Eindhoven was the setting for UiPath Fusion Benelux, an event centered around the latest developments in automation and agentic AI. Rocking Robots produced this video report covering the themes on everyone’s mind: from the organizational challenges surrounding AI to security, and from return on investment to automation in practice.
“Don’t start with technology — start with people”
Edwin Provoost, Benelux lead at Future Workforce, has been an active UiPath partner for years and noticed this event striking a distinctly different tone from previous editions. “This is very much focused on agents. That word comes up everywhere,” he observes. But that very focus on the new and shiny is precisely what makes things difficult for many organizations. According to Provoost, business owners and specialists from Centers of Excellence are wrestling with a fundamental question: do we want AI, or do we want a specific type of solution — and why, exactly?
The conversations he has on the floor are telling. Organizations that have been working with RPA for years see agentic AI as a valuable addition to bring more resilience to their processes and reduce support and maintenance costs. But the deeper question remains: how do you properly organize AI intake? “You see organizations setting up a separate AI unit, which then also falls under a different domain. That’s very inconvenient,” says Provoost.
On the topic of return on investment, he is candid: with agentic AI, you are no longer talking about quick wins. “The payback period easily stretches to a year or more. The investment is substantial if you haven’t started yet. So choosing the right use case is fundamental.” His advice echoes a classic principle: start with the user experience. “As Steve Jobs said: begin with what it needs to deliver, not with the technology — because that road is endless.”
His message for everyone wrapping up the day and heading home is straightforward: “Don’t answer the question from a technology perspective. Put a solid intake process in place, grounded in good governance. That’s where the process begins. That’s where the choice is made — which technology, or which combination of technologies, is best suited for which challenge. After that, things are still not easy, but they are easier.”
UiPath: robots, agents and humans together in one operating model
Karlijn van Lammeren, Country Manager Benelux at UiPath, explains why Eindhoven is no coincidence as a venue. “It sits right in the middle between the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.” The content focus of the event is equally deliberate: the emphasis is on business value, not technical possibilities. “What does it actually do for the business results of your organization?”
Van Lammeren outlines how UiPath envisions the future of automation: robots alongside agents alongside humans — what the company refers to as “Human in the Loop.” “It is not necessarily about FTE reduction for us, because that may well be a value you can extract and it does deliver efficiency. But it is really about how this can enable your business to achieve better results. And that can be much bigger than FTE reduction.”
A question that comes up frequently among visitors is how UiPath differentiates itself now that virtually every software company claims to offer agents. Her answer: the automation layer UiPath calls Maestro is what truly sets the platform apart. “That is what we really want to explain today.”
As a takeaway for visitors, she hopes they leave with not just inspiration but also clarity. “This all sounds very futuristic, but how do I actually get started with this technology tomorrow? I hope people go home with inspiration and a sense of confidence.”
Vos Logistics: robots in finance, eyes on the future
Roy Schuurmans, Head of Applications at Vos Logistics, is one of the end users attending the event. Responsible for software, applications and business intelligence, he leads a team of developers and application managers. Vos Logistics has been working with UiPath robots for some time, primarily deployed within the finance department. “We are achieving solid results there. People are happy with it and it keeps growing year after year.”
The benefits are mainly found in time savings, convenience for employees and shorter process cycles. “Which means we can deliver faster.” But Schuurmans is clearly looking further ahead. In his view, agentic AI offers the opportunity to automate processes that are still too complex for traditional robots. “The robot does the work, the AI handles more of the thinking. Those two come together well.”
For support, Vos Logistics works with Future Workforce. “They help us with the development process. And we have arranged that they also provide backup when a team member is sick or on holiday — there is monitoring on the processes and we can reach them for advice or problem solving.”
The session on AI strategy left a clear impression on Schuurmans. “It was an eye-opener for me — or really a confirmation — that it is not just about hours saved, but truly about business value and customer value. It’s great to hold on to that focus.”
