What Is Intelligent Automation?

Intelligent automation (IA) is a term that applies to a variety of different technologies. It is not a single tool, but a concept comprised of multiple solutions.

IA aims to transform an organization by automating business processes digitally by interfacing with legacy applications, servers, and on-prem and SaaS-based systems. Some typical applications are Office, Excel, and Salesforce and can be customized for nearly any scenario.  

For simplicity, we can break intelligent automation into two components: task automation and document processing. 

Task Automation 

Task automation is ideal for tedious, repetitive, and rule-based tasks that are predictable and occur frequently. 

Like transferring information from a file into a system or database, rote data entry is a good example. Tasks like these are necessary for business operations but tend to be monotonous for employees.

Tasks automation is how we automate tasks via robotic process automation (RPA) or bots. Bot are digital workers and are not “intelligent.”

RPA developers program them by giving explicit instructions called commands using automation software like OpenBots. They follow commands, line by line, and cannot deviate from them.

The only intelligence (at this stage) comes from the person developing the automation, not the bot themselves.

Document Processing 

Intelligent document processing or IDP is a way to process analog and digital documents like faxes, letters, PDFs, and emails. 

We start to get a form of intelligence when we use machine learning in AI algorithms inside the IDP engine. The more data you feed the engine, the faster it learns.   

The optical character recognition (OCR) component converts structured or semi-structured data from various documents, like patient referrals sent via fax from one medical facility to another.   

Watch: Intelligent Document Processing Salesforce Demo 

Over time, it will become more efficient at categorizing and extracting data from documents with greater accuracy, which can drastically improve an organization’s efficiency and customer service times.  

Digitally Transforming with Intelligent Automation 

Leaders need to think about how they can improve their operations and empower their team by working smart and lean.

Most companies have an overabundance of data they need to organize into multiple systems, which automations can do.

Most importantly, when bots perform repetitive, tedious, time-consuming tasks, it frees an employee’s time to do thought-provoking work that stimulates their intellect. 

If you’re ready to scale your business, reach out to learn how to automate your first process with our turnkey package, Automation in a Box.