Four themes dominated the day one keynote at UiPath Forward 5 in Las Vegas, according to theCUBE analysts. The first three were how RPA is going from a tool to a way of operating and innovation, that outcomes are shifting from tactical to transformational, and that automation has become a line item in annual reports.

But these themes were eclipsed by UiPath’s push to position itself as an enterprise platform. As co-Chief Executive Officer Robert Enslin proclaimed in a slide during the keynote, it’s time to “Go big.”

“Go big or go home pretty much sums it up. This is an existential mission that UiPath is on right now,” said theCUBE industry analyst David Nicholson. “They need to seize that high ground of platform versus tool set, otherwise they will never get beyond where they are now.”

Nicholson and fellow industry analyst Dave Vellante spoke at UiPath Forward, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the content of the first day’s keynote speeches and the topics theCUBE coverage will focus on during the event. (* Disclosure below.)

UiPath takes aim at the next level

To get to the next level, UiPath will have to focus on “platform, platform, platform,” according to Nicholson. Enslin is an important part of executing that strategy.

“In addition to his background, Rob brings a brand with him … and that brand is enterprise overarching platform,” Nicholson said.

UiPath took off and got a foothold in the robotic process automation market because it was a simple self-serve platform, recalled Vellante. The company built its portfolio through a series of strategic acquisitions. ProcessGold added process mining, Cloud Elements brought the ability to integrate via application program interfaces, and the most recent, Re:infer, brought natural language processing.

“We heard them up on the stage today and they’ve been putting that together to do not just RPA, but process mining, task mining, document automation, etc.,” Vellante said.

The presence of Enslin and new Chief Financial Officer Ashim Gupta brings the financial and go-to-market expertise and “adult supervision” that Vellante believes UiPath should have had before its initial public offering.

“The IPO has not gone well, but they’ve hit a billion dollars in annual recurring revenue. There aren’t a lot of companies that have hit a billion dollars in ARR that quickly,” Vellante stated. “But the one thing about UiPath is they’ve been very successful at penetrating customers … and the key is going to be keep servicing the customers.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the UiPath Forward event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the UiPath Forward event. Neither UiPath, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE