Han van der Aa

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Mannheim

Papers

Total Citations

116

H-Index

About

Han van der Aa is a leading researcher at the intersection of business process management, robotic process automation (RPA), and natural language processing (NLP). His work focuses on bridging the gap between textual process descriptions and automated execution, with a key contribution being the development of methods to automatically identify tasks suitable for RPA from unstructured text. His seminal 2018 paper, "Identifying Candidate Tasks for Robotic Process Automation in Textual Process Descriptions," has garnered over 105 citations, establishing a foundational approach for organizations seeking to digitize manual workflows. Van der Aa also explores the broader definition and scope of automation in his 2023 work, "What is Business Process Automation Anyway?" which critically examines modern automation beyond physical labor. By integrating NLP techniques—such as information extraction and semantic analysis—he enables more intelligent and scalable automation pipelines. His research is highly influential for practitioners and academics aiming to streamline business processes through AI-driven tools. Van der Aa’s work not only advances theoretical understanding but also provides practical frameworks for real-world automation, making him a key figure in the evolving landscape of digital transformation.