If companies were already investing in automation and AI technologies before March 2020, they have only accelerated those investments since. No one expected the jolt the COVID-19 pandemic would bring to business. With leaders looking for ways to avoid human contact, machines, software, and new processes that avoid those humans are even more imperative.

That’s why we’ve committed a whole day of our Transform 2020 digital conference to the Technology and Automation Summit, presented by collaborative data science software maker Dataiku, on July 15. Hear from industry leaders at Dataiku, Intuit, Chase, Walmart, Goldman Sachs, and more about their journeys and learnings in implementing these technologies, how they unlocked value/ROI from them, and their thoughts about what the future holds.

Transform is the flagship event of VentureBeat, which is the leading news site when it comes to AI.

Automated improvements and solutions are part of RPA, or robotic process automation. RPA was the fastest-growing segment of the worldwide global enterprise software market in 2018, rising 63.1% to $846 million, according to Gartner. The Everest Group predicted it will reach up to $2.5 billion in 2020.

In April, UiPath announced that it would offer health care organizations free RPA solutions to perform time-consuming tasks normally undertaken by frontline workers to bolster efficiency in health systems overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While RPA is used in all industries, it’s prominent for banks, insurance companies, telcos, and utility companies that need to integrate complex legacy systems. Software giants such as SAP are acquiring RPA software providers or creating in-house solutions, while vendors are springing up to bring traditional RPA capabilities to business demands such as real-time analytics.

Historically, RPA was used to create bots that automate rules-based business processes, freeing up humans to serve customers and perform other high-touch tasks. But now RPA has evolved into a kind of intelligent automation that leverages machine learning, conversational AI, and other artificial intelligence tools to predict and assess future outputs. Machine learning gives the technology the ability to incorporate decisions and judgments into automation — for example, allowing financial institutions to develop machine learning algorithms for automated credit review and approval.

At State Auto Insurance Companies, for instance, bots have automated 47 tasks in various divisions of the company including customer service, compliance, and accounting, such as automatically verifying data being transferred to different applications. Reportedly, robotic process automation has saved more than 53,000 staffing hours.

RPA bots can interact with any type of application the same way a human can, performing the kinds of disparate, discrete administrative tasks that otherwise require human handling. This includes tasks like transferring data from multiple input sources like email and spreadsheets to systems of record like ERP and CRM systems.

The AI piece is still developing, but major advances in NLP, computer vision, and natural language understanding are taking vendors closer to the ultimate goal: smarter digital workers that can handle task variations (exceptions) or productive linkage with conversational intelligence. For example, Rossum’s invoice data capture tool works without any specific rule or template setup.

In a 2018 Deloitte survey, respondents said RPA earned back their investment in less than 12 months. The respondents rated RPA favorably, saying it met or exceeded expectations for improved compliance (92%), improved quality/accuracy (90%), improved productivity (86%), and cost reduction (59%).

This is the time when every business needs to understand exactly how RPA will boost their efficiencies and bottom line. And VB Transform is where you can do exactly that this July 15-17 online. The Technology & Automation Summit at Transform 2020, presented by Dataiku, will cover a range of AI capabilities and technologies, including the latest on RPA, AutoML, predictive AI, and more. In addition, speakers will address enterprise-wide adoption, integration, and implementation, from talent acquisition and corporate culture to behavior governance and personal privacy.

To join the conversation online, register now to attend Transform 2020. Hear from business leaders who are successfully using RPA and other automation techniques, network remotely with other executives looking to improve the bottom line, and meet vendors who can help you implement your own automation tools and propel your business forward.