Instead of Agentic AI, Start with Process Automation

Yesterday, we reviewed what agentic AI is and why we should care about it. Even though it's an incredible leap forward technologically, your efforts are likely better spent on process automation this year (and into 2026 as well).

There are plenty of ways to automate processes:

1. Built-in automation features of your CRM system, email marketing platforms, or collaboration tools like Slack
2. Standalone automation platforms like Zapier, Make, Workato, and robust integration platforms
3. Robotic process automation like Microsoft's Power Automate and UiPath

You're probably already using the first two, yet the last one opens up tons of possibilities.

Let's define what robotic process automation (RPA) is:

•  Automates tasks fully or partially, on a scheduled or reactive basis
• Integrates with systems directly (e.g. via APIs or reading/writing data to databases)
• Interacts with desktop applications (e.g. web browsers, Excel) by impersonating human behaviors
• Relies on codified instructions and logic to interact with users, systems, and follow different branches

If you recall or peek back at the definition of agentic AI from yesterday's newsletter, you'll notice the first three of those points are identical.

The key difference is that RPA executes predefined steps and rules, while agentic AI adapts and learns.

Why bother with RPA now when agentic AI is on the horizon?

Because your organization already has people performing repetitive tasks that largely do not rely on human intuition, yet still consume human time, which also comes with human error.

RPA solves those two challenges by reducing the time to perform those tasks while increasing the accuracy (e.g. no typos in data entry, high compliance to the process's steps).

It's even more powerful when you keep the "human in the loop" (to borrow a buzzword phrase from AI land) as they initiate or monitor execution, especially when those automation routines are working with systems that you don't control.

TLDR: Instead of waiting to realize efficiencies with agentic AI, start using tried and true robotic process automation (RPA) and reap the benefits now.