Glossary · Concepts

RPA vs agentic automation

RPA follows brittle, hand-recorded scripts; agentic automation has a model plan against the live page — then compiles the result so it replays cheaply.

What is rpa vs agentic automation?

Robotic process automation executes pre-recorded, rule-based scripts tied to specific selectors or coordinates, which break when a page changes. Agentic automation uses a model to perceive the page and plan toward a goal, adapting to layout changes. Compiling a successful agentic run into a skill gives RPA-like cheap repeatability without RPA-like brittleness.

Why it matters

Pure RPA is cheap to run and expensive to maintain; pure agentic automation adapts and pays the model every run. Compile-once-then-replay is the synthesis, and it is the wedge for teams replacing legacy RPA rather than adding to it.

Related terms

See it in context

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Put your agent to work. Keep the decision.

Give your agent a real browser, authorize the accounts it may use, and keep control of every step. Repeated runs compile into skills that replay without a model.