Your Business Runs on Dozens of Tools. None of Them Talk to Each Other.
Bad Robot's BOAT platform connects your systems, automates your workflows, and deploys agentic AI that monitors and optimises your operations around the clock - without you having to lift a finger.
Business orchestration and automation in South Africa is no longer a luxury reserved for large enterprises. South Africa's BPO market is projected to grow from USD 8.29 billion in 2025 to USD 22.5 billion by 2035. The businesses that will capture that growth are the ones that stop managing chaos and start running on intelligent, connected automation. BOAT is how you get there.
Trusted by South African businesses since 2013. POPIA compliant. Built for finance, healthcare & logistics.
What Is BOAT? The Platform That Changes How Your Business Works
Gartner coined the term Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (BOAT) in 2024 to describe a new category of unified platform that converges every major automation discipline into one composable, cloud-native system. Before BOAT, businesses had to stitch together separate tools for each problem: one for robotic process automation (RPA), another for business process management (BPM), a third for connecting SaaS apps (iPaaS), and yet another for building internal tools (LCNC). The result was a fragmented mess of siloed systems that duplicated effort, created blind spots, and left your team doing manual work that should have been automated years ago. BOAT replaces all of that with a single, integrated approach.
BPM
Business process management for end-to-end workflow governance
RPA
Robotic process automation for repetitive task execution
iPaaS
Integration platform as a service to connect your existing tools and data
LCNC
Low-code/no-code application development for rapid deployment
AI-driven decisions
Intelligent automation that learns, adapts, and optimises in real time
Process Mining
Automated discovery of your existing workflows and bottlenecks
Agentic AI
Autonomous agents that act, monitor, and self-correct without human triggers
End-to-End Visibility
A single view across all your automated and orchestrated processes
"enterprises using BOAT frameworks are automating 70-80% of their processes - well beyond what traditional RPA could ever reach."
Your Automation Is Fragmented. Your Processes Are Leaking Money.
Most South African businesses have tried some form of automation. They have an RPA bot running in one department. A spreadsheet-to-email process somewhere else. A CRM that does not talk to their accounting system. And a team that still manually copies data between platforms every single day. This is not automation. This is automation theatre.
Disconnected tools that create more admin, not less
When your RPA bot outputs a file that still needs a human to upload it into another system, you have not automated anything. You have just moved the bottleneck.
Processes you cannot see, so you cannot fix
Without process mining and end-to-end visibility, you are making decisions about your operations based on instinct rather than evidence. Bottlenecks compound quietly until they become expensive problems.
Automation that stops at the boundary of your existing tools
Traditional RPA was built to automate clicks and keystrokes. It cannot make decisions, handle exceptions, or adapt to changing inputs. When the process changes - and processes always change - your bot breaks.
Compliance risk baked into manual handoffs
In regulated industries like finance and healthcare, every manual step is a potential compliance gap. When governance is not embedded into your workflows, you are one audit away from a serious problem.
AI tools that operate in isolation
Buying a standalone AI tool and hoping it will transform your business is like buying a single power tool and expecting it to build a house. AI delivers value at scale when it is integrated into your orchestration layer - not bolted on as an afterthought.
Bad Robot's BOAT platform addresses all of this. Not with a patchwork of fixes, but with a unified architecture that connects your systems, automates your processes, embeds compliance governance, and deploys agentic AI that runs your operations intelligently - continuously.
Five Disciplines. One Platform. No Compromises.
Process Discovery & Mining
Find the bottlenecks you didn't know existed.
Before you can automate a process, you need to understand it accurately - not how your team thinks it works, but how it actually works, with all the deviations, manual workarounds, and inefficiencies included. Bad Robot uses automated process discovery (APD) and object-centric process mining (OCPM) to map your existing workflows in a fraction of the time traditional analysis would take. Agentic AI agents build process twins of your current operations, surfacing the inefficiencies, delays, and compliance gaps that manual interviews and process maps routinely miss. AI-driven process mapping is up to 90% faster than manual analysis.
- Accurate, evidence-based process maps built from your actual system data
- Automated identification of bottlenecks, redundancies, and compliance gaps
- Process twins that allow you to model and test automation scenarios before you build them
- A baseline for measuring the real ROI of every automation initiative you run
Orchestration Engine
The connective tissue that makes all your tools talk to each other.
