though the company is considering autonomous vehicles, it does not want to move away from UPS drivers. Instead, the technology would create a fluid delivery process with autonomous vehicles allowing for an analytical and informed approach to driving.
Dive Insight:
Many, across sectors, are concerned that adding autonomous technology could cause widespread job loss. Forrester recently predicted there will be a net loss of 6% of U.S. jobs in the next five years because of automation.
But UPS is not suggesting autonomous technology serve as a replacement to its drivers. Instead, smart vehicles could increase the safety of the distribution process. Rather than a wholesale replacement, it would serve as an enhancement to current processes.
Gartner has predicted that AI and machine learning will reshape how work is done, starting as early as 2017. Machines have the potential to solve complicated problems, whether that is through intelligent apps or products and services.
Some industries may resist the technological changes, but automation has the potential to reduce costs by two-thirds, according to ISG. The bottom-line potential, and the change to free staff from rote work, will be too much of a lure for companies to hold out from implementing increasingly intelligent technology.
