Sitting on a comfortable chair at the UiPath office in Bucharest, my eyes glanced around the waiting area. Relaxed and friendly people walk by, greeting each other as they go. At the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a poised and confident person walking up to me to introduce herself. She is Claudia Buzatu, the Academic Alliance Relationship Manager at UiPath. As we sat down for a quick chat before we started, I noticed the glisten in her eyes as she spoke about what UiPath stands for, and why she was excited to be working with the first Romanian unicorn startup.
Thank you for making time to meet with me today. I read that you’re the Academic Alliance Relationship Manager at UiPath. Could you tell me a little more about yourself and what you do?
Thank you very much. I am Claudia Buzatu and I am the Academic Alliance Relationship Manager at UiPath. I am in charge of establishing partnerships, opening new markets and creating synergies with the government as well as education institutions. I have international experience in the business and digital space that is related to education for more than 7 years.
At UiPath, we believe in democratizing RPA. In April 2017, UiPath launched the UiPath Academy whereby people could learn about automation for free. At the end of 2018 UiPath Academy had more than 250.000 users since the official launch. In the first 18 months UiPath online Academy offered more than 130.000 certifications for users from more than 170 countries. The Academic Alliance was launched in October 2018 at Forward Miami event and collaborates with Universities around the world.
How did you get to know UiPath?
As I am very passionate about technology, I have been keeping up with the latest technology around the world and read a lot about RPA in the media. It was a big buzzword in the media, and I wasn’t sure what it was. So I did some research and found that RPA helps to free people from doing repetitive and tedious tasks. That rang a bell with me. I don’t believe human beings are meant to do repetitive tasks. Why do it when we could get a robot to do it in seconds? Human beings could then focus on developing more skills such as Creativity, Design Thinking or Emotional Intelligence; more important approaches. To me, the perfect situation would be when human beings and robots work together perfectly.
I first encountered UiPath when I participated in a tech event in Bucharest. That was my first time meeting with the Chief Robotics Officer, Boris Krumrey. Subsequently, I was invited to the company’s 1st Year Academy Party. I experienced the true culture of the company on that day, meeting creative and smart people who are keen on working to help people obtain high in-demand skills in this 4th Industrial Revolution.
What impressed you most about UiPath?
Their approach – In general, companies create courses, but they expect to be paid. UiPath chose a different path. They created a free online academy for everyone to learn for free. I also enjoyed being a part of the hyper-growth of the company. The Academic Alliance started back in October 2018, but as of now we have partnership with over 400 universities worldwide.
When Universities offer UiPath RPA courses, the company also includes the software license for free. What’s the point of having theoretical knowledge without the practical approach? We also believe in having collaborations with Universities and gaining feedback not only from lecturers but also students because feedback is what helps us to improve and create a more collaborative future.
We heard that the Nagaoka University of Technology had visited UiPath in May 2019. Could you tell us more about that?
Yes. On May 10th, we welcomed the delegates from the Nagaoka University of Technology over to the UiPath office in Bucharest. We hosted the delegates at the Immersion Lab, led by our Chief Robotics Officer Boris Krumrey who gave demonstrations on the future of technology.
Nagaoka University of Technology is the first University in Japan to be a partner of the UiPath Academic Alliance, being the first University in Japan to offer The RPA Developer course in the Fall of 2020 in English. Depending on the traction, the University will decide on translating the course to be offered in Japanese in the near future.
What other Universities have UiPath had success stories with?
The University of Auckland started off as UiPath’s client, seeking a solution on automating their internal processes. With time, the University saw the benefits of the product and we approached to offer our RPA Developer course in the University. We were very excited to see a great evolution within the University when the teachers and the Project Manager started adding extra layers of Machine Learning (ML), deep learning (DL) and more on top of RPA. We also saw how the transfer of knowledge to the student took place seamlessly, so we were really thrilled.
How would you describe yourself? And what motivates you to do what you do?
I’d describe myself as a person thirsty for knowledge with a strong interest in learning languages and discover new cultures, and a huge passion for technology. I never stop learning because life never stops teaching. Currently I speak 4 languages: French, Spanish, English and Romanian. I hope to learn to speak Japanese soon, so I could learn more about the way of life in Japan and talk to people about their culture, food, history, art and their perception of Romania.
My dream is to combine my knowledge in technology to assist in the transformation of education to help students adapt to the 4th Industrial Revolution and beyond, because according to the World Economic Forum’s report, 65% children entering elementary school today will be working in a new job that does not exist today.
I hope to also advance in the Education side as I’d like to bring to the table my professional skills and knowledge to help the University, the students, and the country. I believe we could collaborate to co-create a highly in-demand set of skills for students in this 4th Industrial Revolution.
If you have to describe UiPath in one word, what would it be?
Hyperautomation. In such a short time, the company has had its series D round of investment. And the company is valued at USD 7 billion dollars in less than 2 years.
It is very rewarding to be recognized as a Leader by a leading industry analyst firm such as Gartner. We believe that the market is recognizing the vast potential of Robotic Process Automation, and we’re thrilled to continue leading this new workforce revolution. I can only see a challenging but rewarding future ahead.
UiPath’s hypergrowth over the last two years have confirmed the fact that we are transforming how companies manage their resources. RPA presents an enormous opportunity for companies around the world who are embracing artificial intelligence, driving a new era of productivity, efficiency and workplace satisfaction.
At UiPath, we see industry-leading enterprises embracing Robotic Process Automation on a daily basis as a proven technology to accelerate digital transformation and business growth. At the same time, customer adoption continues to skyrocket to an all-time high.
What’s your thoughts on the future of technology and RPA?
Technology is always evolving, it’s always in a state of metamorphosis.
We want to move automation into new levels. We’re advancing quickly into AI and the cloud, with plans to launch a new AI product by the end of the year that we believe, would demystify AI for our users.
