Turning Robotic Process Automation onto Intelligent Automation with Machine Learning

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology has in the past few years become a ground-breaking trend that revolutionised services all around the globe. Substituting human workforce with software robots augmented with intelligent elements, RPA is being seen as a key enabler for many commercial, as well as non-commercial organisations to reorganise, re-engineer, and streamline their approach to operational excellence, at the same time achieving impressive results in employee empowerment and digital transformation. This industry experience case discusses the learning from the successful deployment of RPA technology blended together with machine learning (ML), in order to achieve intelligent automation (IA) of invoice processing delivered by a Finnish consultancy company. The work calls for further academic research to develop and enhance understanding of this emerging technology, from the perspective of organisational change and employee empowerment.