Become an Automation Engineer in 2026. Stop paying for expensive bootcamps. This repository curates the best 100% FREE video tutorials and official documentation to help you master Python, UiPath, Power Automate, and RPA development.
Master Automation Engineer / RPA Development with This Roadmap and Free Learning Resources. Follow our step-by-step guide from basics to advanced skills to launch your career.
- Phase 1: Foundations
- Phase 2: Core RPA Skills
- Phase 3: RPA Tools and Platforms
- Phase 4: Integration and APIs
- Phase 5: Advanced Topics
- Phase 6: Tooling and Deployment
Every automation engineer's journey starts here, with the absolute bedrock of programming and data handling.
I'll guide you through mastering Python, C#, VB.NET, and SQL first. Once you have a handle on those, we'll level up by incorporating Excel automation, web scraping, and version control with Git to help you handle real-world data and collaborate effectively.
Master the primary scripting language for modern automation and AI integration.
Video Resources:
| Python Crash Course | Python Full Course |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
C# is widely used in RPA tools like UiPath. Ensure you're comfortable with basic programming concepts before diving in.
Video Resources:
| C# Tutorial | C# Full Course |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/
- https://www.w3schools.com/cs/
- https://www.tutorialspoint.com/csharp/
VB.NET is a key language in many RPA platforms. Build on your C# knowledge as they share the .NET framework.
Video Resources:
| VB.NET Course | Visual Basic |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/
- https://www.tutorialspoint.com/vb.net/
- https://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/NET/vbNet.html/
Learn to query and manage databases, essential for bot data operations.
Video Resources:
| SQL Course | SQL Tutorial |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
Automate spreadsheet tasks directly using Visual Basic for Applications.
Video Resources:
| Excel VBA | VBA Full Course |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
Focus on Python-based scraping for RPA contexts. Use libraries like BeautifulSoup and Selenium.
Video Resources:
| BeautifulSoup | Scrapy Course |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://www.crummy.com/software/BeautifulSoup/bs4/doc/
- https://selenium-python.readthedocs.io/
- https://realpython.com/python-web-scraping-practical-introduction/
Track changes in your bot code and collaborate with development teams.
Video Resources:
| Learn Git | Git Full Course |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2
- https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials
- https://learngitbranching.js.org/
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With the basics in place, let's focus on the practical skills you'll use daily in RPA.
You'll learn how to analyze business processes, handle errors robustly, and manipulate data effectively to create reliable automations.
Analyze workflows to identify automation opportunities and design bot logic.
Video Resources:
| Process Mining | UiPath Mining |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/process-mining
- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/rpa-life-cycle/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/process-advisor-overview
Mastering error handling is crucial for building resilient bots. Focus on try-catch mechanisms and logging.
Video Resources:
| UiPath Debugging | Automation Anywhere Errors |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/studio/docs/error-handling
- https://bpdocs.blueprism.com/bp-7-0/en-us/helpExceptions.htm
Learn to handle strings, tables, and variables to process data within your bots.
Video Resources:
| Data Manipulation | UiPath Essentials |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://www.uipath.com/learning/video-tutorials/data-manipulation-with-studio
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/aae-client/bot-creator/using-variables/cloud-using-variables.html
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/bundle/blue-prism-enterprise-7-1/page/Guides/infrastructure-reference/blue-prism-data.htm
Now it's time to dive into specific RPA platforms.
Pick one to master deeply first, then explore others. Focus on building bots, workflows, and integrating with applications.
Master the industry-leading RPA platform for enterprise automation.
Video Resources:
| UiPath Full Course | UiPath Tutorial |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
Learn to build bots using this cloud-native RPA platform.
Video Resources:
| Automation Anywhere | Learn in 60 Mins |
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Documentation & Reading:
Understand the object-oriented approach of Blue Prism for scalable automations.
Video Resources:
| Blue Prism Tutorial | Blue Prism Intro |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/
- https://www.blueprism.com/university/
- https://www.tutorialspoint.com/blue_prism/index.htm
Automate workflows seamlessly within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Video Resources:
| Power Automate Pro | Power Automate Tut |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
Learn how to connect your bots to external systems.
This includes APIs, databases, and advanced recognition technologies like OCR.
Understand REST and SOAP for RPA integrations. Use native RPA activities or code snippets.
Video Resources:
| RPA and APIs | API with UiPath |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://www.uipath.com/community-blog/tutorials/api-integration-in-uipath
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/create-api-connection
Connect bots to SQL databases to read and write data directly.
Video Resources:
| RPA Full Course | UiPath Database |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/developer/about-the-database-activities-pack
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/aae-client/bot-creator/commands/cloud-database-command.html
- https://bpdocs.blueprism.com/bp-7-3/en-us/release-notes/rn-7-2.htm
Enable bots to "see" and extract text from images and scanned documents.
Video Resources:
| UiPath OCR | WorkFusion OCR |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/studio/standalone/2023.4/user-guide/ocr-activities
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/aae-client/bot-creator/commands/cloud-ocr-command-using.html
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/prebuilt-text-recognition
Once you've built several automations, explore these specialized areas to handle complex scenarios and scale your solutions.
Integrate intelligent models to make your bots smarter and capable of cognitive tasks.
Video Resources:
| AI ML Full Course | RPA UiPath |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/ai-center/automation-cloud/latest/user-guide/about-ai-center
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/iq-bot/cloud-iqb-process-overview.html
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/overview
Manage, schedule, and monitor your digital workforce at scale using orchestrators.
Video Resources:
| UiPath Orchestrator | Orchestrator Tut |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/orchestrator/standalone/2023.4/user-guide/introduction
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/aae-architecture-implementation/cloud-control-room-overview.html
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/bundle/blue-prism-enterprise-7-0/page/helpSystemManagerResourceManagement.htm
Implement security best practices to protect sensitive data handled by your automations.
Video Resources:
| RPA Tutorial | Security Best Practices |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/orchestrator/standalone/2022.10/installation-guide/security-best-practices
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/security-architecture/cloud-security-architecture.html
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/bundle/blue-prism-cloud-2021-1/page/digital-workforce/data-security/data-security.htm
Learn design patterns and optimization techniques to build efficient and maintainable bots.
Video Resources:
| RPA Full Course | UiPath Best Practices |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/studio/standalone/2023.4/user-guide/design-best-practices
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v11.3/page/enterprise/topics/aae-architecture-implementation/bot-design-guidelines.html
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/bundle/capture-4-0/page/best-practice-guide/best-practice-home.htm
Set up a professional workflow for RPA development.
Including version control, automation of deployments, and monitoring of bots.
Automate the deployment of your bots using pipelines and DevOps tools.
Video Resources:
| Azure DevOps UiPath | UiPath Pipelines |
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/automation-ops/automation-cloud/latest/user-guide/about-cicd-pipelines
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/control-room/git-integration/cloud-git-connect-to-azure-devops.html
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/alm/pipelines
Set up logging and dashboards to track the health and performance of your automations.
Video Resources:
| Control Room | Audit Logs |
|---|---|
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Documentation & Reading:
- https://docs.uipath.com/insights/automation-cloud/latest/user-guide/about-insights
- https://docs.automationanywhere.com/bundle/enterprise-v2019/page/enterprise-cloud/topics/aae-client/bot-creator/using-the-workbench/cloud-analyze.html
- https://docs.blueprism.com/en-US/bundle/blue-prism-enterprise-6-7/page/dashboards-ui.htm
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