In my experience, the "learning how to automate them" implies the analogous step to the "technique"-learning being discussed in the article. e.g. To automate a

In my experience, the "learning how to automate them" implies the analogous step to the "technique"-learning being discussed in the article. e.g. To automate a health care provider's intake and records system well, you really do have to learn a surprising amount of how those people currently do their job. If you understand the job of the intake nurse, the needs of the physicians' assistants, the way records are processed for insurance reasons, the way doctors search and browse, etc., you can save vastly more time and money (to say nothing of improving accuracy and reducing redundancy) than you would with a straightforward records digitization process.