2026年协作自动化的兴起：自主AI代理如何重塑业务流程报告-

Theriseof

coIIaborativeautomation

HowautonomousAIagents

areredefiningbusinessprocesses

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

AbouttheDeloitteAIInstitute

TheDeloitteAIInstituteTMhelpsorganizationsconnectthedifferentdimensionsofarobust,highlydynamicandrapidlyevolvingAIecosystem.TheInstituteleadsconversationsonappliedAIinnovationacrossindustriesandofferscutting-edgeinsights,alltopromotehuman-machinecollaborationinthe“AgeofWith.”

TheDeloitteAIInstituteaimstopromoteadialogueanddevelopmentofartificial

intelligence,stimulateinnovation,andexaminebothchallengestoAIimplementation

andwaystoaddressthem.TheInstitutecollaborateswithanecosystemcomposed

ofacademicresearchgroups,startups,entrepreneurs,innovators,matureAIproductleadersandAIvisionariestoexplorekeyareasofartificialintelligenceincludingrisks,

policies,ethics,futureofworkandtalent,andappliedAIusecases.Combinedwith

Deloitte’sdeepknowledgeandexperienceinartificialintelligenceapplications,the

Institutehelpsmakesenseofthiscomplexecosystem,andasaresultdeliversimpactfulperspectivestohelporganizationssucceedbymakinginformedAIdecisions.

NomatterwhatstageoftheAIjourneyyou’rein,whetheryou’reaboardmember

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VisitusattheDeloitteAIInstitutetoaccessthefullbodyofourwork,subscribetoourpodcastsandnewsletter,andjoinusatourmeetupsandliveevents.Let’sexplorethefutureofAItogether.

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Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

Content

Keytakeaways

•AIagentshaveopenednewhorizonsofautomationthroughtheirabilitytounderstandcontext,learndynamicallyandmakedecisionsautonomously.

•OrganizationsacrossindustriesarenowleveragingAIagentstoautomatecomplexanddynamicprocessesthatpreviousautomationtechnologiescouldnotaddress,withongoinghumanoversighttomaintaincontrolandaccountability.

•Combiningroboticprocessautomation(RPA)withAIagentscanamplifyproductivityandscalabilitywhilebalancingcost,effectivenessandadaptability.

•BusinessesshouldmaintainRPAforstructuredtaskswhileintegratingAIagentstodrivesmarter,moreadaptiveautomation.

Generatingnext-levelefficiencieswithnext-generationAI4

FromrobotictointeIIigent:6

TodayIsautomationrevolution

Bettertogether:8

DrivingvaluewithAIagentsandRPA

Smarterautomationinaction:10

EnhancingRPAwithAIagents

GenAIchangedthegame:12

Now,AIagentsareredefiningit

Smartplaysforbetterautomation14

Makingmovesnowtoprepareforwhat’snext15

Getintouch&Endnotes16

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Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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Generatingnext-levelefficiencieswithnext-generationAI

Automationisthegamechangerthatkeepsonchanging.

Sincethedawnoftheindustrialrevolution,future-focused

enterpriseshavecontinuouslyfoundnewwaystosimplifyprocesses,reducemanuallabor,scaleoutputandimproveefficiency.

Assuccessivewavesofmechanical,electricalanddigitalautomationsspreadacrossindustries,thecompaniesthatdidn’tadapt...

didn’tsurvive.

Forthepast10years,roboticprocessautomation(RPA)hasprovenkeytohelpingbusinessesboostproductivityandfreeuphuman

talentbyhandlingrepetitive,rule-basedtaskswithprecision.

However,astoday’sbusinessandtechnologylandscapegrowsmorecomplex,organizationsincreasinglyfindthemselveshittingthe

limitsoftraditionalautomation.Static,rule-basedsystemsstruggletomanageunstructureddata,adapttoshiftingconditionsormakenuanceddecisions—leavingbusinessessearchingforthenext

automationgamechanger.

