90% automation professionals 'using or planning to use AI '

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2024 is the year of integration and usage of AI, with 90% of automation professionals using or planning to use AI within the coming year.

This is according to UiPath, a leading enterprise automation and AI software company, which published its annual State of the Automation Professional Report that uncovers the current reality, future, and perception of automation in the workplace.

The report, which is based on a global survey of 1,909 automation professionals and students, revealed that the primary motivation behind integrating AI into workflows is increased productivity (66%), and automation professionals are utilising the technology in various ways including writing code (67%), creating documentation (57%), and testing (47%).

Growing and maturing

At a macro level, most professionals see that their automation teams are growing and maturing — 61% of respondents report their company has increased the number of people working in software automation in the past 12 months and 81% believe their organisation will hire additional automation professionals in the coming year. With this market growth, training is more critical than ever so professionals can have a thorough grasp of automation tools and reap the benefits.

Other key findings from this year’s State of the Automation Professional Report include:

•Automation professionals are satisfied with their careers: 70% of automation professionals believe they will remain in the industry for the next five years. Regardless of the path they take, 86% think their current job in automation will help them with any future career moves they may make.

There is trust in the future of automation: More than 84% of respondents believe in the growth of the software automation space, and 80% believe they will have an increasingly important role in their organisation in the next year.

Automation is maturing in organisations: 60% of respondents said their organisation has used software automation for 5+ years, compared to 47% last year. Developers are creating automations for a range of departments, most commonly accounting and finance (67%), IT (53%), and operations (51%).

AI is embedded in automation processes: 81% of respondents indicate they use AI products in their automation projects at least a few times per week, if not daily. As employees actively work to use more AI-based tools, only 19% find it difficult to incorporate AI in automation.

Leap forward

“In the past year, the data from our survey shows progress with technological discovery and preparation for AI and automation. Automation professionals are benefiting greatly from taking a leap forward with specialised AI and GenAI integrations in their automation projects, with even more capable agentic AI workflows on the horizon,” said Agi Garaba, Chief People Officer at UiPath.

“The combination of business automation and AI holds incredible potential to transform organisations, increasing productivity while empowering these critical professionals to take their careers to the next level.”