The market for RPA (Robotic Process Automation) was just $3.79 billion in 2024. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.9% from 2025 to 2030. Organizations around the world are rapidly integrating their systems with RPA, but their biggest pain is not finding the right RPA Consultant who can understand the core problems of the client and automate systems.
Any business implementing automation in 2025 requires serious strategic guidance for RPA. But how do you evaluate an RPA consultant before you share your automation goals with them?
The answer is that you ask the right questions! That’s it.
And here in this blog, we have a curated list of all such questions you should consider asking any RPA consultant before proceeding with an RPA implementation.
Q 1. What’s your experience in our industry?
Every industry has distinct automation priorities. A robotic process automation consultant working with a healthcare provider needs a very different lens than one working in finance or retail. Industry experience ensures that your consultant is familiar with specific compliance regulations, common systems, and domain-specific workflows.
Ask for industry-specific case studies. For instance, an RPA consultant working with banks should demonstrate success in automating KYC processes or regulatory reporting, while those in logistics might focus on shipment tracking or warehouse inventory updates.
Q 2. Why should we invest in RPA for our organization?
This may seem basic, but the depth of your consultant’s answer will reveal their strategic understanding. A capable RPA consulting professional won’t give you a generic response about cost savings. Instead, they’ll link RPA benefits directly to your business model—whether it’s reducing manual reconciliation efforts in finance, accelerating claims processing in insurance, or automating appointment scheduling in healthcare.
A strong response should also address opportunity costs, such as delayed service delivery or data inaccuracy, and highlight how RPA closes those gaps efficiently.
Q 3. How do you identify the best processes for automation?
One of the most common reasons for RPA failure is poor process selection. Your RPA consultant should have a structured methodology to evaluate and prioritize automation opportunities.
Ask about their process discovery workshops and whether they use process mining or task mining tools. An experienced robotic process automation consultant should analyze workflows across dimensions like:
- Rule-based logic
- Volume and frequency
- Error rates
- Potential for standardization
- Estimated ROI
They should be able to classify processes into high, medium, or low automation potential, helping you maximize the impact of your first RPA implementation phase.
Q 4. Can you help us create a roadmap for scalable automation?
RPA is not a one-off project; it’s a journey. Your RPA consulting partner must help create a scalable roadmap that includes short-term wins and long-term goals. This includes defining automation stages, governance models, and change management frameworks to ensure adoption and sustainability.
Look for consultants who emphasize building a Center of Excellence (CoE) or federated model over time and provide training modules for internal upskilling.
Q 5. What RPA tools do you recommend and why?
A trustworthy robotic process automation consultant won’t push a single tool unless it clearly aligns with your requirements. Whether it’s UiPath, Blue Prism, or Automation Anywhere, their recommendation should stem from a deep understanding of:
- Your existing tech stack (ERP, CRM, HRIS, etc.)
- Your budget and licensing capacity
- Scalability needs (on-premise vs cloud)
- Integration complexity
Ask for a comparative evaluation report and request a pilot using your own workflows to validate the suitability of the tool.
Q 6. How do you manage an RPA project from start to finish?
The RPA consulting company you choose should be transparent about their implementation lifecycle. Ask them to explain each phase in detail:
- Discovery: Business case development, process assessment
- Design: Solution architecture, documentation
- Build: Bot development, quality assurance
- Deploy: Environment setup, user acceptance testing
- Run: Hypercare, monitoring, maintenance
The best RPA consultant will also include milestones, stakeholder roles, and delivery timelines so that expectations are clearly aligned from day one.
Q 7. How do you handle source code and bot version control?
Governance often gets overlooked in early RPA projects, but poor control over bot versions can create serious risks. A seasoned RPA consultant should utilize version control systems (like Git or SVN), and explain how bot code is checked, tested, and deployed across dev, UAT, and production environments.
This discipline ensures continuity, enables rollback in case of errors, and supports collaborative development for larger teams.
Q 8. How do you ensure security and compliance?
Security concerns often become a barrier to automation, especially in highly regulated sectors. Your RPA consulting company should be well-versed in enterprise-grade security standards. Key things to ask:
- Are bots authenticated using individual credentials or shared service accounts?
- Is data encrypted in motion and at rest?
- How is bot activity monitored and logged?
- Do they follow secure development lifecycle practices?
The robotic process automation consultant should also provide examples of how they’ve helped clients comply with GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS standards using built-in RPA platform features.
Q 9. How quickly can we achieve ROI with RPA?
A credible RPA consultant will never promise overnight success. Instead, they’ll present benchmarks based on similar use cases and explain how long it may take to reach breakeven depending on your complexity, licensing model, and automation pipeline.
For example, automating invoice processing in finance can deliver ROI within 6 – 8 months by reducing processing time and headcount. On the other hand, automating exception-heavy supply chain workflows might take longer. Ask for metrics they use, such as reduced FTE hours, error rate reduction, and throughput improvement, to evaluate ROI consistently post-implementation.
Q 10. What is your pricing structure and licensing model?
Every RPA implementation comes with multiple cost layers, including consulting, development, bot licenses, infrastructure, and ongoing support. A trustworthy RPA consulting partner will break down costs into transparent line items and clearly explain whether they use per-bot, per-process, or usage-based licensing.
Ask whether the quoted price includes:
- Licensing fees (attended/unattended bots)
- Infrastructure setup
- Training and handover
- Support and maintenance
- Any additional costs for change requests
This clarity helps avoid scope creep and ensures alignment with internal budgeting and procurement expectations.
Q 11. What measurable outcomes can we expect from RPA?
An effective robotic process automation consultant will move beyond theoretical benefits and quantify outcomes. Examples include:
- 70% reduction in data entry errors
- 80% faster turnaround time in onboarding
- 90% reduction in invoice processing costs
- Improved compliance through audit-ready logs
Ask how these metrics will be monitored, whether via the RPA dashboard, business analytics tools, or custom performance reports. Additionally, verify whether bots can integrate with your KPIs and reporting structure to align performance metrics with business outcomes.
Q 12. What kind of post-implementation support do you offer?
RPA is not “set and forget.” Your RPA consulting team must outline their post-go-live support model clearly. This includes:
- Bot performance monitoring
- Log-based error tracking
- Patch management
- Regular health checks
Ask about support tiers, whether they provide 24/7 support, SLAs for critical issues, and named support personnel. Ensure they offer knowledge transfer or training to your internal team so that you’re not entirely reliant on external support in the long term.
Final Thoughts
By asking these strategic questions, you’ll gain critical insights into how each robotic process automation consultant operates and whether they’re the right fit for your organization’s automation journey.
RPA success depends not just on the tool, but on the team that implements it. So ask boldly, evaluate wisely, and choose an RPA consulting partner who’s as invested in your success as you are.