Most businesses are not short of software. They are short of integration. Bad Robot's orchestration engine uses BPMN and DMN standards to build end-to-end workflows that connect your legacy systems, your modern SaaS tools, and everything in between. Whether you need workload automation (WLA), iPaaS connectivity, or a full orchestration layer that spans your entire operation, this is the layer that turns your technology stack into a coherent, automated system rather than a collection of disconnected parts.
- Seamless integration of legacy systems and modern SaaS platforms without expensive rip-and-replace
- BPMN/DMN standards compliance for portable, maintainable workflow design
- Centralised workflow governance with full audit trails for regulated industries
- Real-time visibility across all integrated systems and automated processes
Intelligent Automation
Automates the cognitive tasks - not just the clicks.
Traditional RPA was built for rule-based, repetitive processes. It breaks the moment something unexpected happens. Bad Robot's intelligent automation layer combines RPA, digital process automation (DPA), and intelligent process automation (IPA) with generative AI, large language model (LLM) integration, natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and intelligent document processing (IDP). The result is automation that can read, interpret, decide, and act - handling the cognitive complexity that traditional bots cannot touch.
- Intelligent document processing that reads, classifies, and extracts data from unstructured documents including PDFs, invoices, and contracts
- LLM and NLP integration that enables automation of communication-heavy, language-dependent processes
- Exception handling driven by AI decision-making rather than rigid rules - so your automation survives real-world variability
- Significant reduction in manual processing costs in data-heavy industries like finance and healthcare
Agentic AI Layer
Your business runs itself - agents monitor, decide, and act 24/7.
This is where intelligent process automation moves into a different category entirely. Agentic AI agents are autonomous systems that do not wait for a human trigger. They monitor your processes continuously, detect anomalies and opportunities in real time, make decisions within defined parameters, and take action - whether that means rerouting a workflow, escalating an exception, or optimising a process configuration. Multi-agent systems (MAS) take this further: multiple specialised AI agents collaborate on complex, end-to-end workflows that span departments and systems. This is Hyperautomation 2.0 - agentic AI automation in South Africa that extends automation coverage to 70% or more of your enterprise processes.
- Real-time process monitoring and autonomous intervention without human prompts
- Multi-agent collaboration for end-to-end automation of complex, cross-department workflows
- Self-optimising systems that improve performance over time based on process data
- 24/7 operational coverage - your automation does not clock off when your team does
Low-Code Optimisation
Build custom automation apps without a full development team.
Not every automation challenge requires a senior developer. Bad Robot's low-code/no-code (LCNC) platform layer allows your business to build, deploy, and iterate on custom internal applications, automated forms, approval workflows, and compliance governance tools - rapidly and at a fraction of traditional development cost. Using intelligent business process management suites (iBPMS) and API management, we give your teams the tools to own their automation without becoming dependent on IT backlogs. Compliance governance is built directly into the platform layer, not added after the fact.
- Rapid deployment of custom business applications without large development budgets
- Compliance and governance controls embedded at the workflow level for finance and healthcare
- API management that allows your low-code applications to connect to your existing systems
- Empowers your internal teams to modify and extend their own automation as their processes evolve
We Build for South African Businesses. Not for Hypothetical Enterprises.
Six reasons South African SMEs choose Bad Robot for BOAT.
Local Compliance Expertise Built In
South African businesses face a specific regulatory environment: POPIA, FSCA requirements for financial services, HPCSA standards for healthcare, and sector-specific compliance obligations that generic offshore platforms were not designed to handle. Bad Robot builds compliance governance directly into your BOAT architecture - not as an add-on, but as a structural element of every workflow we design.
SME-Friendly Pricing and Onboarding
Enterprise automation platforms are priced for enterprises. Most South African SMEs get quoted implementation costs that eat their entire annual technology budget before a single process is automated. Bad Robot structures its BOAT engagements to deliver measurable value from day one, with modular pricing that scales as your automation maturity grows - not the other way around.
Agentic AI Expertise in Production
Most automation providers in South Africa are still selling RPA with an AI badge on it. Bad Robot's team works with production-grade agentic AI systems, multi-agent architectures, and LLM-integrated automation pipelines. We are not theorising about what agentic AI can do for your business. We are deploying it.
Custom Development Capability
Most BOAT platform vendors offer configuration within their tool's limits. When your process does not fit the template, they hit a wall. Bad Robot is a custom development house. If your workflow requires something the standard platform cannot do, we build it. No workarounds. No compromises.
End-to-End Engagement
We do not hand you a platform license and wish you luck. Bad Robot owns the full engagement: process discovery, architecture design, build, deployment, and ongoing optimisation. You get a partner who understands your operation, not a product vendor who moves on after go-live.