EnterAIagents—abreakthroughthatredefineshowworkgets

done.UnlikeRPA,whichdependsonrigidworkflows,AIagents

canlearn,adjustandoptimizeprocessesonthefly—reducingthe

needforhumaninterventionwhileunlockingnewopportunitiesforinnovationandagility.Andunlikemanystandalonelanguagemodels,AIagentsaren’tlimitedtoperformingtasks.Byinteractingwithdata,systems,peopleandotherAIagentsinrealtime,anAIagentcan

executeentireworkflowsautonomously,withhumanssettingthegoalandvalidatingresultstokeepitontrack.

InthisreportweexpIorehowAIagentscanheIpyour

enterpriserewritetheruIesofautomation—andgenerategame-changingefficiencyandvalueasaresult.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

ForadeeperdiveonAIagents,

multiagentAIsystemsandthefutureofwork,downloadandreadour

previousreports:

“Promptingforaction:HowAIagentsarereshapingthefutureofwork,”

Deloitte,November2024.

“Thecognitiveleap:HowtoreimagineworkwithAIagents,”

Deloitte,January2025.

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Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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FromrobotictointeIIigent:Today’sautomationrevolution

AIagentsdon’tjustreact;theyreasonandtakeactiononbehalfofusers.

RPAisnowanestablishedbackboneofenterpriseefficiency,

leveragingtechnologytostreamlineworkflowsandeliminatemanualeffort.RPAemployssoftwarebotstohandlerepetitive,rule-based

taskswithexceptionalspeedandaccuracy.Byautomatingwell-definedprocesses,RPAhasdeliveredtangiblebenefitsacrossarangeof

usecases—drivingcostsavings,timeefficiencyandrevenuegrowthwhileenhancingbothemployeeandcustomerexperiences.

RPAthrivesinstructuredenvironmentswhereprocesseshave

clearrules,predictableinputsandstableoutputs.Itsstrengthliesinautomatingwell-definedtaskssuchassimpledataintegrations.

Theseautomationscanprovideimmensevaluebutremainlimitedtopredefinedlogic.Asaresult,theystruggletohandleambiguity,dynamicconditionsorhigh-leveldecision-making.

AIagentsareusheringinanewparadigmofautomation.PoweredbyGenerativeAI(GenAI),thesereasoningenginescannotonlyperformtasksbutalsounderstandcontext,plancomplexworkflows,connecttoexternaltoolsandsystems,andmakedecisionstoachieve

strategicgoals.

Today,AIagentsarealreadytransformingbusinessesandindustriesthroughcapabilitiessuchas:

•ScenarioevaIuationandrecommendationsthatimprovestrategicdecision-making

•Processoptimizationtostreamlinecomplexityandaccelerateoutcomes

•ExperiencepersonaIizationthathelpsmeettheneedsofusersinrealtime

•DynamicIearningthatenablescontinuousperformanceimprovements

•Predictiveinsightstohelpanticipatefuturetrendsandrisks

•Autonomoustaskexecutionthatfreeshumanworkerstofocusonhigher-valuework

•Decisiontransparencytoenhanceaccountabilityandreducerisks

Inpreviouspublicationswe’veexploredkeyusecases,design

principlesandnewwaysofthinkingthatcanhelporganizations

activatethepotentialofAIagents.(Seesidebaronpreviouspage.)

WenowtakeacloserlookatwhereandhowAIagentsfitwithinthebroaderenterpriseautomationecosystem.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

Anewparadigmforprocessautomation

Throughitsabilitytoreasonandplan,agenticprocessautomation(APA)canaddresskeylimitationsofRPA.

