Solutions
Intelligent Automation
Intelligent automation that removes repetitive manual work and connects the systems, teams and steps that currently rely on someone doing things by hand. From invoice processing to customer onboarding, we help businesses automate what should be automated, so people can focus on the work that actually needs them.
What is Intelligent Automation?
Intelligent automation takes the repetitive steps in a business process, such as data entry, approvals, routing and reconciliation, and automates them. Traditionally, that meant rules-based automation: if this happens, do that. AI now extends automation to work that needs interpretation, such as reading unstructured documents, classifying requests and handling exceptions. Where a decision has real business impact, a human stays in the loop to review and approve it.
At Inpute, we deliver intelligent automation through our partnerships with Microsoft, Hyland and UiPath, using AI and low-code tools to accelerate deployment and time to value.. We work with what customers already have and build around it, rather than requiring a rip-and-replace of existing systems.
Not every process is purely rules based. Where a task involves genuine judgement, ambiguity or interpretation, reading a free text email, assessing an unusual invoice, understanding an open ended customer request, AI can extend automation into that more subjective territory. A human-in-the-loop step reviews and confirms the outcome, so automation is not limited to the parts of a process that were always clear cut, while a person stays accountable for the decisions that genuinely need one.
Why this matters now
Businesses are being asked to do more with less. Transaction volumes grow, but headcount rarely grows with them, and staff increasingly don't want to spend their day on manual, mundane tasks.
Talk to an expertLow value work consumes valuable resources
Repetitive manual tasks don't just cost time. They lead to errors, and they make it harder to retain staff who'd rather be doing skilled, meaningful work than data entry. As businesses grow, this pressure only increases.
Most organisations don't know where their real inefficiencies are
Fewer than one in five organisations consider themselves mature in optimising their processes for continuous improvement, according to Gartner. Most businesses know something is inefficient somewhere, but without visibility into what's actually happening, it's hard to know where to focus.
AI has changed what can be automated
Rules-based automation handles tasks where the answer is clearly right or wrong. AI now makes it possible to automate more subjective work too, like interpreting emails, contracts and free-text forms. The most effective approach combines the two, with people staying in the loop for the decisions that matter most.
How Intelligent Automation works
- 01
Identify the right candidates
Not every process is worth automating. We assess processes for volume, frequency, complexity and exception rate to find where automation will have the most impact.
- 02
Map the current process
Before automating anything, we map what's actually happening today, often revealing steps, workarounds and bottlenecks nobody had fully documented.
- 03
Design the automated workflow
The process is redesigned around automation, deciding where rules-based automation fits, where AI adds value and where a person needs to stay in the loop, rather than simply digitising an inefficient process as it stands.
- 04
Build and integrate
Using the right mix of low-code tools and workflow platforms, the automation is built and connected to the systems it needs to work with.
- 05
Monitor and improve
Once live, the process is monitored so further inefficiencies can be identified and addressed, rather than treating automation as a one-off project.
Intelligent Automation in practice
Removing manual work from a process frees people to focus on what actually needs their judgement. Here's how organisations are putting that into practice.
- How Do Organisations Scale Operations Without Increasing Headcount?
Automate the processes limiting growth, so transaction volumes can increase without a proportional rise in staff.
- How Do Finance Teams Automate Manual Processes?
Remove spreadsheet dependency and email approvals from finance operations, replacing manual reporting and reconciliation with automated workflows.
- How Do Distribution and Logistics Companies Improve Operational Efficiency?
Bring documents, emails, images and other unstructured content under consistent classification and governance.
- How Low-Code Automation Tools Like Microsoft Power Platform Drive Rapid Operational Efficiencies
Build and deploy automation in weeks using tools like the Microsoft Power Platform, without a lengthy, costly development cycle.
- How Do You Identify the Best Automation Candidates?
A practical framework for finding and prioritising the processes most worth automating first.
- How Can Case Management Improve Customer Experience?
Track every customer interaction to resolution with a complete view of the information your team needs.
- How Do Businesses Improve Process Visibility Through Process Mining?
See what's actually happening in your processes, using real data rather than assumptions or interviews.
What results look like
See our client success storiesReduction in invoice processing time for a transport group, freeing staff for higher value work.
Reduction in manual processing time for a brokerage firm, with a solution designed, built and deployed in 3 months.
Order processing time for a global luxury goods company, down from an average of 3 to 5 minutes.
Timesheets automated every week for a utility provider, with a significant drop in errors.
Our Intelligent Automation technology partners
We're not tied to a single platform. Through our partnerships with Microsoft, Hyland and UiPath, we help you choose the right automation approach for your process, whether that's a quick low-code build or a more robust workflow platform.
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Frequently asked questions
RPA (robotic process automation) is one type of intelligent automation, focused on automating rules based processes. Intelligent automation is the broader discipline, which leverages AI to automate non-deterministic decisions that require judgement.
Look for high volume, low complexity, rule-based processes with a low exception rate. A structured assessment of frequency, volume and time per instance will typically surface the best early candidates.
No. Intelligent automation is generally built around your existing systems, integrating with them rather than replacing them.
It depends on the process, but a focused first project using low-code tools can often be designed, built and deployed within a few weeks.
That's usually a sign the process needs to be mapped and redesigned first, sometimes using process mining, before automation is applied on top of it.
Rules-based automation works best when the answer is clearly right or wrong, the rules are known and stable, and you need a clear audit trail showing exactly how a decision was reached, such as regulatory checks, eligibility rules and approvals. In those cases, AI can add unnecessary risk and inconsistency. AI works best where there's judgement, ambiguity or interpretation involved, such as unstructured or bespoke documents like contracts, emails, forms and free text, especially at scale. Critically, there's usually a human in the loop: AI assists, it doesn't decide alone.
Ready to remove the manual work from your processes?
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation assessment of how process automation could work for your organisation.
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