Platforms that automate business processes have undergone significant change since Automation Today began covering the space in the late 2010s. But, as they have evolved to include technologies from natural language processing and intelligent document processing to machine learning, generative AI, and now agentic AI, RPA has remained a core tactical component of intelligent automation software.
As it has done each summer since 2019, global IT consultancy Gartner has produced a “Magic Quadrant” evaluating RPA providers. The 2025 version assessed 13 RPA vendors (same as last year) and named Automation Anywhere, Microsoft, SS&C Blue Prism and UiPath as “leaders” (same as last year).
“Magic Quadrants,” which Gartner produces for dozens of technology sectors, use a proprietary analysis to place industry vendors in a graph that plots “ability to execute” on one axis and “completeness of vision” on the other.
The Gartner report acknowledged the rise of AI agents as part of automation platforms that feature RPA and noted that providers claim agentic capabilities will be enabled by having integrated, direct access to automation tools like RPA.
“Nearly all major RPA providers have released AI agent builder capabilities and are discussing how their broader automation platforms can assist the orchestration and choreography of AI agents,” the report’s authors wrote. “The agents will be able to invoke RPA and, conversely, RPA will be able to invoke agents. If the long-term future is autonomous AI agents, the near-term future will be a mix of agents and bots working collaboratively and growing increasingly efficient and effective.”
In addition to the “leaders,” Gartner included 9 other RPA providers in its analysis: Appian, EvoluteIQ (the only newcomer), IBM, Laiye, Pegasystems, Samsung SDS, Salesforce, SAP and ServiceNow.
