As new intelligent automation case studies and use cases continue to pour in, this advanced business process automation technology is becoming a practical reality for many organizations, transforming how they operate and deliver value when applied to the right processes.
Intelligent automation combines the power of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and traditional automation to enable smarter, faster, and more agile processes. It can help you automate error-prone, repetitive tasks, augment human capabilities, improve decision-making, and drive better operational outcomes. And with more streamlined processes comes an enhanced customer experience, resulting in better experiences for both customers and employees.
But definitions aside, intelligent automation comes in many forms, prompting the question, “What does intelligent automation actually look like in practice?” To answer that question and get the inspiration flowing, let’s dive deeper into 5 of the most popular intelligent automation technologies and their most tried-and-true use cases.
5 Examples of Intelligent Automation Use Cases (And How They Could Help Your Organization)
Across these five examples, you’ll see patterns that apply in healthcare, government/public sector, and commercial enterprises alike.
1. Intelligent Capture
One example of intelligent automation tools is intelligent capture, which is the process of capturing, extracting, and validating data from various sources and formats, such as paper documents, emails, invoices, forms, images, and more. Intelligent capture uses AI technologies, such as optical character recognition (OCR), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML), to automate and enhance the data capture process. This ability to automate manual tasks can help you reduce manual data entry, improve data quality and accuracy, and speed up data processing and delivery.
One of the most common forms of intelligent capture you’ll see in organizations today is intelligent document processing (IDP). This intelligent automation technology lets you automate high-volume, paper-heavy manual processes like invoice processing. It can scan and digitize invoices, extract key data fields, like invoice number, date, amount, vendor name, and more, validate the data against predefined rules and databases, and route the invoices to the appropriate workflows and systems, like your ERP or CRM. As a result, you can dramatically reduce reliance on paper-based and manual invoice processing, which saves significant time. And by improving data accuracy and consistency, it can help reduce manual errors and support fraud detection efforts, improving cash flow and vendor relationships along the way.
Best-fit industries:
- Healthcare and insurance (claims, prior authorizations, EOBs)
- State and local government (applications, permits, benefits)
- Financial services (loan packets, KYC documentation)
- Manufacturing or distribution (orders, packing slips, shipping docs)
Who Benefits Most:
- CFOs and finance leaders who need faster, more accurate invoice and payment processing.
- Revenue cycle leaders and billing managers in healthcare and insurance.
- Shared services and back-office leaders consolidating AP, AR, or mailroom operations.
- CIOs and IT leaders responsible for content and data platforms.
Healthcare Mini Example
Say a health system uses intelligent capture and intelligent document processing (IDP) to ingest prior authorization requests, claims, and supporting documentation from faxes, portals, and email.
The solution classifies each document type, extracts key data elements (member ID, procedure codes, dates of service), validates them against core systems, and routes clean data into downstream workflows for review and decisioning.
As a result, the organization can shorten review cycles, reduce rework, and improve staff experience by eliminating manual keying and re-typing from scanned images.
Government Mini Example
A state agency uses intelligent capture to process benefits applications and supporting documents (proof of income, identity verification, residency).
Instead of staff manually opening mail and rekeying data, the agency scans and classifies each document, extracts key fields, validates them, and routes each case to the correct queue based on program rules.
This helps the agency respond to citizens faster, reduce backlog, and improve compliance with documentation requirements.
2. Optimizing Content Management with AI
AI-driven intelligent automation technology is also making waves in the content services space, making these enterprise solutions more efficient than ever. For one, AI algorithms can analyze and tag content automatically, often with high accuracy when trained and governed appropriately, making it easier to organize and search for specific information. AI can even be used to automatically transform content, whether it’s translating text or converting file formats. This way, your content can be more accessible and a breeze to use for whatever purpose is necessary.
But AI is also changing the way organizations search for content. Content services solutions have long offered text search capabilities like OnBase’s full-text search. As powerful as these tools are, intelligent automation technology is augmenting traditional content search, enabling more contextual and relevant results across large content repositories. With this advancement, organizations are finding information within large volumes of content quickly and easily.
Best-Fit Industries:
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Healthcare systems managing clinical documents, policies, contracts, and imaging.
