A recent report by UiPath reveals that the primary motivation behind integrating AI into workflows is increased productivity (66%). Automation professionals are utilising the technology in various ways including writing code (67%), creating documentation (57%), and testing (47%).
According to the State of the Automation Professional Report, 61% of respondents report their company has increased the number of people working in software automation in the past 12 months. 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.
The report, which is based on a global survey of 1,909 automation professionals and students, revealed 2024 was the year of integration and usage of AI, with 90% of automation professionals using or planning to use AI within the coming year.
Other key findings from this year’s State of the Automation Professional Report include career satisfaction, trust in the future of automation.
The report highlights that 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.
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 organization in the next year.
Around 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%).
The report also reveals that 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.
“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 leaping 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.