Hyperautomation | UnderCurrent Automations

Hyperautomation is Gartner's term for combining RPA, AI, process mining and orchestration tools to automate as many business processes as possible across an organisation.

UnderCurrent Automations builds inside this category without using the word. The label is enterprise positioning, coined by Gartner in 2019 and amplified by RPA vendors with a new SKU to sell. The substance underneath is real, and most of it is just disciplined Business Process Automation applied at scale with a discovery loop bolted on.

The stack has four layers. Process mining tools, Celonis is the loudest name here, watch how work actually flows through systems and surface the bottlenecks worth automating. RPA handles the legacy clicks where no API exists, UiPath and Blue Prism are the incumbents. An AI Automation layer reads messy input, drafts replies, and classifies, this is where AI agents live. An orchestration layer, n8n at the SMB end, Camunda or Microsoft Power Automate at the enterprise end, sequences the workflows and handles handoffs between the other three.

For an Australian SMB, the practical shape is smaller and the layers blur. A panelbeating shop that captures leads from its website, classifies them with an LLM, pushes qualified ones into HubSpot, generates a quote from a template, sends it through Xero, follows up automatically, and books the job in ServiceM8, is doing hyperautomation by Gartner's definition. They almost certainly don't call it that. They call it "the system."

The number worth knowing is from McKinsey's State of AI 2025: firms that report measurable EBIT impact from AI are the ones that wired it into existing automated processes, not the ones that bought a standalone AI tool. Forrester's 2023 Digital Process Automation Wave makes the same point about the orchestration layer, the value is in the spine that connects the pieces, not any single piece.

The dry observation is this: a small business with five well-built workflow automations across the right four tools already has 80% of what hyperautomation promises, without the platform fee. UC's Custom Integrations work tends to live at exactly that scale.

Frequently asked questions

Is hyperautomation a real thing or just a vendor buzzword?

Both. The label is enterprise marketing, coined by Gartner in 2019 and adopted hardest by RPA vendors looking to sell the next platform tier. The substance, layering process mining, RPA, AI and orchestration so more of the business runs itself, is real and broadly correct. Most SMBs are doing it without using the word.

What's the difference between hyperautomation and BPA?

BPA is one process automated end-to-end. Hyperautomation is the organisation-wide version, plus an extra layer of process mining to find which processes to automate next. Same building blocks, scaled up, with a discovery loop on top.

Does an Australian SMB need a hyperautomation strategy?

Not by that name. A small business that has automated lead capture, quoting, invoicing, follow-ups and reporting across four tools is already doing what Gartner labels hyperautomation. The word is useful when pitching a board, the substance is what matters on the ground.