A few years ago, automation was still associated mainly with replaying scripts. A robot copied data from one window to another, filled in forms according to rigid rules, and ran reports at a set time. Today, we stand on the threshold of an entirely different reality - automation is ceasing to be a tool that merely relieves employees of workload, and is beginning to act as an independent member of the team.
The end of the process-macro era?
Traditional RPA emerged as a response to a specific problem: how to free people from tedious data re-entry between systems. Robots excelled in highly repeatable scenarios. It was enough to precisely define a sequence of steps - and the bot would execute them with a reliability unattainable for a tired employee.
The trouble is that business reality is rarely that orderly. Every exception required human intervention or an extension of the logic. Organisations accumulated dozens of automations that had to be updated with every interface change.
According to Gartner, by the end of 2026, as many as 40 percent of enterprise applications will contain integrated AI agents - a leap from below 5 percent at the start of 2025. This shift stems from real limitations of the classic approach.
Agents that think and decide
Agentic automation represents a fundamental change in philosophy: instead of programming every step, we define a goal - and the agent plans how to achieve it on its own. It can interpret documents in various formats, analyse the context of messages, decide when to escalate, and learn from outcomes.
The difference between an RPA bot and an AI agent resembles the difference between a calculator and an assistant who understands why you are performing the calculation. A bot will copy a value from cell A to cell B because it was told to. An agent will analyse the entire document, recognise missing information, find it itself - and if it is not certain, will ask a human to verify.
“The true value of agents becomes apparent precisely where process predictability ends,” says Michał Korzeń, CTO of SNOK. “The client needs a digital colleague who can handle exceptions and knows on their own when to ask for help.”
Three stages in the maturity of automation
At the first stage, automation focuses on individual tasks: generating reports, migrating data, processing applications. This is classic RPA - quick wins that build trust in the technology.
The second stage is process orchestration. The organisation connects distributed bots into coherent workflows and introduces central oversight. Automation begins to cover entire processes, not just fragments.
The third stage - defining 2026 - is a hybrid environment: AI agents, RPA robots, programming interfaces, and people collaborate within a single ecosystem. The agent plans, the robot executes precise operations, and the human oversees and intervenes in situations requiring judgement.
“Many clients assume that agents will replace all bots,” admits Hubert Nowicki, Team Leader of the Intelligent Automation team at SNOK. “In reality, the strength lies in synergy. The agent decides, the robot acts, the human verifies - it is a model that scales without losing control.”
Oversight as the foundation
The UiPath 2026 report indicates that 78 percent of executives believe that deploying agentic automation requires rebuilding operating models. When systems make decisions independently, the traditional approach to control ceases to be sufficient.
The concept of “governance-as-code” - built-in oversight mechanisms - is becoming the standard. An agent must know not only what it can do, but also what it is not permitted to do. It must be able to explain its decisions and maintain a complete audit trail. The role of specialists is also changing - instead of building scripts, they are becoming designers of automation experiences and guardians of quality.
The practical dimension of transformation
SNOK, as a partner in the UiPath Fast Track programme, helps organisations move through this evolution step by step. We start by analysing processes and identifying where an agent can deliver real value - not because it is fashionable, but because it solves a specific problem.
The key questions concern not the technology, but the purpose: which decisions do we want to automate? Which exceptions absorb employees’ time? Where is flexibility lacking?
“The technology is ready, but organisations need a guide,” concludes Aleksandra Plichta, Analyst at SNOK. “Our role is not only to deploy an agent, but to prepare the team for a new model of collaboration - one in which the machine truly becomes a partner.”
What’s next?
2026 marks the beginning of a new era. The market for agentic solutions is growing at a rate exceeding 45 percent annually and, according to analysts, will reach a value of over 50 billion dollars by 2030. Organisations that build the foundations today - data architecture, a culture of human-machine collaboration, oversight mechanisms - gain an advantage that competitors will not close simply by purchasing licences.
Automation is ceasing to be an IT project. It is becoming an operational strategy that determines how quickly a company responds to market changes and how effectively it uses employee talent. The future belongs to those who understand that a digital employee is not a marketing metaphor, but a concrete role within the team.
Author: SNOK Sp. z o.o. – experts in intelligent automation, SAP, and cybersecurity. UiPath Platinum Partner.
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