📢 New @a16z thesis: We believe AI will automate operations and eat the world of RPA 🤖
Historically, most ops work couldn't be automated because it was too bespoke and lacked native integrations or APIs, and so was done manually or through imperfect RPA solutions.
With generative AI, intelligent automation through AI agents is now possible. What we believe 👇
Historically, most ops work couldn't be automated because it was too bespoke and lacked native integrations or APIs, and so was done manually or through imperfect RPA solutions.
With generative AI, intelligent automation through AI agents is now possible. What we believe 👇
2/ Every company has ops work – whether it's data entry, doc extraction, info transfer, etc – that is essential for achieving business goals (e.g., booking a customer), but is highly mundane / repetitive and not the best use of employee time.
Though some companies attempted to use Robotic Process Automation (RPA), RPA was imperfect since the tech just wasn't advanced enough yet.
Though some companies attempted to use Robotic Process Automation (RPA), RPA was imperfect since the tech just wasn't advanced enough yet.
3/ Thanks to AI, though, ops work can now be truly productized. In the future, we believe AI agents will be prompted with an end goal (e.g., book an appointment), and be empowered with the right tooling and context to take those actions. They’ll be adaptable to various data inputs and will be able to handle process changes. Because of this flexibility, they will be far easier to implement and maintain than traditional RPA systems, making them more accessible for companies to use.
4/ This is a massive market. Ops spend far outstrips most traditional software spend and is also greenfield (there are no legacy ops software incumbents), making it a particularly appealing opportunity for startups!
5/ We believe that there are 2 emerging axes for this generation of intelligent automation cos: vertical automation solutions and horizontal AI enablers.
6/ Horizontal AI enablers focus on a specific building block required for automation regardless of workflow or industry – e.g., structuring unstructured data or enabling web browsing. Companies here include @reductoai, @ExtendHQ, & @browserbasehq.
Vertical automation solutions focus on automating a manual flow for a specific industry – for instance, @TennrHospitals (which automates referral mgmt for healthcare), or @evelegalai (which automates the intake process for plaintiff law firms). Because they do not require you to rip-and-replace a legacy system + can drive immediate ROI for customers by automating revenue-generating activities, they are a prime way to wedge into vertical markets and to earn the right to downstream workflows.
Vertical automation solutions focus on automating a manual flow for a specific industry – for instance, @TennrHospitals (which automates referral mgmt for healthcare), or @evelegalai (which automates the intake process for plaintiff law firms). Because they do not require you to rip-and-replace a legacy system + can drive immediate ROI for customers by automating revenue-generating activities, they are a prime way to wedge into vertical markets and to earn the right to downstream workflows.
7/ This is our @a16z formula for starting an intelligent automation startup. We believe there are many large businesses to be built here and would love to chat with founders working in this domain!
8/ Read our full thesis at and reach out if you're working on intelligent automation.a16z.com/rip-to-rpa-the…
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