Inside the UiPath Rocket Ship

Many of you (especially if you are in my age bracket) would remember the 'Little Einsteins', a Disney TV series that aired 69 episodes between 2005 and 2010. My daughter loved them and that's why I have watched all episodes not once but multiple times. The educational preschool series centered around a rocket ship that the happy explorers, Leo, June, Quincy and Annie used to blast-off to their adventures.

Fast forward to 2019; since December I keep being reminded of the Little Einsteins and that's not because my teenage daughter is watching them again (I wish she would) but because I have joined the fastest growing enterprise software company in history, UiPath. And from day one it feels like I've boarded a rocket ship on a mission to advance human mankind.

Not knowing what to expect, I have to admit that I was a little bit reserved in the days leading up to the launch. But the moment I entered the UiPath rocket ship I could feel the vibe and energy of the engines. But that was nothing compared to the acceleration of the blast-off which ignited almost instantaneously an internal fire in me which is growing day-by-day and is fueled by the awesome colleagues, the dazzling customer challenges, the unlimited learning opportunities and our mind-blowing vision.

'One Robot for Every Worker' expresses our vision for a not so distant future where automation becomes ubiquitous and enables new methods of working and doing business in the digital world. 

What are the 'new methods of working' and why do I need a 'Robot for Every Worker'? I think we need to acknowledge that work has been and is evolving constantly. We have seen the rise of mainframe systems and desktop computers, the ubiquity of the internet, and smartphones, among many other innovations, have revolutionized our work practices and greatly contributed to increased productivity. So, what is the driver behind the current wave of productivity advancements? Artificial Intelligence (AI), as you would have probably guessed correctly, is the magic force and many scholars say it will have a profound and lasting impact on the global economy. In coming years, AI powered technology will provide us with a plethora of new tools and products that ultimately enable new methods of working.

In order to answer the second part of the question we just need to analyse our daily job routines. Most, if not all, office jobs involve to varying degree tasks that we do not enjoy as much as other tasks. Wouldn't it be cool if you had a "helper" which could carry out these mundane tasks while you focus your energy on the fulfilling and value adding tasks. At UiPath we anticipate a future where you will work hand-in-hand with your personal robot. Whereas I use 'hand-in-hand' purely metaphorical as we are not talking about physical robots but rather software robots.

But Robotic Process Automation (RPA) goes beyond the personal robot, it is capable of automating complete sequences of activities such as Procure-to-Pay, Underwriting, Claims Processing, Account Opening, Reconciliation, Order Processing and a myriad more business processes. RPA is a major branch of Artificial Intelligence and my favorite definition by the IEEE's Guide on Terms and Concepts in Intelligent Automation says:

"Robotic Process Automation is a preconfigured software instance that uses business rules and predefined activity choreography to complete the autonomous execution of a combination of processes, activities, transactions, and tasks in one or more unrelated software systems to deliver a result or service with human exception management."

In layman's terms, it's a software that automates office activities and processes that previously required manual efforts.

There is so much more to say about UiPath, Robotic Process Automation, AI and don't get me started on Cognitive Automation. If you or your organisation would like to learn more about UiPath and RPA, come to our next UiPath RPA Meetup in Sydney on Wed Feb 13 at 6:00pm (Psst! it's free and there will be pizzas and drinks, but don't forget to RSVP).

If you want to deep-dive into RPA you should not miss the World RPA Summit in Sydney on January 31 where I will be speaking about Cognitive Automation. I heard that a few spots are still available.

And lastly, if you consider a career in Robotic Process Automation, you should definitely check our 300+ current job openings.