Intelligent Automation

What is Intelligent Automation and its Evolution?

Intelligent automation is a term that has evolved significantly as AI capabilities have advanced.

In its earlier usage, it referred primarily to robotic process automation (RPA) enhanced with basic AI features, including:

• Optical character recognition
• Simple decision trees
• Rule-based exception handling

Today, intelligent automation describes an automation stack capable of handling the variability, ambiguity, and context-dependence found in real-world business processes, not just executing predefined steps on structured data.

Intelligent automation and agentic automation

Intelligent automation increasingly overlaps with agentic automation, where AI agents plan and execute multi-step tasks autonomously rather than following predefined workflows.

Understanding the distinction

The distinction is one of architecture and autonomy:

• Intelligent automation: AI-enhanced workflow execution within defined process boundaries.
• Agentic automation: AI-directed task completion where the agent determines the steps.

Organizations building automation programs will encounter both terms, often used interchangeably in vendor contexts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is an example of intelligent automation?

An example of intelligent automation is an AI-enhanced customer service chatbot integrated into a company's help desk. The chatbot can analyze customer queries, provide accurate responses, and escalate complex issues to a human representative when necessary. This uses defined workflows to ensure consistency while leveraging AI to offer personalized and efficient service.

Is intelligent automation the same as AI?

No, intelligent automation is not the same as AI, though the two concepts are closely related. Here is how they differ:

• Intelligent automation: Combines AI with other technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) to streamline and enhance business processes.
• AI: Focuses on enabling machines to simulate human thought processes and decision-making.

When combined, these technologies create systems that can perform tasks more efficiently and adapt to complex scenarios. Intelligent automation, however, encompasses a broader scope than AI alone.