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OutSystems, a global leader in high-performance low-code application development, has released its outlook on how CIOs should expect generative AI and low-code development to evolve in 2024 and how they can adapt their innovation strategies accordingly towards business growth.

“By 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI coding assistants, up from less than 10% in early 2023,” according to Gartner®. As generative AI adoption grows within the developer community, CIOs can expect to see the largest productivity gains when the technology is used alongside low-code.

OutSystems CIO Tiago Azevedo highlighted four key trends that CIOs, IT leaders, developer managers, and heads of business transformation should pay attention to in 2024.

Businesses Must Equip Developers with Low-Code and Generative AI Skills to Help Them Ride the Wave of Disruption

In 2024, developers will be expected to combine the power of low-code and generative AI to build, test, and update applications at an unprecedented speed.

“With the built-in guardrails of low-code platforms, teams can experiment and innovate freely without the privacy and security concerns associated with public AI models,” Azevedo said. “These technologies will free up developers’ time, reduce repetitive tasks, and alleviate burnout, allowing them to focus on the long-term projects that deliver the most business value.”

Organisations will need to invest in upskilling and reskilling programs to ensure they set developers up for success as AI skills become increasingly valuable. Proper training is crucial for developers to adjust to new AI tools in their workflows after they’ve spent their career using traditional coding methods, as well as to scale their work.

Customer-Facing Roles Will See the Quickest Impact from Generative AI

Although the explosion in AI-capable applications will be the most prevalent element in digital transformation across all industries, Azevedo anticipates that customer-facing roles will see the quickest impact from the technology on innovation due to its rapid effects on companies’ business value.

Gartner predicts that “by 2026, more than 80% of enterprises will have used generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) application programming interfaces (APIs) or models, and/or deployed GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% in 2023.”

Front-office roles, such as customer service agents or sales representatives paramount for success in today’s demanding markets, will experience a productivity boost with the support of automation tools aided by generative AI. Applications with embedded generative AI features will be able to help streamline processes, anticipate needs, and empower agents to deliver smarter, more personalised interactions with improved resolution times.

Meanwhile, Azevedo also expects supporting roles, such as HR, to increasingly deploy generative AI chatbots, enabling employees to quickly and independently find the resources they need via self-service. AI-powered applications will also streamline the onboarding and recruitment processes so that HR teams can free up more time to focus on the types of employee engagement that matter most.

Cloud-Native, Low-Code Development Will Help Businesses Rise From 2023’s Economic Ashes

CIOs will continue to prioritise efficiency and growth as they face tighter budgets and a talent shortage. In 2023, 65% of technology executives were expected to do more with fewer resources on hand than the previous year, according to the KPMG US Technology Survey Report.

In 2024, mid-size businesses will increasingly prioritize cloud-native technology, including infrastructure and application development, to meet this high demand for scale, cost reduction, and ease of management.

“More and more customers will expect a personalised experience at every step of their journey, including customer onboarding, self-service, and e-commerce,” Azevedo said. “Cloud-native development enables organisations to rapidly and securely bring ideas on how to improve the customer experience to fruition.”

Low-Code Will Continue to Remove Communication Barriers between Developers and Business Leaders

Developers have traditionally built applications with long lines of code written in languages that those outside of their department did not understand or struggled to integrate into their work. Knowledge silos prevent nearly half of developers from sharing ideas across their organization, according to the Stack Overflow 2022 Developer Survey. However, low-code will continue to help software teams streamline communication.

“Low-code platforms showcase code in a visual and straightforward manner, so software teams can easily demo their work,” Azevedo said. “This will create better collaboration and alignment on goals across the organization’s business and tech teams in the new year.”

For further insights, join Tiago Azevedo on February 13 for the upcoming webinar, Top Tech Trends for IT Leaders That Will Define 2024. OutSystems experts, customers, and partners will debate predictions on the key enterprise IT and software development trends impacting 2024 and beyond.

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