Agentic automation is the next step towards the future of automation. It fuses AI, automation, and orchestration to complete complex and dynamic tasks. According to IDC, the current market for agentic automation is projected to reach $4.1 billion by 2028, so every SaaS provider is racing to join.
Agents vs. Robots: What’s the difference?
With Agentic Automation, Agents and Robots work in tandem with people to accomplish more. But what are the differences between an Agent and a Robot?
Robots (RPA) are rules-based, predictable, and make deterministic decisions. Best used for routine tasks, they are reliable and efficient and use a human in the loop (HITL) approach to exception management.
Agents, on the other hand, are AI-model-based, goal-oriented, and able to make probabilistic decisions. They learn how work is done and improve over time, making them ideal for tasks that require high adaptability. They have the ability to choose the right tool for a task by gathering context and taking appropriate action. Agents also use HITL exception management. With the help of UiPath’s Agent Builder, HITL exceptions are built into agents so they can easily define when and how to ask for human assistance. Agents also have machine memory that allows them to remember previous human escalations and learn from them to autonomously handle them over time.
Agents working in tandem with humans and robots lightens the load on the human workforce by letting the agents take on the burden of recognizing requests and triggering the appropriate automations. Humans prompt the Agents, then Agents turn prompts into plans and instruct Robots to execute those plans with efficiency and accuracy.
In short, Agents are like smarter, more autonomous robots that are ready to help you improve your business outcomes.
Using UiPath for Agentic Orchestration
Agentic Orchestration Agents running on the UiPath platform have access to the full UiPath platform of automation tools, including UI automations, Intelligent Document Processing, API connectors, and complex multi-step workflows. They can also pull in other agents and call systems like SFDC. Orchestration is a must for successful scaling of agentic automation, and the UiPath Platform is uniquely suited for this job.
Agentic orchestration allows users to track end-to-end workflow progress across applications. Being able to track every step of your processes and every action taken by your agents and robots is a unique set of insights that sets UiPath Agentic Orchestration apart from other solutions.
Build vs. Buy: What’s best for your Organization?
The UiPath Agent Builder provides a design interface for automation developers to build, test, and publish agents in a low-code environment using UiPath Studio.
In order to determine the best course of action for your agentic AI journey, you need to examine the data you already have. One course of action is to start from scratch in the Agent Builder and build up an agent using your organization’s backlog of data or data from third-party sources. This can be a time-intensive process and is not the best fit for every organization.
If you do not have the backlog of data required to build an agent from scratch, UiPath has prebuilt agents trained on UiPath’s own LMMs available to license. These agents are trained on reliable data in a trustworthy environment. AI-powered continuous testing, evaluation, and insight generation keep Agents at the top of their game and ready to scale with your organization.
We can help you evaluate your program and determine the best course of action in your agentic journey.
Security and Governance
In today’s world, data safety and security are a priority for all organizations. The UiPath AI Trust Layer uses contextualized customer data to responsibly interact with and manage Generative AI workflows on the UiPath Platform. The UiPath AI Trust Layer enables you to have transparency, trust, and control over the interactions between in-product Generative AI features, your organization’s data, and third-party LLMs. Your automations can reap the full benefits of AI while adhering to guardrails and policy standards set forth by your organization.
In Conclusion
Agentic Automation is the next evolution in automation and seamlessly leverages Robotic Process Automation task execution and process scheduling to bake in a true end-to-end solution for your organization. But more than a technological leap, it signals a fundamental shift in how work gets done. As agents take on more responsibility, learn from context, and dynamically orchestrate tasks, the role of humans evolves into strategic oversight and creativity. The future of work isn’t coming, it is already here. And with agentic automation, it is smarter, faster, and more collaborative than ever.