APAPOWEREDBYAIAGENTS

Automationofdynamicworkflowsandthatrequirereasoning

CompIexity

tobuiId/depIoy

Medium—variesbasedonapplication

High—requiresadvancedmodels,knowledgemodelinganddataintegration

AdaptabiIity

Requireshumaninterventionforalledits/modifications

Canautonomouslyadapttochanging

needs/conditions

SpeedtovaIue

Canbebuiltandimplementedrapidly;

however,eachsubsequentusecaserequiresanentirelynewbuild

Typicallyrequireupfrontinvestmentoftimeand

resources—butspeedcanaccelerateasagentsareadaptedforadditionalusecases

Dataformat

Typicallyrequireshighlystructured,staticknowledge

Caneasilyincorporateunstructureddataand

adjustdynamicallytonewinformation;however,

itrequiresupfrontplanninganddesigneffortto

buildaknowledgemodelthatcapturesthedomainrelationsandmetadataspecifictotheusecase

ContextuaI

understanding

Focusesnarrowlyonspecifictasksandworkflows

Canunderstandcontextandadaptaccordingly

RPA

Automationofwell-definedsystemsandtasks

Primaryfocus

Q

processes

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Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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Bettertogether:

DrivingvaluewithAIagentsandRPA

AIagentsandRPAshareacommonpurpose—enhancingefficiencyandoptimizingoperations.But,asdiscussedintheprevioussection,theydeliverthosebenefitsinfundamentallydifferentways.Ratherthanchoosingbetweenthem,organizationsshouldexplorehowRPAandAIagentscanworktogethertoamplifyimpact.

Thisisespeciallytruefororganizationsthathavealreadyinvested

inRPAandcontinuetoseevaluefromthoseinvestments.The

challengesthatAIagentstypicallybring—includinghighercosts,

implementationcomplexityandevolvingregulatoryconsiderations—meanorganizationsshouldbecarefultoavoid“fixingwhatisn’t

broken”andinsteadidentifyautomationopportunitieswhereagenticcapabilitiescanstreamlineandimproveprocesses.

ThisapproachallowsAIagentstoleverageRPAasafoundation,

usingexistingautomationsasbuildingblockstodevelopandexecutemoresophisticated,end-to-endprocesses.AIagentscanprocess

outputsfromRPA,analyzedataandprovidedecisionsupport,

makingautomationpipelinesmoreresilientandflexible.Thisallowsorganizationstobalancecost,efficiencyandadaptabilitywhile

reducingrisksassociatedwithearly-stageadoptionofAIagents.

BenefitsofcombiningRPAandAIagentscaninclude:

•Efficiencyandintelligence:RPAcantakecareofrepetitive,

structuredtasks(e.g.,loggingin,buttonclicks,dataentry),while

AIagentsaddressmoreambiguous,language-dependenttasks

(e.g.,readingfree-textfields,understandingsynonymsandaskingclarifyingquestions).

•ReducedmanuaIintervention:BycombiningRPA’sautomationwithAIagents’decision-making,manyexceptionscanbelargely

handledautonomously,withminimalhumanoversight.

•Scalabilityandflexibility:TraditionalRPAcanscaleinvolumeoftaskshandled,whileAIagentscanscaleincomplexityofthe

taskshandled—forexample,byadaptingtonewdataformatsorbusinessrulesautonomously.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

ExtendingthepotentiaIofRPAwithAIagents

Thetablebelowshowsseveralsampleprocesses,howRPAwouldbegintoautomatepartsoftheprocessandhowAIagentscouldextendthatautomationand,attimes,leveragetheexistingRPApipeline.

PROCESSRPAFUNCTIONALITYAIAGENTSEXTENSION

AccountcreationandprovisioningaccessesSecurityprotocolanalysisandaccesslevel

confirmation;experiencepersonalizationbasedonthenewhire’spreferencesandneeds;insight-basedprocessimprovementbasedonfeedback,systemupdatesandemergingrequirements

Systemintegrations

Dataintegrationsbetweensystems

Intelligentdataremappingtotargetsystemsbasedonschemachanges;datatransformationasneededtoensurecompatibility;errorcorrectioninrealtime

Timesheetand

compIiancemonitoring

Notificationandescalationofmissedtimesheets

Personalizedandadaptivereminderscheduling

attimeswhenemployeesaremostlikelyandabletorespond;exceptionandspecialcasehandling;autocorrectionasdataformatsorsystemschangeovertime

New-hireonboarding

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Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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Smarterautomationinaction:EnhancingRPAwithAIagents

ToillustratetheintegrationofAIagentswithRPA,let’sexploreatwo-partexamplecenteredoninvoiceprocessing:lookingatthestepsinvolvedinautomatingtheprocesswithRPAalone,andthenhowthosestepscanbeenhancedbyincorporatingAIagents.

