AI Applied: How intelligent automation and agentic AI are reshaping the enterprise 

As organizations accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), many are moving beyond experimentation and into execution. What began as an exploration of generative AI is rapidly evolving into a broader transformation of how work gets done. At the center of this shift is the convergence of robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent automation and agentic AI — technologies that are redefining both operational efficiency and workforce strategy.  

The evolution from RPA to intelligent automation 

RPA has long served as a foundational automation tool, enabling organizations to automate repetitive, rules-based tasks by mimicking human interactions with systems. These bots operate deterministically, following predefined logic to execute structured, high-volume processes such as data entry, reconciliation and system updates. 

However, as business processes become more complex, the limitations of RPA have become more apparent. Traditional bots cannot interpret unstructured data or adapt to nuanced scenarios. Intelligent automation addresses this gap by layering AI capabilities, such as machine learning and natural language processing, onto RPA. This allows systems to interpret information, make decisions and manage exceptions, significantly expanding the scope of automation.  

Understanding agentic AI 

Generative AI has introduced powerful, prompt-based interactions that allow users to quickly access and synthesize information. However, these systems are inherently reactive and can lack consistency across interactions.