South African Market Knowledge
Our team works with businesses in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and across South Africa's major economic sectors. We understand the operational realities of South African SMEs - load-shedding contingency requirements, local banking integrations, SA-specific HR processes, and the practical constraints of running a business in this market.
BOAT Works Where Complexity Lives
Five industries where Bad Robot's BOAT platform delivers measurable results.
Financial Services
South African financial services businesses operate under strict compliance requirements, handle high volumes of document-intensive processes, and face constant pressure to reduce costs without reducing quality. BOAT delivers automated onboarding workflows, intelligent document processing for KYC and AML, compliance-embedded approval chains, and real-time fraud detection pipelines. The result is faster processing, lower compliance risk, and operations that scale without proportional headcount growth.
Healthcare
Healthcare administration in South Africa is one of the most process-heavy environments in any sector. From patient intake and medical aid claims to clinical documentation and regulatory reporting, the manual workload is enormous. BOAT reduces that burden with intelligent process automation for claims processing, automated patient record management, compliance governance for HPCSA and medical aid scheme requirements, and agentic AI that monitors operational workflows and flags exceptions before they become costly errors.
Logistics and Supply Chain
South African logistics businesses deal with complexity at every level: multi-carrier coordination, customs documentation, route optimisation, warehouse management, and real-time visibility across extended supply chains. BOAT's orchestration engine connects your logistics platforms, automates your documentation workflows, deploys AI-driven scheduling and exception handling, and gives your operations team a single view of every moving part. Less manual intervention. Fewer delays. Better margins.
Manufacturing
Industry 4.0 is driving autonomous systems across South African manufacturing, and the businesses that adapt first will operate with a structural cost advantage. BOAT enables automated production monitoring, predictive maintenance scheduling, quality control workflows, supplier integration, and compliance reporting - all orchestrated through a single platform that gives your operations visibility from factory floor to finance department.
Retail and E-Commerce
South African retailers face pressure on both sides: rising operational costs and customers who expect faster service. BOAT automates order processing, inventory management, supplier communications, returns handling, and customer service workflows. Agentic AI monitors stock levels, demand signals, and fulfilment pipelines in real time - adjusting workflows automatically so your team can focus on the customer experience rather than the backend processes that support it.
From Your First Conversation to a Running Automation
Five phases from discovery to live automation - with no surprises.
Discovery
We start with your operation, not a template. Our team conducts structured discovery sessions with your key stakeholders and uses automated process mining tools to build an accurate picture of how your processes actually run. We identify automation opportunities, compliance considerations, and integration requirements. You receive a prioritised automation roadmap based on evidence from your own systems.
Design
Based on the discovery output, we design your BOAT architecture: the orchestration layer, the integration points, the automation workflows, the AI decision models, and the compliance governance framework. Every design decision is documented and reviewed with your team before a line of code is written.
Build
Our development team builds the automation workflows, integrations, and applications defined in the design phase. We use BPMN/DMN standards, low-code platforms where appropriate, and custom development where the standard tools hit their limits. Throughout the build phase, we run structured testing against your real process scenarios.
Deploy
We deploy your BOAT platform to your environment - cloud, hybrid, or on-premise depending on your requirements and regulatory constraints. We run parallel operations during the transition period to validate performance before your team cuts over to the automated workflows.
Optimise
Automation is not a set-and-forget exercise. After deployment, Bad Robot monitors your BOAT platform performance, tracks process metrics against your baseline, identifies new automation opportunities as your business evolves, and deploys continuous improvements. Your agentic AI layer self-optimises within defined parameters. We optimise everything else on a structured review cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions About BOAT
Everything you need to know about Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies.
Ready to Stop Running Fragmented Automation and Start Running a Real Intelligent Business?
South Africa's most competitive businesses are not waiting for automation to become affordable or accessible. They are building the operational infrastructure now that will give them a structural advantage for the next decade. Public cloud BPaaS in South Africa is projected to reach USD 506.70 million by 2029. The businesses capturing that value are the ones that invest in intelligent process automation and business orchestration today. Bad Robot is based in Sandton, Johannesburg. We work with South African SMEs and growing businesses across finance, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and retail. If you want to know which of your processes should be automated first, what your automation architecture should look like, and what it will realistically cost to get there, start with a discovery session. No slides. No sales pitch. A real conversation about your operation.
Join South African businesses building the operational infrastructure that will define their next decade of growth.