but some of these processes involve going through Excel files which can take these bots 10s of minutes, which can be done instantly in any scripting language
The key is being proactive. Have you tried suggesting that to them? Do a small POC with say a Python script and show them the difference on one of the Excel files, they’re likely to like your alternative. They’re likely to have poor data warehousing too and it could be an opportunity for you to shine and at the same time get to learn to do that for them from scratch.