Agentic AI vs RPA

Agentic Automation is an exciting development in business automation. While it's generating a lot of buzz, there's still some confusion about what it actually is and how it differs from traditional automation methods. Instead of getting caught up in technical definitions, let's focus on the practical side. We'll explore how "Agents" work in real-world situations, as implemented by companies like UiPath and Agentforce.

Many people think Agentic Automation is completely different from traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA). However, the main difference is not in how they're used, but in how they're set up to do the tasks. In this blog, we'll clear some common misconceptions about Agentic Automation and show you how it compares to the traditional RPA. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of what this technology can do for your business.

What Agents Are and How they Differ from Traditional RPA?

Agents are a new and advanced form of automation that can observe, think, adapt changes, process information, and make decisions autonomously. Unlike traditional automation, which just follows strict rule-based workflows, Agents can analyze unstructured data and handle complex tasks. While not fully independent, they're smarter than regular automation.

Companies like UiPath and Agentforce are leading the way in this field. They're combining AI with traditional automation to create tools that can help us learn and make decisions. The key difference? Traditional automation is great for repetitive, structured tasks, whereas Agentic Automation excels at processes requiring reasoning and flexibility. It's like having a smart assistant that can analyze information rather than just a tool that only follows pre-programmed rules. Remember, these agents still need human oversight, but they're a big step forward in making automation more intelligent and adaptable to your business needs.

How Does Agentic Automation Change the Way We Write Automation Workflows?

Traditional automation (RPA) is built around "if this, then that" logic, similar to a step-by-step recipe. While this works well for repetitive tasks, it struggles with complex scenarios or when conditions change. Agentic Automation, on the other hand, follows a more flexible approach where it understands instructions in plain language and adapts to different situations seamlessly. It uses tools to interact with various systems and learns from experience.

Traditional automation needs exact instructions for every scenario. Agentic Automation can figure things out on its own, making it more flexible and reducing the need for constant updates. Think of it as the difference between a robot that can only follow exact steps and a helper that can understand your goals and find the best way to achieve them.

Accessibility of Agents Beyond Chatbots

Agents in automation aren't just for chatbots. They can work in many places - websites, mobile apps, and behind-the-scenes systems. You can use agents through different tools like web dashboards or by connecting them to other software. Unlike traditional automation that often needs specific software to run, agents are more flexible. They can understand plain language commands or use templates you create.

This flexibility makes agents easier to use and adapt in fast-changing business environments. You can manage and scale your automation more easily, with a better control over the processes.

Understanding Agents with a Simple Use Case

How does Agentic Automation work in real-world scenarios? Let’s compare Traditional Agentic AI vs RPA in an email routing process.

Problem Statement

Different departments in an organization are responsible for different tasks and their execution. When an email is received, sometimes it is difficult to route it to the department that is responsible for the task completion. This also requires some process in which that task needs to be completed. So, the goal here is to automate this process to ensure emails reach the correct department while also generating support ticket.

Traditional Robotics Process Automation Approach

It is purely simple RPA automation based on strict rules to fetch email data and then process it based on if than else conditions to send response back to user. Additionally, it will have code to automate certain tools such as JIRA.

Step 1: Retrieve email message

Retrieve new emails from Outlook or other email services GetOutlookMailMessages()

For Each email

emailBody = email.Body // Extract the body of the email
senderEmail = email.Sender.EmailAddress // Extract the sender's email address

Step 2: Analyze email content using NLP service

intents = InvokeNLPService(emailBody) // Call NLP service to classify email content into predefined intents

Step 3: Lookup the location of the user based on their email address

userLocation = ExecuteSQLQuery("SELECT Location FROM Users WHERE Email = '" + senderEmail + "'") // Query the internal database for user's location

Step 4: Map intent and location to the appropriate department

assignedDepartment = MapIntentToDepartment(intents, userLocation) // Map intent and user location to department responsible

Step 5: Create a ticket in the ticket management system

CreateTicketInSystem() // Call API or system to create a new ticket
AssignTicketToDepartment(ticketID, assignedDepartment) // Assign the created ticket to the appropriate department

Step 6: Send response

Forward email to department and include ticket id. Additionally, send email to user.

