Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Software automation that imitates defined user interactions with existing applications to execute repetitive rule-based tasks.
RPA automates high-volume, rule-based work in systems that lack APIs, cutting manual keying time and errors without replacing core applications, which makes it a quick win for finance, HR and back-office teams.
An accounts payable team deploys an unattended bot that reads 1,500 supplier invoices a month from a shared inbox, keys them into a legacy ERP screen and routes exceptions over $10,000 to a human approver.
Bots break when screens, field positions or login flows change, so maintenance costs can grow quickly. RPA automates the existing process, including its flaws, and handles unstructured or judgment-based work poorly without added AI.
RPA tools record or script user-interface actions such as clicks, keystrokes and copy-paste, and identify screen elements through selectors, accessibility APIs or image recognition. Attended bots run on a user's desktop on demand, while unattended bots run on servers on a schedule. An orchestrator manages credentials, queues, logging and exception handling across the bot fleet.
Systems Architecture
IBM — What is robotic process automation (RPA)? — https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/rpa; Microsoft Learn — Introduction to desktop flows in Power Automate — https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/desktop-flows/introduction