Because RPA is so essential to effective intelligence automation, the two terms are sometimes confused or used interchangeably. But the reality is that RPA and IA are not the same thing. You can think of RPA as the soldiers on the ground, while IA is the commander making the strategic decisions.
RPA is most effective when it is mimicking and learning from human actions. It generally operates within rule-based activities, such as reading, entering, sharing, and extracting data.
IA takes a higher-level approach. Simulating human intelligence and focusing instead on end-to-end process, IA is capable of bringing automation into the realm of strategy, streamlining and improving an organization's decision-making capabilities. When used in concert, both RPA and IA can benefit from and build upon each other’s strengths.