HowRPAhandIesinvoicingtoday

AnRPA-enabledprocessonitsowncanautomaterepetitivetaskslikeopeningemails,copyingdataandfillingfields.Itfollowsprescribedroleswithminimalvariationandenablesfastthroughputontheserules.

>

InvoicecoIIection

Botmonitorsadedicatedemailinboxorfolder.

AnRPAbotisprogrammedtodetectnewemailswith“Invoice”inthesubjectlineorattachmentsofspecificfiletypes(e.g.,PDF).

Dataextraction

BotopenstheattachmentandusesOCRortemplates.

ThebotusesfixedrulesortemplatedOCRto

identifyfieldslikeinvoicenumber,vendorID,date,totalamount.

>

Dataentry

BotlogsintotheERPsystem.

Thebotnavigates

predeterminedscreens,

pastesdataintothe

correctfieldsandsubmits.

VaIidation&Iogging

Botchecksforknownerrors;logseachtransaction.

Iftheinvoicenumber

orvendorIDismissing

orinvalid,thebotflags

itasanerror,logsitandeithersendsanotificationorplacesitinto

an“exceptions”queue.

Invoiceprocessed

LIMITATIONSOFTHISRPASOLUTIONINCLUDE:

RuIes-based

Mustfollowpredefinedsteps.Templatescanbecomeineffectiveiftheinvoiceformatchangesdrastically(e.g.,newvendorlayout,missingfields,newinvoicedesign).

LimitedcontextuaIunderstanding

Ifanitemisambiguous(like“servicecharge”vs.“consultingfee”),asimpleRPAbotcan’tinterpretcontextoraskclarifyingquestions.

LimitedexceptionhandIing

Complexexceptionswilloftenrequirehumanintervention.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

InvoicingworkflowenhancedwithAIagents

Nowimagineweenhancethisprocessbyembeddinganagentthatcaninterpretunstructureddata,adapttonewformatsanddynamicallyinteractwithusersorsystems.

>

Smartintake

ThesameRPAbothandsoffinvoicestoanagentmodelforparsing.

Theagentcanreadeachinvoiceinplain

text(afterOCR)orevenparsewell-

formattedPDFs.Itunderstandssynonyms(“servicefee”vs.“consultingfee”),identifieslineitemsandcanhandleunusualinvoicelayoutswithoutpredefinedtemplates.

Smartexception

Ifuncertainorcontradictorydata

appears,theagentcanescalatewithasummarizedexplanation.

Insteadofsimplyflagginganerrorcode,theagentwritesahuman-readableexplanation:“Invoice#123hasamismatchintheamountstatedinthelineitemsvs.thetotal.Areyousureaboutthefinalcost?”Thisreducestimespentdecipheringrawerrorlogs.

ContextuaIextraction

Theagentinterpretsinvoicedetailswithcontext-basedreasoning.

Insteadofrigidlymatchingtextfields,the

agentcaninferfields(“duedate”might

belistedas“paymentrequiredby:”)and

interpretunstructurednotes.Itcanhandledisclaimersorfootnotesbyanalyzing

textincontext,decidingwhichdetailsarerelevanttotheERPentryandwhicharenot.

>

AdaptivevaIidation

Whenananomalyisdetected(e.g.,new

vendornotyetinERP),theagentcanattempttoresolveitautomatically.