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Government and public sector organizations with large volumes of case files, permits, and public records.
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Manufacturers and distributors with complex technical documentation and product records.
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Financial services firms managing account records, disclosures, and correspondence.
Who Benefits Most:
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Records and information management leaders.
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Compliance and legal teams responsible for retention and audits.
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CIOs and IT leaders who own content services platforms.
Healthcare Mini Example
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A healthcare organization uses AI to auto-classify and tag clinical notes, consent forms, and imaging reports in its content platform.
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Instead of relying on staff to manually choose document types and keywords, AI models recognize document types, assign metadata, and link them to the right patient record.
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Clinicians and back-office staff can then find the right information in seconds, which improves care coordination and reduces time spent hunting for documents.
Government Mini Example
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A public agency uses AI-driven tagging and search to organize case files, permits, and public meeting records.
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AI identifies document types, extracts key attributes (case numbers, applicant names, dates, topics), and applies consistent metadata that makes advanced search and reporting possible.
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This helps staff respond to citizen inquiries faster, improves transparency, and simplifies public records requests.
3. Robotic Process Automation
Robotic process automation (RPA) is the process of automating rule-based, high-volume, repetitive tasks that are performed by humans using software robots or bots.
RPA can mimic human actions, such as clicking, typing, copying, and pasting, in effect automating routine tasks across multiple applications and systems. RPA can help you free up your human resources, improve productivity and quality, and reduce errors and delays.
One common example of RPA is automating portions of payroll-related processing. Bots can collect and validate employee data, such as hours worked, leaves, bonuses, and deductions, from various sources, such as timesheets, attendance systems, and HR systems. Bots can also calculate salaries, taxes, and benefits, generate pay slips, and transfer funds to employee accounts. RPA can help you simplify and standardize payroll processing, support compliance and improve accuracy, and improve employee satisfaction and engagement.
Best-Fit Industries:
Any large employer, especially:
- Health systems
- Government agencies
- Universities
- Large commercial enterprises.
~Who Benefits Most:
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HR and payroll leaders who want accurate, on-time payroll with less manual work.
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Finance and accounting leaders seeking better control and auditability.
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Shared services leaders consolidating HR/finance operations across locations.
Healthcare Mini Example
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A health system uses RPA to automate complex pay rules for clinical staff, including shift differentials, overtime calculations, and call pay.
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Bots collect time and attendance data from multiple systems, apply pay rules consistently, and post the results into the payroll system.
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This reduces pay errors, minimizes manual corrections, and improves staff trust in payroll—critical in a labor-constrained environment.
Government Mini Example
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A state or local agency uses RPA to automate seasonal or temporary worker payroll, stipends, or grants disbursements.
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Instead of staff manually reconciling spreadsheets, bots validate time or eligibility data, prepare payment files, and update core systems.
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This streamlines payment cycles, reduces errors, and frees finance staff to focus on budget management and analysis.
4. Intelligent Process Automation
Intelligent process automation (IPA) is the process of automating complex and end-to-end business processes that involve multiple systems, data sources, and human interactions. And beyond just automating, this process also involves taking a closer look at the processes in question and finding ways to make them more efficient. IPA uses a combination of automation technologies, such as business process management (BPM), workflow automation, robotic process automation (RPA), and AI, to optimize the execution of business processes. It can help you increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and risks, and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
One example of IPA is automating customer service using both chatbots and RPA. Chatbots can interact with customers via natural language, answer common queries, provide information, and collect feedback. RPA can perform backend manual tasks, such as updating customer records, verifying identity, processing transactions, and sending confirmations. Together, these technologies can help you provide 24/7 support for common requests, enable more personalized service through intelligent routing and context, reduce wait times and errors, and improve customer retention and advocacy.
Then, for more complex or non-standard cases, your employees can step in with full context. That way, your customers get the support they need, but your employees’ days don’t have to be consumed by simpler requests and FAQs.
Best-Fit Industries:
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Healthcare providers and payers (member and patient services, scheduling, billing).
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Government agencies with high-volume citizen service (contact centers, portals).
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Commercial organizations with omnichannel customer support.
Who Benefits Most:
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Contact center and customer service leaders.
