Organizations stuck in rigid robotic process automation (RPA) routines might view agentic AI as a daunting leap. But SS&C Blue Prism is guiding customers forward at their own pace, bridging the gap from scripted bots to intelligent agents. This shift isn’t optional modern business demands it.
Why RPA Falls Short Today
Traditional RPA shines at repetitive, structured tasks but crumbles under today’s workflow complexity. Steven Colquitt, VP of Software Engineering at SS&C Blue Prism, points out that unstructured data floods in from emails, PDFs, and customer chats mimicking unpredictable real-world interactions. Inputs fluctuate, outcomes vary, and decisions demand real-time context.
Take a credit agreement: you might extract 30-40 nuanced “answers,” not just raw data points. Brian Halpin, Managing Director of Automation at SS&C Blue Prism, emphasizes the reasoning power of large language models (LLMs) here. According to Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for RPA, 70% of enterprises now face “automation plateaus” where RPA covers only 20-30% of processes due to this variability, pushing firms toward hybrid AI solutions.
Agentic AI: Goals Without Step by Step Guides
This transition feels like a journey because agentic AI flips the script. Instead of dictating “step one, two, three,” you tell the AI agent the desired outcome: “Review this loan” or “Onboard this customer.” Halpin notes the market craves this autonomy, but hurdles like trust, regulations, audit trails, stability, and security slow adoption.
LLMs hallucinate, models drift over time, and swapping underlying tech alters outputs. Halpin predicts full agentic workflows aren’t ready yet companies need maturity first. Forrester’s 2025 RPA report echoes this, forecasting that by 2028, 50% of enterprises will deploy agentic systems, but only after addressing “drift risks” via guardrails, which could add 15-20% to implementation costs initially.
SS&C Blue Prism draws from its own playbook: as one of the world’s largest RPA users, they run over 3,500 digital workers across their operations, saving hundreds of millions annually. They’ve already productionized 35 AI agents tied to these workers for complex tasks, proving the hybrid model works.
Blending AI into Existing Automation
SS&C Blue Prism serves thousands of customers with mature RPA setups from centers of excellence (CoEs) to live digital workers. The goal? Upgrade them into an AI-powered world. Often, it’s about linking silos: process automation teams rarely touch AI units due to internal silos.
Halpin observes a trend where AI lives in separate departments, leaving RPA teams capped at partial efficiency. SS&C’s approach unlocks the next 20-30% of end to end automation. They’re launching new tech soon for building, embedding, and orchestrating AI agents in workflows previewed at recent TechEx Global events on February 4-5.
Additional market context from IDC’s 2026 Automation Outlook reinforces this: RPA adoption hit 85% in financial services last year, but agentic enhancements could boost ROI by 3x, with 40% of firms piloting hybrids. Challenges include data privacy (GDPR/CCPA compliance) and skill gaps SS&C addresses these via low-code platforms that let non coders deploy agents securely.
Real World Wins and Future Roadmap
SS&C doesn’t just preach they practice. Their 3,500+ digital workers handle mission critical ops, now augmented by AI agents for tasks like dynamic compliance checks and customer query resolution. This internal success fuels customer migrations, sharing lessons on scalability.
Looking ahead, agentic AI promises transformative efficiency. McKinsey’s 2025 AI report estimates it could automate 45% of work activities in finance and services up from RPA’s 25%. But success hinges on orchestration: tools to monitor agents, reroute failures, and ensure explainability. SS&C’s upcoming releases focus here, with features like agent swarms (multiple agents collaborating) and human in the loop approvals.
Risks persist model drift could spike errors by 10-15% per Deloitte studies but mitigations like continuous retraining and federated learning are maturing. For your business, starting small with RPA AI hybrids yields quick wins: pilot one process, measure uplift, scale confidently.
Start Your Automation Journey
Agentic AI isn’t a revolution overnight it’s an evolution SS&C Blue Prism eases with proven tools and expertise. From RPA foundations to intelligent agents, the path unlocks unprecedented efficiency amid rising data chaos. Ready to blend AI into your workflows?
Check out more on our blog page now → AI, Tech, Cybersecurity
