Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Ever worked in data entry? How fun is it to spend a full eight-hour day inputting repetitive data into a spreadsheet? So fun, right?

Uh…no. Not fun. Tedious, maybe. Wearisome, perhaps. Soul-crushing, some might say. But now, thanks to robots and A.I., some of our most tedious and repetitive tasks—looking at you, data entry—can now be performed by machines. It’s the wave of the future, and we call it “robotic process automation,” or RPA.

RPA frees up actual humans to do actual human stuff, like foster client relationships, or develop new programs and initiatives. All that time we used to spend transferring data from forms to databases, we can now spend on things that create more value for the organization and less boredom and monotony for us. And besides the benefits to us personally, RPA can save companies loads of money. For one thing, computers tend to make fewer mistakes than we do. They don’t fatfinger their keyboard or misread information on forms. And for another, they tend to not ask for pay raises, or for pay at all, really. Which means a company might have to buy the machine and pay for its upkeep and upgrades, but it doesn’t have to give it a salary, health insurance, a 401(k), and paid vacation days.

Happier employees, more accurate task performance, and a healthier bottom line? Sounds like a win-win-win to us.