Laiye: Intelligent Automation and RPA

Chinese intelligent automation platform provider specializing in RPA, AI agents, and Work Execution System framework for enterprise digital workers.

Overview

Laiye pioneered the Work Execution System framework, combining human workers with AI-powered digital workers for enterprise automation. Founded in Beijing, the company became China's leading RPA vendor and the only Chinese company recognized in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Robotic Process Automation for five consecutive years. Laiye serves one out of every five Fortune Global 500 companies operating in China and maintains a developer community of nearly 800,000 members.

The company closed a $50 million Series C+ funding round in April 2021, positioning itself as China's answer to UiPath. By 2026, Laiye was recognized among 25 key vendors in the global RPA market alongside UiPath and Automation Anywhere, as the industry expanded toward $28.6 billion by 2031 driven by generative AI integration.

In early 2026, Laiye signaled a deliberate push into the agentic document processing category: two successive releases of its cloud-based ADP SaaS platform shipped within six weeks, bracketed by a whitepaper staking out "Agentic Process Automation" as a named category. The sequencing - product, positioning paper, product - reads as a coordinated market move rather than routine maintenance, placing Laiye in direct competition with Automat, Alkymi, and UiPath in an active IDP release cycle.

How Laiye Processes Documents

Laiye's document processing capabilities sit within two overlapping product lines: the Work Execution Platform (WEP) for enterprise-wide automation, and the cloud-based Agentic Document Processing (ADP) SaaS platform for document-specific workflows.

Within WEP, RPA, process mining, NLP, conversational AI, and recognition technologies combine into a unified automation framework. The UiBot Mage product integrates traditional RPA with AI-powered document processing, while self-developed OCR and image recognition engines handle document-intensive workflows. Process mining identifies automation opportunities before digital worker deployment, creating an end-to-end pipeline from document capture through structured data output.

The ADP SaaS platform accelerated its release cadence sharply in early 2026. ADP SaaS v1.7, released 31 January 2026, introduced a pre-configured processing module for invoices, receipts, and purchase orders - the three highest-frequency international document types. Users upload files and receive structured output with no custom configuration required, directly targeting the deployment friction that slows IDP adoption in mid-market enterprises. ADP SaaS v1.8 followed on 13 February 2026, described as upgrading three major document processing capabilities; the specific capabilities were not enumerated in sources reviewed.

Between the two releases, Laiye published Agent Drive Enterprise Process Automation on 5 February 2026, a whitepaper framing "Agentic Process Automation (APA)" as a distinct category in which agents drive end-to-end enterprise workflows rather than executing discrete tasks. Whether the ADP product releases substantiate that claim cannot be assessed from available sources - no accuracy benchmarks, pricing tiers, or GA/beta status were disclosed for either v1.7 or v1.8.

Use Cases

Enterprise Process Automation in China

Fortune Global 500 companies deploy Laiye's Work Execution Platform for back-office automation including finance, HR, and customer service processes. Process mining identifies automation opportunities before digital worker deployment, reducing configuration overhead at the point of rollout.

Finance and Procurement Document Processing

Organizations use Laiye's ADP SaaS platform for invoices, receipts, and purchase orders - the three document types covered by the v1.7 out-of-the-box extraction module. The zero-configuration approach targets finance teams that need fast deployment without dedicated implementation resources. Vendors taking a similar no-training approach to invoice and purchase order extraction include Unstract, an open-source LLM platform that also emphasizes production-grade extraction without template configuration.

Conversational AI Integration

Enterprises implement Laiye's NLP-powered systems for customer interaction automation through chatbots and virtual assistants integrated with RPA workflows, connecting front-office engagement with back-office document processing. Platforms combining RPA with conversational AI in a similar unified model include AutomationEdge, a hyperautomation provider that bundles IT automation, conversational AI, and IDP under one platform.

Technical Specifications

Resources

• Website
• ADP SaaS v1.7 Release
• ADP SaaS v1.8 Release
• Agentic Process Automation Whitepaper
• Competitive Analysis

Company Information

Headquarters: Beijing, China

Funding: $50 million Series C+ (April 2021)

Recognition: Gartner Magic Quadrant for RPA (5 consecutive years, only Chinese company); IDC MarketScape China RPA Software Leader; named among 25 key global RPA vendors in 2026 alongside UiPath and Automation Anywhere

Sources

• 2026-01 [market_report: RPA Market Expansion | globenewswire.com] Laiye named among 25 key global RPA vendors; market projected to reach $28.6B by 2031 (https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/01/19/3221170/28124/en/Robotic-Process-Automation-Market-Set-to-Expand-to-28-6-Billion-by-2031-Driven-by-Generative-AI-Integration.html)
• 2026-01 [industry_recap: IDP News Weekly Recap #189 | intelligentdocumentprocessing.com] Laiye ADP SaaS v1.7 launch noted alongside Automat and Alkymi releases (https://www.intelligentdocumentprocessing.com/idp-news-weekly-recap-189/)
• 2026-01 [vendor: ADP SaaS v1.7 Release | laiye.com] Out-of-the-box extraction for invoices, receipts, purchase orders; no configuration required on upload (https://laiye.com/en/news/adp-saas-v1-7-officially-released-out-of-the-box-document-extraction-with-major-performance-and-experience-upgrades)
• 2026-02 [vendor: ADP SaaS v1.8 Release | laiye.com] Three major document processing capability upgrades; specifics not enumerated in available sources (https://laiye.com/en/news/laiye-adp-saas-v1-8-released-...)
• 2026-02 [vendor: Whitepaper | laiye.com] Agent Drive Enterprise Process Automation - frames Agentic Process Automation (APA) as distinct category for end-to-end autonomous workflows (https://laiye.com/en/news)