A business process management system differs from BPA. However, it is possible to implement automation based on a BPM implementation. The methods to achieve this vary, from writing custom application code to using specialist BPA tools.[3][self-published source]
Robotic process automation (RPA) involves the deployment of attended or unattended software agents in an organization's environment. These software agents, or robots, are programmed to perform pre-defined structured and repetitive sets of business tasks or processes. The goal is to allow humans to focus on more productive tasks, while the software agents handle the repetitive ones.[4][self-published source]
BPA providers typically focus on different industry sectors, but the underlying approach is generally similar in that they aim to provide the shortest route to automation by interacting with the user interface rather than modifying the application code or database behind it.[5]
Use of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence software robots are used to handle unstructured data sets (like images, texts, audios) and are often deployed after implementing robotic process automation. They can, for instance, generate an automatic transcript from a video. The combination of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) enables autonomy for the robots, along with the capability to perform cognitive tasks.[6][self-published source] At this stage, the robot can learn and improve processes by analyzing and adapting them.[7]
