To gain an insight into how the coronavirus events have reshaped and reorientated the business world, Digital Journal caught up with Agiloft’s CTO, Colin Earl. The expert provides a detailed prediction of what the corporate community can expect during this year.
Digital Journal: Can we expect no-code software’s powerful adaptability to takes center stage in 2021?
Colin Earl: The adoption of no-code platforms made substantial progress in 2020 as companies scrambled to deploy new technologies quickly in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. With highly configurable automation, no-code platforms increase efficiency and reduce the risk of deploying digital systems. This gives organizations a new level of dexterity that’s essential today, as they can customize their systems to fit the most complex processes, quickly adapt when circumstances change and automate processes to free up time better spent on customers.
Digital Journal note: A no-code development platform (NCDPs) allows programmers and non-programmers to create application software through graphical user interfaces.
DJ: How are no code platforms reshaping the sector?
Earl: No-code platforms are revolutionizing the software industry and leaving traditional, systems that depend on slow, manual coding behind. In the coming year, the agile development offered by no-code platforms will impact IT departments at the enterprise level, as CIOs look to replace legacy technology and deploy in a matter of weeks versus the many months or years it takes to develop traditional enterprise software.
More CIOs and IT leaders will rely on no-code platforms in 2021 to configure agile applications faster with significantly reduced risk, resource, and time requirements while also satisfying development needs across the enterprise. No code will become the new normal in multiple areas. This will increase the level of responsiveness and agility in the IT department and nine-month turnarounds for system implementations or updates will no longer be tolerated.
DJ: Will AI become mainstream in 2021?
Earl: Now that AI is more widely used and enterprises in every industry are discovering new ways to harness its capabilities, we finally see AI technology becoming mainstream in 2021. This means even organizations that are considered “late adopters” will begin to automate various tasks using AI. However, when IT teams consider deploying an AI solution, it’s important to remember that the AI/ML model must be adaptable to the specific needs of each organization.
DJ: What about contracts specifically?
Earl: In the case of contract lifecycle management (CLM), the digital contracting system must be agile enough to scale with the organization and its changing needs over the next 10+ years. If the CLM isn’t flexible and tailored to the organization’s specific challenges at that time, the company will be forced to roll out a completely new system every couple of years, which is extremely costly and time-consuming. AI can be extremely effective if implemented properly, but like other powerful and sophisticated tools, it must be done right.
