RPA encodes a procedure for software to execute. Microsoft’s desktop-flow documentation describes automating repetitive desktop tasks through predefined actions, including interactions with web and desktop applications (Microsoft, Introduction to desktop flows). RPA is not limited to one kind of screen macro, and calling a workflow deterministic does not mean it needs no testing or failure handling.
For example, a finance workflow could read rows from an approved spreadsheet, enter each invoice into an application and record the resulting identifier. Specify what happens when a row has a missing supplier or the application times out. A configured exception route may be preferable to asking a model to guess the correct supplier. Test reruns so the workflow does not silently create duplicate invoices.
Olga Beregovaya asks whether agents are a new phase of robotic process automation in episode 20 (20:22).
For builders, decide which parts of the task require interpretation and which should follow explicit rules. You can combine model-assisted extraction with a fixed, validated submission process. Agentic workflow covers the broader pattern, expert system covers an older rule-driven approach, human in the loop covers review points, and agentic vs non-agentic AI helps define how much decision-making to hand over.
Sources
- Microsoft, Introduction to desktop flows — Primary source for the explanation and distinctions in this entry.
