Why SoftBank Invested $300 Million In Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Softbank has bet $300 million, with more to come, that robotic process automation (RPA) will be what brings artificial intelligence (AI) in the enterprise. Robotic Process Automation (or RPA) is one of the hottest areas in the enterprise technology sector these days, reaching $1.3 billion this year, says Gartner. According to the market research firm, RPA software revenue grew 63.1% in 2018 to $846 million, making it the fastest-growing segment of the global enterprise software market, with the top-five RPA vendors (UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, NICE, Pegasystems) controlling 47% of the market. North America continues to dominate the RPA software market, with a 51% share in 2018, followed by Western Europe, while Japan came in third, with adoption growth of 124% in 2018. "This shows that RPA software is appealing to organizations across the world, due to its quick deployment cycle times, compared with other options such as business process management platforms and business process outsourcing," said Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president at Gartner.