As organizations continue to evolve in the digital age, the demand for smarter, more adaptive automation has never been greater. UiPath is at the forefront of this transition with its new agentic automation platform – an innovation that blends the cognitive power of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) with the structure of robotic process automation (RPA). Unlike traditional bots that follow strict workflows, UiPath’s agentic automation platform creates intelligent, adaptable, autonomous agents capable of performing specific tasks within an organization.
What is agentic AI?
Agentic AI builds upon the familiar concept of generative AI, known for its ability to create content based on descriptive prompts. While generative AI excels at producing text, images and other forms of content, agentic AI takes this a step further by enabling the creation of virtual personas. These digital assistants or agents can act autonomously within the ground rules provided.
These ground rules are defined using a prompt generator, which outlines the agent's role at a high level and provides example business rules for operation. These rules include the “Always” and “Nevers” – actions the agent must always perform and actions it must never allow to occur. Additionally, the context or data the agents are authorized to access is specified, enabling them to make informed decisions.
These agents also learn from their interactions and the feedback they receive, making them highly versatile and capable of handling a wide range of scenarios. This marks a transformative shift in how AI interacts with users and reshapes work.
What is the difference between a bot and an agent?
The difference between an RPA bot and an agentic AI agent lies in their level of autonomy and adaptability. Bots are deterministic, rule-based systems designed to automate highly repetitive, structured tasks. They mimic human actions, like clicking, typing or navigating screens, and follow strict “if-this-then-that” logic. RPA excels in environments where processes are stable and predictable. These bots do not learn or adapt – they execute predefined instructions and require human intervention any time an exception occurs.
