New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS): Preparedness for a future pandemic or similar disruptions is still a top priority for 84 per cent of global senior managers and frontline IT staff, said a new survey on Tuesday.

Nearly one in three respondents said they were either totally unprepared or "not very prepared" for the impact of Covid-19, the findings showed.

The new research by software company Pegasystems showed that intelligent automation will play a critical role in shaping a new, technologically-enabled, post-pandemic future of work.

"The last quarter has seen a tremendous transformation in the Indian IT industry due to the novel pandemic that has undoubtedly accelerated digital transformation and the approach of the business leaders towards technology," Suman Reddy, Managing Director, Pega India, said in a statement.

"As we continue to settle into the new normal, organisations are also focused on preparing for any future pandemics or similar disruptions."

Over 75 per cent of the respondents said the pandemic will cause them to increase their intelligent automation investment.

Meanwhile, 74 per cent of the survey participants agreed that further external shocks that temporarily remove people from the workplace will result in more intelligent automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) investment.

About 76 per cent of the respondents also said that unpredictable mass illness and/or self-isolation will drive increased business demand for intelligent automation.

Over half of the respondents said they would increase investment in AI and Cloud solutions to guard against the business impact of future pandemics.

The findings are based on a survey of over 3,000 global senior managers and frontline IT staff.