In the fanfare surrounding generative AI, and particularly its ability to write software, I wondered if low-code application development platforms were going to be negatively disrupted. But at last week’s annual conference, low-code pioneer OutSystems and its executives did more than give a positive note; they are convinced that generative AI will make it possible to create low code.

In line with major technology vendor events in 2024, the OutSystems NextStep experience in Amsterdam was an opportunity for the company to announce an AI-based tool. Called Mentor, this application aims to enable organizations to develop AI applications and agents. Mentor, which will be available in early 2025, uses AI to generate AI applications and agents and is therefore part of OutSystems’ low-code application development heritage.

The demand for generative AI is changing the economic dynamics of enterprise applications, according to CEO and founder Paulo Rosado. In an interview, he told Diginomica that the “buy, don’t build” mantra is going to be challenged by generative AI software development and that his company has the toolset needed to enable CIOs to abandon this mantra:

The risk is so low that you have the option of cleaning up your digital platforms.

According to Rosado, leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms have replaced enterprise resource planning (ERP) technologies that are becoming immovable monoliths in the enterprise:

Before it was SAP, Siebel and PeopleSoft, then they were replaced by SaaS, of which they became monoliths.

ERP has become synonymous with excessive customization and then complex and costly maintenance for the CIO, while the move to SaaS platforms has ushered in an era of standardized business processes. Process conventions are ideal for routine business operations, but they do not provide competitive advantage; Additionally, some digital leaders believe that the data and cost reliance of SaaS platforms is prohibitive for efficiency and innovation. These trends fuel Roasado’s confidence:

You can create whatever you want, without risk of blocking. The big difference is that it is not possible to blame the company for changing its mind because the cost of change is very low. It is normal and acceptable to change your mind.

When asked if there were any concerns within the low code community regarding generative AI, Rosado responded:

For us, generative AI is another capability of our first principle, that you shouldn’t need to take years to build something.

On stage, in his keynote address, Rosado described the empowering generative AI that low code offers as follows:

We are on the eve of an economic transition from purchase to construction. As we replace these monoliths and SaaS and break them into small incremental applications or enthuse them with generative AI agents.

The conversation with our business peers, the CEO, CFO and COO, will change. This takes away a lot of the anxiety about what the future will look like. For us, if you want to be truly agile, you need a small collection of agile applications so you don’t end up with tech debt.

Building mentor

At the heart of this confidence has been the unveiling of Mentor, which they describe as a software development lifecycle digital worker that uses AI for the creation, delivery and monitoring of applications using low code. OutSystems customers will have seen Mentor on the horizon through Project Morpheus over the past few years. Using AI, Mentor automates code quality checks, builds a minimum viable product (MVP), provides governance, and OutSystems claims to increase developer productivity, a topic of concern to a growing number of CTOs.

On stage, Luis Blando, Chief Product and Technology Office (CPTO) of OutSystems, uploaded a requirements document into Mentor and created an order management system for an auto dealership in minutes, with the technology even identifying that the requirements document had not added a step for order cancellations. . Rosado says:

Users simply describe the application they need or their vision, and Mentor generates an initial version with front-end features, data models, and built-in business logic. By automating application prototyping and ensuring the best code quality.

OutSystems claims that the combination of Low Code and Generative AI will prevent the accumulation of orphaned and poor code and provide the CIO with transparency and explainability in their use of AI. The addition of this Mentor will be part of the OutSystems Developer Cloud platform. Blando said on stage:

This means that all applications are tailor-made, reliable and yours in every way. The developers who build on our platforms are at a much higher level of abstraction and have 20 years of experience, and Mentor is no different. Mentor can create proven abstraction models, so it can handle more complex and larger applications.

In our interview, Rosado added:

Generative AI has shown that these gigantic manual coding practices are a thing of the past. Our community has created 100,000 apps, so we know what a good solution looks like, and we can import that knowledge and have Mentor act as one of the best subject matter experts, he can be a co-pilot.

We see AI as a fundamental enabler that allows us to take something that is already fast to a new level of speed. We reduced four-year projects to seven or 14 months and one-and-a-half year projects to four months.

AI agents are currently a hot topic for vendors, and OutSystems has its take on the trend, on stage Rosado said Mentor:

Enable businesses to leverage generative AI and excite new agents within their legacy software.

They say Mentor will increase the speed at which digital teams can implement AI capabilities such as natural language understanding into applications and processes.

The moment of low code

When asked if there is a risk that AI will eclipse Low Code, Rosado responds:

Generative AI allows us to focus on business functions.

And about developers he says:

A low code developer has the skills to understand the business, user experience, and workflows. Truly successful people in the OutSystems community often care about the bottom line. They want to get things done and these tools elevate our community.

As a result, OutSystem believes that generative AI will give low code its place in the sun as organizations focus on digital business outcomes. In his speech, Rosado said:

This allows us to answer the board’s imperative: what are you doing with generative AI?

You will have an ecosystem that is agile and has the capacity so that anyone in the company can request a new product line, or regulations change and be ahead of it; this enhances agility.

My opinion

The proof will be Mentor adoption, and this time next year, I look forward to talking with end-user CIOs and CTOs about the business results Mentor achieves.