TechnologyUiPathPrint articleMar 13, 2025 – 9.28amSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginAgentic automation is driving a fundamental shift in how businesses operate, with AI-driven agents moving beyond routine tasks to take on decision-making responsibilities. This transformation is not just about efficiency - it is reshaping job structures, redefining workforce roles, and pushing companies to reconsider how humans and machines collaborate.Industries including telecommunications, utilities, healthcare, insurance, and financial services are already experimenting with agentic automation to improve productivity and streamline operations. Businesses recognise the potential to enhance customer service, reduce costs, and allow employees to focus on more valuable work, but they are also grappling with the cultural and operational changes that come with AI adoption.AI-driven agents have moved beyond routine tasks to take on decision-making responsibilities.iStockPeter Graves, area vice president ANZ at UiPath, says the shift to agentic AI is expanding the scope of automation.“Traditionally, robotic process automation was very much confined to rigid, rules-based, task-based automation. Obviously, there were a lot of opportunities to deliver value, but when you open up agentic as a capability, you’re able to touch a wide-ranging set of processes across systems and tools,” says Graves.“It really lets businesses rethink how they are delivering services to both internal stakeholders and customers. So the opportunities it presents are quite significant.”AdvertisementOne of the biggest changes is in job reallocation. AI is not just automating repetitive tasks - it is shifting employees into roles that focus on oversight, strategy, and higher-value problem-solving.Peter Graves, area vice president ANZ at UiPath.“Every business we talk to has a different definition of AI-driven job reallocation. Some are looking at how they really rethink their business and processes, while others are looking at how they augment their staff, take away the mundane activities that are taking up time, and elevate what their employees are able to do for the business,” he says.“It’s a combination of humans and AI agents working together to look at outcomes. That’s the best way to think about it.”Early adopters of agentic automation tend to be industries with large workforces performing manual, repetitive tasks. Graves says these businesses are not making a wholesale shift overnight but are experimenting and iterating to find the right balance.“They recognise that they can’t make a wholesale shift overnight. They need to experiment, learn, and iterate because this is a cultural change in the way work gets done,” he says.While the rise of AI in the workplace raises concerns about job displacement, many businesses are seeing a different outcome with agentic automation freeing employees to focus on more meaningful work.“Overall, what we’re seeing is that it’s allowing employees to be more productive and focus on more value-added tasks,” Graves says.“That’s been a really positive sign from the early adopters in the Australian market.”The challenge for businesses is not just implementing agentic automation but doing so in a way that ensures long-term success. Graves says companies that take a structured approach with strong governance and training frameworks are best positioned to realise the benefits.“The number one piece of advice we give our customers is around structure and training,” he says. “There are a lot of tools and technologies that can be deployed, but if they’re not implemented with the right governance and change management framework, they will be more disruptive than they should be.”With AI adoption accelerating, businesses are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape. Graves says companies need to be mindful of ethical considerations, particularly as AI agents take on decision-making roles.“When AI agents take on decision-making roles, there are clear ethical considerations that businesses need to be mindful of,” he says.“Transparency is key - organisations need to ensure that AI-driven decisions are explainable, fair, and free from bias.”Failing to implement AI responsibly could lead to a loss of trust from employees and customers.“If businesses don’t approach AI in the right way, they risk eroding trust among employees and customers, which could slow down adoption and ultimately limit the benefits they can achieve,” Graves says.“Ethical deployment isn’t just about compliance; it’s about ensuring that AI works for everyone in a way that aligns with company values and broader societal expectations.”But the potential of agentic automation isn’t just theoretical. It’s already transforming how businesses operate, from automating tedious workflows to enabling smarter decision-making. William Payne, chief digital officer at property giant Mirvac, has seen firsthand how this new wave of automation is reshaping everything from procurement to employee support.William Payne, chief digital officer at Mirvac.As AI agents become an integral part of business operations, companies that invest in training, governance, and ethical frameworks will be best positioned to take full advantage of the technology. The shift to agentic automation is well underway, and businesses that embrace it thoughtfully will lead the way in redefining the future of work.The result, Payne says, isn’t about reducing headcount but about making people more productive. He has seen a shift in how employees spend their time, with AI taking over the repetitive work that does not add the most value.One of the first places Payne’s team deployed AI was in the company’s mailroom. “The earliest use case was a really simple one. We used to have someone sitting there, sorting through packages, trying to work out what went where. Now, we just take a picture of the address label, and the AI automatically notifies the recipient that their package is ready for collection.”Managing invoices, particularly in industries where procurement is complex, has been another major challenge ripe for AI intervention.“We’re using agentic automation to route invoices for utilities, which are quite complicated. Utilities change all the time, and they don’t necessarily have a purchase order, so traditional robotic processes, which follow a strict script, struggle. Agentic automation helps direct those invoices to the right development or construction site with far greater accuracy.”Agentic automation is also being tested as a tool for streamlining employee inquiries. “Effectively, the query comes in from the individual, and the AI then navigates the complexity of our systems and processes to provide an answer. We still have people handling requests, but AI sits beside them, dealing with the straightforward stuff so that human employees can focus on the more complex cases.”Procurement teams, often bogged down by manual comparisons, have also seen significant benefits. “When our team sends out a request for proposal, we get five different responses from five different vendors. Stripping out the data and doing a side-by-side comparison used to be a manual process. Now, we’re finalising the testing of agentic automation that reads RFPs [Request for Proposal], extracts key data, and pre-populates our evaluation sheets. It means our people spend less time copying and pasting and more time making decisions.”The shift agentic automation is driving isn’t just about efficiency. It’s also changing the way employees think about their work. “It’s not so much that people are doing their jobs differently, it’s that they’re thinking differently. There’s been a surge in creativity, in ideation. You start with one use case, and suddenly, it sparks five more ideas for how we can apply AI elsewhere. It’s an endless stream of possibilities.”While agentic automation is generating buzz, Payne points out that automation isn’t new. “We’ve been using robotic process automation for a long time, manually configuring automation to mimic human tasks. Agentic automation takes that further, making decisions and adapting to changing circumstances rather than just following predefined scripts.”Payne doesn’t see AI replacing human expertise but rather enhancing it. “Right now, the most immediate value is in corporate applications, handling repetitive tasks that require limited thinking. But over time, as AI improves, we’ll see more sophisticated applications in physical construction. The goal isn’t to replace people. It’s to let them focus on what humans do best, solving complex problems and thinking creatively.”Get started on your automation journey with UiPath.SponsoredbyUiPathThis content has been funded by an advertiser and written by the Nine commercial editorial team.SaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreUiPathFetching latest articlesSports stars keep shifting their watch brand allegiancesBani McSpeddenDark Emu beer with native grains at this destination breweryCrocs turn 23 years old. 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