The Future of Robotic Process Automation: How Long Will RPA Last?

Introduction to RPA

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), although currently popular, is expected to fade from prominence within a decade. This is according to latest Gartner's Hype Cycle for Business Process Services, which suggests that task-centric RPA offerings will be obsolete in 2021 due to their simplistic nature. These deployments often focus on routine, repetitive, and rule-based workflows, but as businesses seek to automate more complex processes, RPA's limitations will become more apparent.

Current Impact of RPA

Despite its impending obsolescence, RPA is undoubtedly here to stay for the foreseeable future. Research on early adopters has revealed that the key business drivers for RPA are compelling:

Operational Efficiency and Speed: RPA can significantly enhance operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on more value-added work. Improve Customer Experience: By automating routine tasks, businesses can ensure a faster and more consistent service delivery, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Error Reduction and Compliance: RPA can reduce human errors and streamline processes, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Lower Cost: By reducing the need for manual intervention, RPA can significantly lower operational costs.

These objectives are what every business strives to achieve. Even as advanced forms of automation emerge, RPA will remain a practical and cost-effective solution for many organizations over the next 5-10 years.

Future Evolution of RPA

As technology progresses, RPA tools will continue to evolve. The need for evolution is driven by the changing demands of businesses and the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Two reasons why RPA might become less relevant in its current form are:

Data Modeling and AI

In the future, data models may simply take analog/unstructured inputs, perform extensive processing using advanced AI, and generate analog/unstructured outputs. This could render RPA obsolete as there might not be a significant role for it in automated workflows. Significant strides are being made in this direction:

First Steps to a Machine Brain: Early steps are being taken to develop more intelligent systems that can process and generate unstructured data autonomously.

AI and Automation

Even in the near term, AI is expected to automatically figure out the robotic steps required to complete tasks, fundamentally changing the shape of automation. This shift is already starting to take place as businesses begin to understand how AI can be integrated with RPA to achieve more sophisticated outcomes.

However, for now, RPA remains a low-hanging fruit. It is a practical, cost-effective, and efficient solution for automating repetitive tasks. Over the next five to ten years, more businesses will likely turn to RPA to streamline their operations and improve their overall efficiency.

Conclusion

The impact of RPA on business operations is clear and significant. However, as automation technology continues to advance, RPA will eventually give way to more sophisticated forms of automation powered by AI. While RPA will remain relevant for the next decade, businesses should begin preparing for a future where more advanced forms of automation will take its place.