Theagentcandecideto(a)lookupthevendorinanexternalsupplierlist,(b)findthebest

matchor(c)evengenerateanemail(orchat)requestingmoreinfo,e.g.,“Wedon’thavethisvendoronfile.Couldyouconfirmitsofficialbusinessname?”TheRPAbotalonecouldnothandleconversationloops.

>

Invoiceprocessed

withAIagentenhancements

ProactiveIearning

Thesystemstoresnewvendor/invoicepatternstoimprovefutureprocessing.

Overtime,theagentcanlearnfrom

repeatedpatternsorfrequentclarifications,graduallyincreasingaccuracyandreducingtheneedformanualintervention,thus

makingtheautomationmoreresilientandflexible.

NEWCAPABILITIESINTRODUCEDTHROUGHAIAGENTINTEGRATIONCOULDINCLUDE:

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InteractiveexceptionresoIution

Themodelcanautonomouslywriteclarifyingemails,raisemorenuancedticketsorevencommunicatewiththevendorviachat.

Continuousadaptation

Asnewinvoiceformatsappear,theagentcaninferhowtohandlethemwithoutwaitingforanRPAdevelopertoreconfiguretemplates.

Languageunderstanding

Theagentcanhandlevariabilityininvoicelanguageor

structure(“invoice#”mightappearas“ref#,”“bill#,”etc.).

ContextuaIdecision-making

Itcaninterpretdisclaimersorspecialinstructions,extractingonlytherelevantdata.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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GenAIchangedthegame:Now,AIagentsareredefiningit

Fewtechnologicaladvancements

inhistoryhaveunleashedsuchrapid,widespreadandgame-changingimpactonbusinessesandindustriesasGenAI.

Initsfirsttwoyearsasanenterprise-readytechnology,GenAIwentfromnewtonecessaryformanybusinesses.Bytheendof2024,21%ofglobalC-suiteleaderssaidGenAIwasalreadytransformingtheir

organizations.1Meantime,thepaceoftechnologicaladvancements—inlanguagemodels,GenAIplatformintegrations,computepower

andmore—appearsunlikelytoslowanytimesoon.

AIagentsarenowextendingtheimpactofGenAIacrossindustries—andthey,too,areevolvingrapidly.Already,AIagentsarebeing

deployedtoimproveoperationalefficiencyandoutcomes.Inthe

comingyears,agenticcapabilitiesarelikelytoredefinewhat,spossiblethroughenterpriseprocessautomation.

Here’showweseeAIagentschangingthegametoday—andhowthey’repoisedtoresettheplayingfieldoftomorrow.

NOW

Context-awareandadaptiveAIagents

WhileRPAremainsaviableandcost-effectivesolutiontocomplete

tasksindefinedworkflows,AIagentscanserveasintelligentassistantsinprocessesthatdemandflexibilityandcontextualdecision-

making.Andastoday’sfirst-waveagentsbecomemorecapableofoptimizingtheirownprocesses,enterprisesmayseeasharpreductioninmaintenancecosts—makingtraditionalRPAsystemslessadvantageous,particularlyinfast-changingindustries.

Today’sagenticadvancementsinclude:

•Context-awareautomationthatunderstandsbusiness

environmentsanduserintentratherthanfollowingrigidscripts.

•Personalizedprocessautomationthatadaptstouserpreferencesandoperationalneeds.

•Decision-supportAIthatassistsinscenarioplanning,forecastingandriskassessment.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

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NEXT

AutonomousagentsandmultiagentAIcollaboration

AsAIagentsbegintakingonmorecomplexandspecializedtasks,

thedevelopmentofmultiagentAIsystemswillenablethemtoworktogetherautonomouslyascollaborativeteams.Throughtheirabilitytohandlecomplex,multistepbusinessprocesses—withindividualagentsvalidatingandimprovingeachother’soutputs—multiagentAIsystemswillrequirefarlesshumanoversightthancurrentsystems,thusfreeingworkerstofocusonhigher-valuework.WhileRPAwill

remainakeypartofautomationarchitectures,itwillincreasinglybesubsumedintoagent-managedsystems.