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CX leaders focused on NPS/CSAT.
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Operations leaders and CIOs responsible for end-to-end service journeys.
Healthcare Mini Example
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A health system uses intelligent process automation to orchestrate patient inquiries across web, mobile, phone, and portal channels.
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Chatbots handle common questions about scheduling, benefits, and billing, while RPA and workflows update EHR, scheduling, and billing systems in the background.
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When a case gets complex, it automatically routes to the right staff queue with all context attached, reducing handle time and improving patient satisfaction.
Government Mini Example
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A city or state agency uses IPA to handle citizen questions about benefits, licensing, or permits.
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Virtual assistants capture requests 24/7, gather key information up front, and trigger RPA or workflow steps to check status, update records, or submit applications.
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Human staff only step in when a request falls outside standard scenarios, which reduces wait times, shortens backlogs, and improves the citizen experience.
5. Automated Retention and Destruction of Documents and Records
Organizations manage vast amounts of documents and records, which is a daunting task given all the legal and regulatory requirements they face. Not to mention the need to optimize storage use and manage data efficiently. That’s where intelligent automation tools can help: Automated retention and destruction of documents and records is the process of managing the lifecycle of documents and records, from creation to disposal, according to predefined policies and regulations.
This technology scans and indexes documents and records, assigns metadata and retention schedules, stores and organizes documents and records in a centralized and secure repository, and routes them for review, archival, or defensible destruction when retention requirements are met. This way, you can support compliance and security, reduce storage and maintenance costs, improve data governance and quality, and enhance data accessibility and usability.
Best-Fit Industries:
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Healthcare and life sciences organizations with stringent PHI and medical record requirements.
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Insurers, banks, and financial services firms with complex retention rules.
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State and local governments responsible for public records and legal discovery.
Who Benefits Most:
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Records and information management leaders.
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Compliance, legal, and privacy officers.
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CIOs accountable for data governance and storage costs.
Healthcare Mini Example
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A hospital network automates retention and destruction policies for electronic medical records, images, and supporting documentation.
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Intelligent automation applies the right retention schedule based on record type and jurisdiction, monitors when items reach end-of-life, and routes them for review or automated destruction.
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This reduces the risk of over-retaining sensitive data, supports compliance with regulations, and controls storage costs over time.
Government Mini Example
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A state or local government uses automated retention and destruction to manage permits, case records, council minutes, and public correspondence.
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Each record type is tagged with a retention category aligned to state schedules; automation then tracks aging records, prompts review, and disposes of records when allowed.
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The result is better compliance with public records laws, lower storage overhead, and less risk during litigation or investigations.
Which Intelligent Automation Example Fits Your Role?
You might be wondering where to start. Here’s a quick way to match these examples to the problems you see every day:
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Healthcare leaders (CFOs, revenue cycle, operations): start with Intelligent Capture/IDP for invoices and claims, Intelligent Process Automation for patient/member service, and Automated Retention and Destruction for medical records and imaging.
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Government and public sector leaders: prioritize Intelligent Capture for applications and benefits forms, Optimizing Content Management with AI for case files and public records, Intelligent Process Automation for citizen service, and Automated Retention and Destruction for records management.
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CFOs and finance leaders: focus on Intelligent Capture for AP and AR and Robotic Process Automation for payroll, reconciliations, and other high-volume finance workflows.
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CIOs and IT leaders: look at all five examples as building blocks in your broader intelligent automation platform—connecting capture, content, RPA, orchestration, and governance.
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Operations and shared services leaders: consider where manual handoffs, rekeying, and backlogs are hurting customers or employees, then map those pain points to at least one of the examples above.
Once you’ve identified the one or two examples that best match your role and industry, you’re ready to shortlist a pilot and build a simple business case.
Discover the Power of Intelligent Automation Systems Today
These are just some of the examples of how intelligent automation benefits businesses that can inspire you to start or accelerate your own intelligent automation journey. As we’ve seen, intelligent automation tools can help you transform your organization’s business process management and achieve significant benefits, from improved efficiency and quality with automated manual tasks to a transformed customer experience and the ability to innovate. When applied thoughtfully to the right processes, intelligent automation can play a critical role in advancing your digital transformation goals.