This RPA automation requires multiple logical steps to be written to get the correct output. Now let’s see what Agents do in the same automation.

Agentic Automation Approach

Agents are smarter. Instead of coding, we can simply write a prompt in natural language, and Agents will do the job. This is the biggest advantage over traditional automation.

Example: Write a prompt with goals and objectives

You are an employee help desk Agent. Route incoming emails based on their content and sender's location to one of five departments: Finance, HR, Sales & Marketing, IT Helpdesk, or Service Delivery.

1. Finance: Handles all queries related to customer and vendor invoices and payments
2. HR: Handles all queries related to payroll and benefits such as timesheets related queries
3. Sales and marketing: Responsible for all information on services provided by company
4. IT Helpdesk: Responsible for queries related to software's and hardware
5. Service Delivery: Has information on past projects and assist in creating new quotes and SOWs

Below is the contact information for each department:

Finance (Global): finance@accelirate.com

HR India: peopleteamindia@accelirate.com

HR Colombia: peopleteamcolombia@accelirate.com

HR US: peopleteamus@accelirate.com

Sales and Marketing: sales@accelirate.com

It Helpdesk India: ithelpdeskindia@accelirate.com

It Helpdesk (Except India): ithelpdeskglobal@accelirate.com

Service Delivery: sd@accelirate.com

Read the email body to determine which department is most suited to answer the question asked. Take into account the location of the user before determining which department should handle the query. Utilize tools to complete the task with external systems.

Now, you can simply follow these steps:

Step 1: Retrieve latest email from the mailbox using the “GetEmails” tool

Run Tool: GetEmails - Retrieve incoming email and extract necessary information, return to agent as a List.

Step 2: Analyze email context & identify the right department

For each email received, analyze it and decide which department should handle it by considering the following key indicators:

• Context
• Intent
• Sender
• Priority

Reference the departmental expertise guide that outlines each department's roles, responsibilities, and areas of expertise within an organization.

Caption: Agent giving output for query asked by user that which dept it belongs to and its contact info

Step 3: Determine sender’s location

Lookup the location of the user based on their email address

Run Tool: FindLocation(SenderEmail)

Step 4: Create and assign a ticket

Create a ticket in the ticket management system and assign it to the department

Run Tool: CreateTicket(ticketID, assignedDepartment)

Step 5: Send email to department

Run Tool: Email to Department, including all emails context, intent, sender, and ticket id.

Takeaway

Agents are still using RPA to complete the entire task such as to retrieve emails to create tickets. Both traditional RPA and Agents check emails every 30 minutes, but the Agent-based approach is more flexible and can handle complex situations better.

Advantages of Agentic Automation

Traditional RPA solutions are great for structured tasks, but if your processes require adaptability and contextual understanding, Agentic Automation is the better choice. So, what makes Aagents a better fit for modern automation needs?

01. More Flexible Workflows

No need for hardcoded rules, or process definition which automatically makes the updates and changes adaptation easier.

02. Better Decision-Making

Agents can analyze complex situations and determine intent. Deciding on subjective tasks such as determining Email intent. Mapping of the location of the user to countries and departments. Some of these things were not easily possible with RPA.

03. Simplified Maintenance

Easier to maintain and enable updates as compared to the traditional Robotic Process Automation scripts.

04. Handling Unstructured Data

Agents work better in handling more complex, nuanced tasks. They can process emails, documents, and natural language inputs.

Expanding the Scope of Automation with AI Agents

Agents are not just chatbot interfaces—they can be deployed in multiple ways, just like traditional automation. While chat interfaces can be one mode of interaction, Agentic Automation extends far beyond that, enabling smarter, context-aware automation that improves efficiency and decision-making.