UiPath CEO: “RPA is a game-changer”

Other than tackling repetitive business tasks, what is the compelling business case for RPA?

RPA is a game changer for organizations of all sizes. Before deploying RPA, it is important to look at how processes in finance, HR, supply chain, etc. are being carried out, identify pain points, and instances where collaboration among departments ceases. For people who are in charge of analysing and optimising business processes in an organization, RPA is an easy tool to implement, as the deployment of software robots can be done without modifying existing infrastructure and systems. RPA manages tasks with virtually zero errors, very fast and yields financial benefits to the enterprise. As an example, a software robot can reduce four to five painstaking human labour hours spent reviewing hundreds of invoices to identify a payment due in three seconds. When companies deploy RPA, they increase productivity and accuracy, improve customer experience, optimize costs, and free employees to focus on higher value assignments.

Can you automate any business process with RPA?

Any business process that involves time-consuming, repetitive, rules-based monotonous tasks can be automated with RPA. The first step is always to identify the right processes that are suited for automation and pinpoint the departments in which employees are performing time-consuming work.

Is it important to build in-house RPA expertise?

This is, of course, up to each organisation, but we found that seamless implementations are occurring in companies with dedicated people who are part of an RPA Center of Excellence – comprising different functions with clearly established roles. This ensures internal ownership.

Does RPA leverage machine learning and AI?

Yes, indeed, RPA has actually become the path to AI for enterprises. UiPath is constantly embedding AI and machine learning algorithms into its platform – sentiment analysis, optical character recognition (OCR), tools to extract information simpler and faster from unstructured data sources, etc.

How can enterprises make sure that their RPA projects don’t fail?

A series of factors determine the success of the RPA project – getting the IT department on board with RPA deployment by management, creating an in-house ‘Center of Excellence’ that caters to all the requirements of implementation, making RPA part of a larger digitization initiative, pairing RPA with other complementary tools, such as business process management, etc.

How important is security when implementing RPA? Can processes be manipulated?

Security is paramount as RPA inherently deals with a lot of confidential business data. In automating everyday business processes such as transferring files, processing orders, and running payroll, RPA’s software robots process information from various company databases and log into different accounts using supplied passwords. In this way, the automation platform gains access to all kinds of information (inventory lists, credit card numbers, addresses, financial information, passwords, etc.) about a company’s employees, customers, and vendors. UiPath has CyberArk integration where all credentials are stored in the Enterprise Password Vault and is VeraCode certified, meeting stringent security standards.

How do you plan to meet the demand for RPA skills? Are you planning to offer any training and certification?

In April 2017, as part of our efforts to democratize RPA and prepare the workforce of the future, UiPath started UiPath Academy. This online platform offers free training for all RPA functions and is available in multiple languages. Upon completion of courses, trainees can obtain certifications that will recommend them as strong candidates. Moreover, our Academic Alliance program is meant to enable universities all over the world offer automation courses to their students.