RPA: The Fastest Growing Enterprise Software and Its Future with AI Agents

Faik Uygur

3 min read
RPA: The Fastest Growing Enterprise Software and Its Future with AI Agents

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has rapidly evolved from a niche automation tool to a mainstream technology in enterprise IT. In fact, RPA was recently recorded as the fastest-growing segment in the enterprise software market, with global RPA software spend jumping 63% in a single year (2018), outpacing all other categories. This explosive growth is driven by RPA’s promise: automating repetitive, rules-based tasks with software “bots” to save time, reduce errors, and free human workers for higher-value activities. For IT professionals, understanding RPA’s growth trajectory and its emerging role alongside AI is crucial. In this article, we’ll explore RPA’s market momentum, the impressive ROI it offers, and how RPA is converging with AI agents to shape the future of intelligent automation.

The Rapid Rise of RPA in Enterprises

RPA’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Organizations across industries have flocked to RPA as a way to streamline operations and digitize manual work. By Gartner’s count, RPA led the pack as the fastest-growing enterprise software category in 2018, and growth remained strong into the 2020s. Global spending on RPA software reached about $846 million in 2018 and was projected to top $1.3 billion in 2019.

This was not a one-off spike but part of a sustained trend: Deloitte observed that over half of businesses had already begun their RPA journey by 2019, and expected 72% of organizations to be working with RPA within two years. At the then-current trajectory, RPA was expected to achieve “near-universal adoption” by 2023.

Why RPA Took Off

  • Ease of integration with legacy systems: RPA can sit on top of existing IT infrastructure without requiring risky replacements. Bots mimic human actions in legacy systems, delivering quick wins in finance, HR, customer service, and more.
  • Efficiency and resilience: Cost pressures, talent shortages, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated automation efforts. 76% of organizations sped up automation during the pandemic, and the trend persisted post-pandemic (AI Multiple Survey).

Market Momentum

  • Software revenue: RPA revenue grew from $2.6 billion in 2022 to $3.2 billion in 2023 (22.1% growth) (AI Multiple).
  • Global market size: Estimates range from $13.9 billion in 2023 to over $22.8 billion in 2024, with CAGRs from 17% to 43.9% through 2030–2032 (Flobotics).
  • Services ecosystem: RPA-related services reached $12 billion in 2023, making up 64% of market revenue by 2024 (Enterprisers Project).

ROI Indicators

  • Quick payback: Average payback is ~12 months or less (AI Multiple).
  • High ROI: First-year ROI ranges from 30% to 200%, with long-term potential up to 300–400% (Flobotics).
  • Cost savings: Organizations can cut operational costs by ~30% with hyperautomation. Bots cost far less than offshore or onshore employees, while improving compliance and reducing errors (AI Multiple).
AI + RPA Synergy

RPA and AI Agents: The Next Frontier of Intelligent Automation

Traditional RPA excels at structured, rules-based tasks. AI agents add the ability to handle unstructured data, make decisions, and interact naturally with humans. Together, they enable hyperautomation (Blueprint Systems).

How AI and RPA Work Together

  • AI as the “brain,” RPA as the “hands”: AI agents make decisions, while RPA bots execute actions in enterprise systems.
  • Customer service example: Chatbots (AI) handle requests, then trigger RPA bots to execute backend processes like refunds or account updates (Advantiss).
  • Digital teammates: Employees can delegate tasks to AI assistants that leverage RPA bots to complete multi-step workflows.

Infusion of AI into RPA

  • AI modules in RPA platforms: Computer vision, intelligent document processing, and sentiment analysis are becoming standard.
  • Large language models (LLMs): Enable AI agents to orchestrate complex goal-driven activities with RPA as execution support (Bernard Marr).
  • Practical use cases: HR onboarding, invoice processing, customer engagement, and knowledge management.

Conclusion

RPA’s journey from niche automation to the fastest-growing enterprise software highlights its transformative role in business. It has proven to be a high-ROI, efficiency-driving technology that enterprises are scaling rapidly.

Looking forward, RPA’s convergence with AI agents opens a new era of intelligent automation. By combining the precision of RPA with the adaptability of AI, businesses can automate complex workflows, enable natural language interaction, and create hybrid human-digital workforces.

The future of enterprise automation will not be just about bots or AI alone, but about digital teammates – AI-driven agents and RPA bots working alongside humans to create smarter, faster, and more resilient organizations.

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