The fear that robots will one day take over our workstations is common, despite the fact that robots are already working alongside humans in various industries. However, not in the way you might think. Robotic process automation (RPA) uses robots, or rather AI workers, to help companies automate a wide variety of tasks and workloads. TechRadar Pro spoke with UiPath's head of evangelism, Guy Kirkwood, to learn more about how companies are using RPA to automate their workloads.
How does UiPath help companies to be more productive?
With its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform, UiPath provides organizations with software robots that can be used to automate repetitive and mundane tasks. The kinds of things that workers don't like to do in the first place. With the support of these robots, employees can focus on more strategic and satisfying work, generating significant productivity gains and greater opportunities for innovation. For example, one of UiPath's Japanese customers, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has saved more than a million man hours by implementing RPA.
(Image credit: UiPath)
The company was founded in Romania and later moved to New York. What motivated this move and was it paid for?
UiPath moved its headquarters to New York City in 2017. New York is a recognized hub for software companies. The company was eager to be a part of its vibrant business and technology community. Additionally, many of his early clients are based in New York, including financial institutions, banks, and insurance companies. The proximity of these customers enables more intimate face-to-face interactions and helps UiPath build stronger relationships with existing and potential customers and partners. This intimacy is not limited to New York, UiPath is now present in 34 countries and has understood that local knowledge and relationships are invaluable for effective growth. The result? UiPath revenue is split evenly between the Americas (37%), Europe (34%), and Asia (29%); This even distribution is extremely unusual for a company that is only four years old. Finally, New York attracts top tech talent (especially developers) due to its large population and nearby schools. Since their move, UiPath has always been in awe of the tech talent NYC has to offer. So much so that since moving into a new building on Park Avenue in the summer of 2018, the workforce has doubled and the company has had to build additional space in Brooklyn.How do companies use RPA to automate mundane tasks, and can you give us some examples of the type of automated process?
Companies are implementing RPA to effectively manage large-scale treatments in a way that is customizable at each company. Today, RPA is used in nearly every industry and function, including IT, finance and accounting, human resources, and customer service. RPA can be used for a multitude of tasks, whether it's filling out forms or spreadsheets, organizing incoming information, or processing transactions. What is "new" in RPA is that it generates benefits for employees and companies. For example, State Auto, a supra-regional insurance company based in Columbus, Ohio, uses RPA for its administrative tasks. State Auto auditors review thousands of rules to make recommendations for rate changes. Rules that do not require auditing still need to be documented, which requires routine data entry with two separate and unconnected systems, code selection, and dropdown selection. With robots in place, this activity is fast and error-free, freeing users from tedious and stressful tasks. Using the UiPath RPA solution at State Auto has saved over 65,000 productivity man hours. These hours did not translate into job losses, but into pure added value that enabled unprecedented growth. RPA also improves job satisfaction, increases productivity, and improves customer service. A CEO of a UiPath client in Ireland said: "Since we set up automation, the music of our organization's mood has changed. We have happier employees and we now measure our service in terms of compliments rather than complaints. It hasn't nothing to do with technology; we are witnessing a fundamental culture shift.Are IT services preventing the implementation of RPPs?
IT services help implement RPA because CIOs have the necessary infrastructure to implement robots. For RPA implementations to be successful, it is critical that IT departments and business units collaborate, align on goals, and work together. Initially, RPA was seen as a way to avoid waiting for IT to provide system-to-system connections (APIs) traditionally reserved for IT teams. By operating through the user interface, RPA could provide the same benefits, or even better benefits, much faster and cheaper. Therefore, it has been considered a potential threat to the ISD and pejoratively described in different guises: "dirty solution" or "sticky plaster solution". Fortunately, this situation has now been superseded by the realization that RPA is just as applicable in the IT department. for password resets, ITSM and BPM/ERP integrations, just like your colleagues in business operations.
Image Credit: Shutterstock (Image Credit: Image Credit: Shutterstock)
How can organizations find the right balance between IT and business?
As with any activity or service that works with another, the solution is partnership. IT organizations must trust that the organization has sufficient (and robust) governance and compliance processes and tools in place to protect corporate data. In turn, the business itself must be comfortable knowing that information technology is driving the transition to a more automated future where robots and humans work together. UiPath's technology partners have recognized this: Oracle, for example, uses RPA, not APIs, to connect to a multitude of different systems that connect to its platform - it's cheaper, faster, faster. More robust given the constantly evolving application landscape. Think about it, if both systems have a user interface, RPA can serve as a bridge.How does UiPath plan to expand to more office and client areas?
With the proven success of RPA in the back office, due in large part to the fantastic work that Blue Prism, the inventors of RPA and its previous competitors, have demonstrated since 2002, there is a growing demand to leverage RPA in the front office. RPA is already being used at the head office to reduce transaction times in call centers and help employees cope with high volumes of incoming requests. RPA can also help improve communication with customers by monitoring a contact calendar, triggering reminders when it's time for employees to follow up with customers or handle a complaint. Beyond that, RPA can also send automated messages to customers to enable faster responses. This is why UiPath has found a balance between unattended bots (that are working on things that no one wants to do) and monitored bots (that help humans do and improve the work that is being done). wish to comply) is changing. In 2018, the percentage ratio was 64:36 for unsupervised people; It is today at 46:54 in favor of the monitored robots. < p class="bordeaux-image-check">
Image Credit: Shutterstock (Image Credit: Shutterstock)