Forrester has called adaptive process orchestration (APO) the “next level of maturation” in enterprise automation, dedicating new qualitative and evaluative research to this software category.
This includes research exploring how automation vendors are pivoting to APO, how APO differs from things like robotic process automation (RPA) and integration platform as a service (iPass) and how to select the right orchestration engine.
Forrester will start with an Adaptive Process Orchestration Landscape, which will be published by early Q2 2026, followed by an Adaptive Process Orchestration Wave, which will publish later in 2026.
What is adaptive process orchestration?
Forrester defines APO as “an automation platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) agents and nondeterministic control flows, in addition to traditional deterministic control flows, to meet business goals, perform complex tasks and make autonomous decisions.”
APO is an “essential capability” for:
- Automation leaders intending to scale their enterprises’ efforts by combining existing automations with AI.
- Transformation leaders working towards autonomous operations.
Deterministic workflow engines such as RPA bots and digital process automation (DPA) tools are not powerful enough to implement the complexities required for autonomous operations, said Bernhard Schaffrik, principal analyst at Forrester. As a result, various automation technologies from different domains, combined with a process mindset, are required to move towards autonomous operations. Forrester is calling this combination APO.
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4 benefits of adaptive process orchestration
Process orchestration platforms enable organizations to define, automate and monitor end-to-end workflows, ensuring that tasks are executed in the correct sequence and that data is seamlessly transferred between systems.
Forrester cites four key benefits of APO:
- Advances the development of AI agents and agentic AI frameworks by harnessing their distinctive capabilities in strategic planning, complex scenario reasoning and seamless collaboration across components.
- Concentrates on long-running and complex business processes that deliver ROI, leveraging external automation endpoints, traditional automation frameworks and enterprise integration to accomplish autonomous objectives.
- Enables five core capabilities for agentic process management: option and constraint modeling, content and format handling, AI agent creation, agentic orchestration and governance, data and intellectual property protection.
- Adopts the principles and architecture of the emerging automation fabric framework, integrating complementary automation tools, technologies, enterprise architectures and governance models into a unified system.