Next-waveagenticadvancementsincIude:

•MuItiagentcoIIaboration,whereAIsystemsinteract,assigntasksandoptimizeworkflowsdynamically.

•SeIf-heaIingautomationthatproactivelyidentifiesinefficienciesandcorrectserrorswithouthumanintervention.

•Enterprisewideorchestration,whereAIagentsmanagesupplychains,customerexperiencesandlarge-scale

businessprocesses.

FUTURE

GeneralistAIagentsystemsandautomaticautomation

Asagenticcapabilitiesimprove,expandandconnectacrosseveryareaofenterpriseoperations,generalistAIsystemswillincreasinglyserveasstrategicadvisersacrossmultipledomains.Businesseswillnolongerrelyonpredefinedautomationrules;instead,AIagentswillautonomouslydesign,executeandoptimizeentireautomationframeworksasnewneedsandconditionsemerge.Thiswillallow

thefocusofhumanworktoshiftfurtherawayfromoperationalexecutionandtowardrolessuchashigh-leveloversight,ethicaldecision-makingandcreativeinnovationthatdependonour

uniquelyenduringhumancapabilities.

Future-waveagenticadvancementsincIude:

•Cross-domaininteIIigencethatenablesmultiagentAIsystemstoaddressneedsandoptimizeprocessesatthefunctionand

enterpriselevels.

•AutonomousnegotiationandstrategicpIanningthatallowsAItomanagecontracts,optimizebusinessmodelsanddrive

corporatestrategy.

•Autonomousdecision-makingthatspansinvestmentplanning,economicforecastingandcompetitiveanalysis.

Theriseofcollaborativeautomation|HowautonomousAIagentsareredefiningbusinessprocesses

Smartplaysforbetterautomation

ThefutureofautomationbelongstoAIagents—butthisshiftwillnot

happenovernight.

Organizationsshouldapproachthetransitionstrategically,usingRPAasasteppingstonewhileestablishingthefoundationsneededfor

agenticautomation.Aphasedapproach—enhancingRPAwithAI

intheshortterm,selectivelyreplacingitinthemidtermand

ultimatelytransitioningtoAIagentsandmultiagentsystemsastheymature—willhelpbusinessesproducevalueateverystepofthe

automationjourney.

FororganizationswithexistingRPAprograms

It’simportanttoplaytoyourstrengths—butnotrestonyourlaurels.Youcancontinueleveragingbotstohandleclearlydefined,rule-

basedtasks.Meantime,identifythetaskandprocessbottlenecksthatcanbenefitfromthereasoning,learningandflexibilityofAI

agents.Insuchinstances,ahybridapproach—combiningRPAwithAIagents—canhelpimproveautomationwhilemitigatingrisks.

Also,keepinmindthatmultiagentsolutionscapableofhandling

large-scaledecision-makingandprocessexecutionwilllikelybecomefeasiblewithinthenextsixto12months.Bystartingtomake

moveswithAIagentsnow,yourorganizationwillbewellpositionedfortomorrow.

FororganizationswithoutRPAprograms

Leapaheadorracetocatchup?Thesemightseemtobethe

onlychoicesintoday’sfast-evolvinglandscapeofautomation

technologies.Butablankslatecanhaveitsadvantages.PreviousinvestmentsinRPAwon’tbeaconsiderationasyoulookfor

automationopportunities;everytaskandprocesscanbeanalyzedandmatchedtobest-fitsolutions.

StartingwithusecasesthatleverageRPAisstilllikelytoprovidethemostrapidefficiencygainsaswellassignificantvalue.RPAcanalsohelplaythegroundworkforagenticcapabilitiesbyaligningsystems,cleaningupdataandstandardizingprocesses.Smartandsteadycanstillwintherace.

Companieswithahigherriskappetiteorthoseoperatingatthe

cuttingedgeoftechnologymaychoosetobypasstraditional

automationaltogetherandmovestraighttoagent-enabledsolutions.Makingthat