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What is RPA (Robotic Process Automation)?

RPA is software robots that perform repetitive tasks in your systems: clicking, typing and lookups. See which processes are suitable, and where AI fits in.

In short

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is software that mimics an employee's work in user interfaces: The robot logs in, clicks, copies, types and moves data between systems, exactly as a human would, just faster and without errors.

Its strength is that RPA does not require integrations: The robot works on top of the existing applications, including older line-of-business systems without an API. That makes RPA often the fastest route to automating processes that would otherwise require expensive system development. RPA is best suited to tasks that are rule-based, repetitive and stable: invoice handling, data transfer between systems, master data creation.

Unstructured tasks that require judgement belong with AI or humans, and modern solutions often combine the two. In the Microsoft world, RPA is delivered via Power Automate Desktop, which many businesses are already licensed for. MI Support IT helps Danish businesses find and automate the right processes.

Back to the glossary

What is RPA?

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is software robots that perform work in the applications your employees already use. The robot is not a physical machine but a program that controls the screen, keyboard and mouse (or calls the systems directly) according to a fixed script. Because the robot works in the user interface, it can automate across systems that were never built to talk to each other, including older line-of-business systems without an API.

What can a software robot do?

Anything that can be described as a fixed rule, a robot can perform:

  • Move data between systems: orders from the webshop into the finance system, master data from CRM into the line-of-business system.
  • Process invoices: read, code and send for approval, escalating only the exceptions to a human.
  • Create and deactivate users: the same checklist, every time, with no forgotten steps.
  • Reconciliations and controls: compare lists, find discrepancies, generate reports. All overnight, ready in the morning.

The gain is not just hours saved: Robots make no typos, skip no steps and document everything they do.

RPA vs. Power Automate vs. AI

The three concepts overlap, but each has its own role:

  • Power Automate (cloud flows) automates via integrations: When the systems have connectors, it is the simplest and most robust route.
  • RPA (in the Microsoft world, Power Automate Desktop) takes over when a system has no integrations and the robot must work in the user interface like a human.
  • AI handles the unstructured: reading a free-text email, assessing a document, extracting meaning. AI decides, RPA executes.

Modern automation typically combines all three: AI reads the incoming invoice, a flow sends it for approval, and a robot keys it into the legacy system.

Which processes are suitable for RPA?

The good candidates meet three criteria: rule-based (the decisions can be written as if/then), repetitive (enough volume for automation to pay off) and stable (the process and the screens rarely change). The classics are invoice handling, master data maintenance, reconciliations and data transfer between systems. Poor candidates are tasks involving judgement, frequent exceptions or systems in constant flux. There, the robot ends up as a maintenance burden. So start small: one process, a measurable gain, and build from there.

How MI Support IT can help

MI Support IT helps with the whole chain: identifying the right processes, building the robots in Microsoft Power Platform and combining them with AI where it makes sense. See also our AI advisory. Contact us for a conversation about which of your routines could run by themselves.

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