Gartner's projection of a significant increase in the use of AI code assistants by 2028, from less than 10% in early 2023 to around 75%, is a testament to the exciting future of enterprise software engineering. Patrick Connaughton, Gartner VP Analyst, delves into the trends for enterprise applications and AI that software and application leaders need to be aware of, sparking anticipation for the transformative potential of AI in their work.
According to Connaughton, these four pillars include adaptive experience, autonomous orchestration, embedded intelligence, and composable architecture.
"What you want to do is be able to layer things on top of it to get more value to modernise bits and pieces of it that have the most value…. It's not about going out and buying the next greatest tool. It's about getting more leverage from what you have today through automation, a better experience, and a better underlying architecture," he said.
Adapted experience
Connaughton posits that the enterprise software engineering industry still needs to crack the code of a great user experience.
"When we talk about applications like CRM or ERP, they have yet to inherit this great user experience we see on the consumer side. A lot of times, there are still a lot of clicks; it's tough to do your job, and you're going from screen to screen to different applications on a swivel chair between them. And so the user experience for enterprise applications just hasn't caught up to the end user world."
He says adaptive experience, which means things like: What if the user experience you know today completely disappears? What if it becomes a prompt-based experience? Could you ask your application a question or let it know what you're looking for rather than navigating through thousands of screens? This concept of adaptive experience is a fundamental shift in how we interact with enterprise applications, moving from a static, screen-based experience to a dynamic, conversational one.
Autonomous orchestration
Connaughton said that the future of applications is autonomous orchestration or traditional automation tools augmented by AI capabilities.
Connaughton said that the future of applications is autonomous orchestration or traditional automation tools augmented by AI capabilities. The challenge, but also the opportunity in the future, is how do you pull all of these things together to provide a winning future-proofed automation solution. This involves not just integrating different tools and technologies, but also ensuring they work seamlessly together to deliver the desired outcomes. All of the different vendors offer pieces of these puzzles. But how do you find the right combination of these vendors to navigate this extensive, complex, diverse ecosystem of solutions?
Embedded intelligence
"What we need is using whatever tools you use throughout the day, but rather than having to go someplace and look up, say, key information about a customer order or key information about a purchase order or something in your supply chain," Connaughton said.
He said embedded intelligence is almost like having a coach working with you daily within your application to improve decision-making at your fingertips. This concept of embedded intelligence is about more than just providing information. It's about using AI and machine learning to analyse data, identify patterns, and make recommendations, enhancing the decision-making process.
Composable architecture
"We have been talking about composable for years. This is putting together all of the different pieces and applications, whether it's sweets or best of breed, to ensure you're bringing all the right functionality to your business stakeholders. But is there a much bigger picture going on now? Which platform will you choose to prove your portfolio in the future?" he said.
He said that many CIOs and application leaders are struggling with the decision of how to build the best future-proofed platform. He said the key is moving beyond just the integration and the composable pieces of the puzzle to this mega platform discussion and making the right decisions.
