A Student Guide to Robotic Process Automation and Intelligent Automation

This book provides a clear and engaging introduction to Robotic Process Automation (RPA), combining technical foundations, practical decision-making, and real-world insights. It demystifies automation, offering readers the tools to understand and navigate the growing role of RPA in modern organizations. Covering a wide range of topics, the book explores the evolution of automation, the differences between rule-based and cognitive bots, and how to identify processes suitable for automation. Readers will gain hands-on experience through exercises like building their first bot and will learn from real-world case studies of RPA successes and challenges. Ethical considerations, governance, and the future of automation are also addressed, ensuring a well-rounded understanding of the field. Each chapter is designed to bridge theory and practice, making complex concepts approachable and actionable. This book is structured to be core or supplementary reading for courses at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate level in a variety of fields, including computer science, business management and administration, data science, and software engineering.