The re-invention of traditional business roles, part 3

Whether you are a recent graduate wanting to learn how organizations select interns, or a senior business leader who wants to see how an internship can benefit your own organization, this four-part series will be of interest to you. Stay tuned for the final part, and if you missed the first two, don’t worry—you can dive in right here for part 1 and part 2!

I’m Tony Nudd, Principal Agentic Automation Engineer for the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. As a veteran “UiPather” for over six years, I’ve witnessed UiPath adapt and respond to a fast-changing IT and business landscape. I began as a Solutions Consultant before moving into leadership as Director of the Solutions Engineering division for APJ Commercial. Now, in my current role, I have the opportunity of mentoring many interns who represent the workforce of the future, shaping how business and technology will be adopted.

In this four-part series, I want to go beyond the title of “intern” and highlight the whole person. Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to get to know our UiPath intern, Justin Liu, a talented Data Science student at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). From September to December 2024, Justin joined our team as a Data Scientist Intern, where he brought fresh perspectives and technical expertise to our projects. His dedication and achievements have not gone unnoticed—he was recently recognized as an AFR Top 100 Future Leader for 2025, a proof of his potential as a rising leader in the field.

But to fully understand Justin’s journey, you must first understand what we do. We, at UiPath, are on is on a mission to transform the future of work through agentic automation, empowering businesses to automate complex processes and unlock new levels of efficiency, innovation, and human potential. By harnessing the power of AI and automation, UiPath Platform™ and products are helping organizations reimagine how work gets done.

In this third part, I'll let Justin tell his own story about working with agentic AI at UiPath.

Accelerating human potential with UiPath Autopilot™

During my internship time UiPath, I was fortunate to experience the innovative potential of UiPath Autopilot™. This wasn’t just another tool. It was a vision of the future of work, one that redefines how we approach data, productivity, and decision making. My experience with UiPath Autopilot™ was exciting and insightful as I got to see how the potential to shift the focus from repetitive or mundane tasks to meaningful insights and innovation.

UiPath Autopilot™ represents the next generation of automation, blending artificial intelligence with easy-to-use workflows to revolutionize how businesses operate. UiPath Autopilot™ redefines productivity by automating repetitive processes, uncovering actionable insights, and enabling even non-technical users to leverage advanced analytics. It’s an AI companion for everyone that will help individuals and organizations work smarter, faster, and more innovatively.

However, the question I asked myself was “Can this tool help me as a data scientist?”

From chaos to clarity: automating the data pipeline

To test out UiPath Autopilot™, I used a small dataset of bakery data to see its potential. The first challenge involved tackling unstructured data from a bakery’s daily transactions. Previously, when dealing with any data, this would have been a difficult, manual process. Arranging and sorting through large sets of data and mismatched spreadsheets could take hours. With UiPath Autopilot™, this process can be completed in a couple of minutes.

What had once required hours of the data life cycle: cleaning, organizing, and structuring data, was now streamlined into a seamless, automated workflow. UiPath Autopilot™ turned raw data into structured, actionable data, allowing me to focus on interpreting trends rather than wrestling with disorganized inputs. The transformation was efficient and opened the doors to more strategic and creative thinking.

Revolutionizing exploratory data analysis

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is essential to uncovering insights, yet traditionally it’s time-intensive. Previously, hours could be spent writing formulas or code to calculate key figures such as total sales, tracking seasonal patterns, and identifying revenue trends. Before UiPath Autopilot™, discovering that cupcakes were the consistent top sellers during weekdays could be a process of time-consuming manual analysis.

Figure 1: Sample data.

With UiPath Autopilot™, these insights emerge within seconds. Not only did it save time, but it could discover uncovered patterns we might have missed, like a surprising spike in pie sales tied to weekend events. UiPath Autopilot™ didn’t just make the process faster, but also smarter by creating visualizations and highlighting insights that traditional methods might have overlooked.

Figure 2: UiPath Autopilot™ analyzing data and creating a management report.

Bridging complexity and accessibility

Advanced analytics often require specialized expertise, but the UiPath Autopilot™ intuitive capabilities make complex analysis accessible to anyone willing to explore its potential. For example, the bakery’s data revealed that pies, while underperforming overall, had unused potential in certain suburban areas. UiPath Autopilot™ was able to write and provide Python scripts to uncover these regional preferences, which would have required hours of coding otherwise.

This wasn’t just about efficiency, but empowerment. UiPath Autopilot™ enables anyone to deliver sophisticated insights without needing advanced technical skills, bridging the gap between complexity and accessibility.

As you may start to see, the combination of large language models (LLM) and automation creates a powerful solution. You can read more in this UiPath blog post.

Transforming data into stories

Data is only as powerful as the story it tells, and UiPath Autopilot™ made storytelling effortless. Traditionally, creating visualizations or developing insights, like revenue comparisons or product performance trends meant hours of formatting and adjustments. UiPath Autopilot™ condensed this process into minutes, producing polished, presentation-ready visualizations that communicated insights clearly and effectively.

For instance, when analyzing the bakery’s data, the tool highlighted a revenue anomaly with a Tuesday spike linked to a one-day cupcake promotion. These visualizations not only saved time but also enhanced stakeholder engagement, making complex insights accessible and actionable.

One of the most impactful moments was witnessing how UiPath Autopilot™ transformed data into actionable insights. For example, it flagged that while cupcakes dominated weekday sales, pies gained traction on weekends, suggesting untapped market potential. Before UiPath Autopilot™, uncovering these insights would have taken hours or gone unnoticed altogether. With its help, they became real-time opportunities, empowering the team to make data-driven decisions on the fly.

Empowering innovation and decision making

The true value of UiPath Autopilot™ is rooted in the way it elevates work. By automating repetitive tasks, it freed up time for strategic thinking and innovation. Instead of spending hours cleaning up data or creating reports, I could focus on brainstorming new strategies or assessing strategies provided by UiPath Autopilot™ to grow the bakery’s business. Automation isn’t about replacing human effort; it’s about increasing it. UiPath Autopilot™ enhanced our ability to think critically, act decisively, and innovate boldly.

Conclusion: The future is now

Using UiPath Autopilot™ was more than just a professional experience. It was a glimpse into the future of work now. UiPath Autopilot™ demonstrated how automation can unlock human potential, shifting focus from routine tasks to game-changing impact. By turning hours of manual work into minutes, revealing insights that drive meaningful action, and empowering everyone regardless of technical background to contribute to innovation, UiPath Autopilot™ is your best AI companion for you in the workplace.

Rather than being concerned about traditional business roles (such as my role as a Data Scientist) being replaced by AI, it’s inspiring to see what AI and automations can do and what it allows data scientists to achieve, and yes, it will change the nature of traditional job role (I will not be replaced by AI, I may be replaced by someone who can use AI effectively). The future of work is here and with tools like UiPath Autopilot™, we’re only beginning to explore the possibilities of accelerating human achievement.

In part four, I will explore the latest AI offering from UiPath, UiPath Agent Builder™, a revolutionary way to build autonomous AI agents which are also “actionable” and I don’t have to have a software development background!

If you're inspired by our story and eager to shape the future of work, why not take the next step? Explore our open internship roles on the UiPath Careers page and discover how you can be part of an innovative, fast-moving team that’s redefining automation.