As RPA evolves, humans will gradually take a back seat

The robotic process automation (RPA) industry has warmed over the last year. Some of the key players – such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere and Blue Prism – have grown much faster than expected. This month, at Transform 2019, Guru Chahal, founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Lan Xuezhao, CEO of Basis Set Ventures, attributed some of this enthusiasm to a second wave of RPA capabilities.

"What we are seeing now is that the first generation of automation has worked," Chahal said. RPA is now starting to allow the automation of tasks that were not feasible five or ten years ago.

For example, machine learning can interpret images and clbadify them as part of a process. "Today there are fundamental elements in computer vision, in the understanding of NLP, in machine learning and in-depth learning, as well as in other technologies that automate a larger machine. many things, "he said.

Three phases of RPA

These new types of artificial intelligence capabilities are coming out of the labs and into production, and Chahal sees companies redoubling their efforts to further automate their operations. "The big change is that it was then the theory; now the proof points are there. These companies do not just raise tons of money; they are manufacturing tons of money. "

The first wave of RPAs asked process experts to understand which processes could be automated, as well as particular coding skills for programming robots. It is at this stage that many of the RPA solutions are generating revenue.

The next generation of APR involves the use of automation to determine which processes can be automated through better process discovery capabilities. For example, Lightspeed has invested in FortressIQ, which uses machine learning to interpret employee interactions with applications. This will make it easier for companies to prioritize automations and could play a role in accelerating the deployment of other RPA features in the enterprise.

Chahal says we are at the beginning of this second phase, but a third phase is on the horizon. Both Chahal and Xuezhao claim that this will involve less human participation than ever before.

Xuezhao made a distinction between these first phases and the future third phase. "We see companies grow in two ways," she said, defining the first as more horizontal and the second as predominantly vertical.

In a third, vertically oriented phase, "Instead of solving a problem, you are actually building a robot that literally solves the stack from bottom to top – everything – and completely replaces humans," she said. "[In] both dimensions, things go pretty fast, and it's very fast. "

Chahal echoed his statement, adding that while people are currently enjoying what this generation of APRs can do at mid-point – humans decide what to automate and automate, then humans in the end line trying to determine if it works well – there is great potential value in automating the entire pipeline.

Beyond Silicon Valley

There is a geographic element in this growth. This is partly because the RPA inherently affects traditional industries – such as agriculture, mining or manufacturing – whose processes are ready to be automated. "The thirst for absorbing technology in traditionally non-technical verticals is stronger than ever," Chahal said.

Xuezhao said while most of his company's investments are still in California, regions like the Midwest and the South, as well as Canada, are also prevalent. "When we talk about plant automation, there are not many factories in California," she noted. "When entrepreneurs want to start a business, they need to find customers, iterate and build their products. Where are the natural places to go? The Midwest, for example, is ideal. "We have a business in Ohio that [a] welding robot. Ohio alone, for welding, represents a $ 6 billion market.

Xuezhao and Chahal discussed other benefits of investing in companies located outside of Silicon Valley, including price and talent, as well as the opportunity to use distributed teams. "Talent is becoming more of a global resource," said Chahal. "We always had the idea that we needed to help entrepreneurs and businesses almost everywhere."

The RPP market is expanding horizontally and vertically throughout North America in all types of existing industries. In the long run, the growing human withdrawal from the process, coupled with simultaneous horizontal and vertical growth, will likely lead to new types of RPA platforms.