Re-envisioning the role of benefits realisation in a world dominated by robots

In recent years there has been a great deal of academic and practitioner interest in the role of 'benefits realisation management' [BRM] approaches, as a means of proactively leveraging value from IT investments. However, as automated technologies are increasingly being introduced on the basis that they deliver more cost-efficient solutions than their human counterparts, important questions needs to be asked about how value should be defined in a world that is increasingly dominated by robots. Consequently, the aim of this work-in-progress paper is to explore, using the literature, how automated systems continue to replace the human agent, in a growing number of organisational contexts, before looking at how tools such as benefits realisation, may need to be modified to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between the social and the technical in the planning of future IS/IT investments. In so doing, this essay seeks to develop a provisional research agenda, which will hopefully help to shape future contributions to the domains of benefits realisation, sociotechnical approaches and IT evaluation.