On May 19, 2026 Allisa Boulette publishes a guide that defines process automation, catalogs four primary automation

On May 19, 2026 Allisa Boulette published a guide that defines process automation, catalogs the four main automation types teams use today, and shows how AI-enabled orchestration can stitch dozens — and even thousands — of apps into end‑to‑end flows. The guide pairs conceptual definitions with concrete examples, a five‑step rollout strategy, and a checklist of essential features to help teams evaluate and implement automation. This matters because AI orchestration reduces the need for engineering work, enabling more people to build cross‑system workflows.

Boulette defines process automation as software and related technologies that automate sequences of activities across multiple steps, systems, and teams. She distinguishes it from task automation by emphasizing end‑to‑end orchestration with conditional logic and decision points rather than single, isolated tasks. A concrete sales example illustrates the difference: when a lead responds, their data is added to HubSpot, a Google Calendar invite is scheduled, the appropriate rep is pinged in Slack, Fathom notes are attached back to the HubSpot record after the call, and a follow‑up is queued in Gmail.

The guide sorts automation into four types and centers its discussion on two familiar categories. Workflow automation connects a trigger to chained actions across apps-for example, creating an invoice in QuickBooks and updating a customer record in Airtable after a Stripe payment clears. Intelligent automation layers AI to interpret, summarize, classify, or extract data, such as summarizing meeting notes or triaging incoming support requests by urgency.

Boulette highlights a tooling shift: a decade ago process automation usually meant engineers writing scripts against internal APIs; today, AI orchestration platforms let non‑engineers describe workflows in plain English and stitch together thousands of integrations (the guide cites platforms that connect with 9,000+ apps). That change lowers technical barriers and expands who can build cross‑system flows. Practically, she says teams should track benefits like reduced manual effort, faster processing, fewer errors, and standardized execution, and begin with high‑leverage, low‑risk weekly tasks.

She also points to complex examples — such as multi‑team employee onboarding spanning HR, IT, and payroll — where true end‑to‑end orchestration delivers the most value. For teams evaluating or implementing automation, the guide offers a five‑step rollout approach and flags product features that matter most: a visual builder for chaining actions, robust connectors to common apps, AI capabilities for interpretation and classification, and decision‑logic support for multi‑step processes. Those criteria, Boulette argues, help teams choose tools and plan integrations without assuming heavy engineering lift.