What Is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Robotic process automation (RPA) is a technology that uses software "robots" to automate the repetitive, rule-based tasks that people do on computers. Businesses have many manual, high-volume processes like data entry, moving files, or generating reports, which are time-consuming, prone to human error, and pull employees away from more valuable, strategic work.
How it helps#
By automating these mundane tasks, RPA software improves speed, eliminates errors, and reduces operational costs, freeing your team to focus on customer service, analysis, and growth initiatives.
How it works#
RPA software works by mimicking human actions on a computer. A developer "trains" an RPA bot by recording the exact sequence of steps required for a task: logging into an application, opening files, copying information from a spreadsheet, and pasting it into another system. The bot is essentially following a script based on pre-defined rules.
Once trained, the bot can execute this process automatically, 24/7, without intervention. It interacts with applications through the standard user interface (the screen, keyboard, and mouse), meaning it can connect different systems, including legacy ones, without the need for complex and expensive IT integration projects.
How it is different#
RPA is a "doing" technology, designed to execute a workflow, not a "thinking" one. Unlike Artificial Intelligence, which can interpret unstructured data, learn from experience, and make decisions, an RPA bot strictly follows the explicit rules it was given. For example, an AI could be used to read and understand the intent of a customer email, while an RPA bot would then take the structured output from the AI (e.g., "customer name," "issue type") and automatically enter that information into your CRM system.