Business process automation
Business process automation is having software carry out the repeatable steps of a business process — moving data, creating records, sending notifications, triggering the next action — so people are only involved where judgement is genuinely needed.
Also written: BPAArabic: أتمتة العمليات
What it replaces
Usually a person acting as the connection between two systems: copying a value from one screen into another, checking whether something arrived, remembering to start the next step. That work is invisible on any org chart and expensive in aggregate.
What should not be automated
A process with frequent exceptions or unclear ownership. Automating it does not remove the mess — it makes the mess happen faster and less visibly. Fix the process first, then automate the stable part.
Automation is not the same as AI
Automation follows rules: a trigger fires, steps run in order, the same input produces the same output every time. When a step needs judgement or has to read something unstructured, that is a different tool and a different risk profile.
Related terms
Questions people ask
It has a clear trigger, defined steps, a named owner, and an agreed answer for what happens when it fails. If any of those is missing, that is the work to do first.
In practice it usually means the same people stop doing the repetitive part. The measurable change is the recurring hours a task consumes, not headcount.
Related serviceAutomation & integrations