69% say automation is mission-critical — so why are only 10% prioritizing it?

Redwood Software’s latest report, the “Enterprise automation index 2025,” puts numbers to a pattern many of us already suspect:

69% of organizations call automation “mission-critical,” but only 10% are actually prioritizing it at the executive level.

That gap isn’t theoretical — it’s operational. And for leaders trying to move the needle on cost, innovation or speed of execution, it’s a red flag.

I’ve spent my career scaling technical and product teams, supporting global platforms and helping businesses modernize their operations. Here’s what I’ve seen consistently: Every business outcome is the result of process mechanics. If you’re not looking at automation through that lens, you’re missing the point.

Spending more ≠ Doing it better

It’s easy to assume more investment equals progress. But the data shows otherwise:

• 73% of organizations increased automation spending in the past year
• Yet only 28% say they fully utilize their tools
• And less than 6% have achieved autonomous automation in a single critical process

That’s not a funding issue. It’s a prioritization and ownership problem.

Too often, automation lives in a silo: owned by IT, disconnected from business outcomes and fragmented across departments. When that happens:

• It lacks alignment to core strategy
• It can fail to connect to key operational insights to drive better results
• It lacks the exec-level sponsorship required to scale the impact

The result? Your investment in tools doesn’t translate into an operating capability for the business.

Automation works — when it’s an aligned operating capability

Done right, automation delivers measurable results:

• 37% reduced costs by 25% or more
• 49% improved efficiency by at least 25%
• 43% cut manual workloads by a quarter

These aren’t marginal improvements. They’re operating-model shifts. But they only show up in organizations that treat automation as an integrated operating capability — not a patchwork of IT point solutions.

What do they do differently?

• They don’t just ask “What can we automate?”
• They ask “What outcome are we optimizing?” and work backward
• They measure process volume, yield, throughput and cycle time
• They build automation architectures that span systems and teams to focus on value-stream processes and outcomes
• They begin with operational objectives, identifying where current processes underperform, why those gaps exist and how automation can significantly improve the outcome.
• They treat automation not as a siloed initiative but as an embedded capability that works across Finance, Operations and Product to drive measurable improvements.

Your automation strategy should reflect your operating model — not just your tech stack.

It needs ownership.
It needs a business case.
And it needs to be framed as an operating capability, not a toolset.

I’ve seen firsthand how teams unlock transformative value when they integrate automation as an operating capability at the strategic level.

Get the full story

If these findings resonate with you, I encourage you to dive deeper. Redwood’s “Enterprise automation index 2025” unpacks:

• How teams across industries are investing in automation
• Benchmarks for tools utilization and maturity
• The most common barriers to adoption (Spoiler: It’s not budget!)
• How leaders are preparing for AI-driven automation
• What sets top-performing organizations apart

Download the full report to learn how you can move from fragmented tasks to orchestrated outcomes.