- Enterprise leaders want to enhance and not replace existing systems
- Martin stresses it's software development not AI doing the magic
- No clear consensus on the impact of AI between industry leaders
At the recent OutSystems One event, there was a lot of hype about how much agentic AI is going to transform industries.
The company announced the general availability of Agent Workbench at the event, however, there was no clear consensus between industry leaders on how deep the impact of AI will resonate.
In an interview with TechRadar Pro, company CEO Woodson Martin stressed caution on AI hyperbole, noting "I have not met a single CIO who is saying, my goal is to replace all of my existing systems with something new built by an AI. Nobody is saying that."
AI uncertainty
Martin took a more tempered tone focusing on using the technology to help enterprises get to the future faster rather than completely replacing systems.
It’s not just employees who face uncertainty in the age of AI, but the question of whether software development companies still have room in a world where entire applications can be created with a single prompt is also on the table.
Martin added, “Do I believe that we are a little irrationally exuberant in the industry today about the potential of AI to change everything and throw out everything we've ever done to replace it all with something new? That exuberance is real.”
“Is it going to be a complete and total revolution and everything? No.”
People don't appreciate the work developers do making AI look good
Rick Hoebée, IT Director at Travel Essence, predicted during a panel that “90% of desktop work will be replaced by AI agents in the next three years”, while other leaders at the event stressed the importance of human-centered operations alongside AI in business systems.
Instead, Martin explained what enterprise leaders really want - which is to use this new technology to iterate over the top of existing systems and data assets to drive better productivity.
“And so I think the revolution is a little oversold right now, but I believe that the real business impact will be driven in layers. And I think this layer of AI and agentic over the top of assets that exist already in the enterprise is the real value story here”.
Martin also explained AI is just the tip of the iceberg, describing how we see AI do incredible things but don’t appreciate what’s happening below the surface.
Including, the full life cycle management of all applications within an enterprise together with APIs and data storage, noting, “It’s like, woo, look at the AI doing all the magic up here. But under the covers, there's a lot of hard work.”
While the message at OutSystems One had a slight duality to it with with agentic AI changing everything and nothing all at once there was one clear message and that is that if an enterprise is going to create an agent, OutSystems wants to be the company that helps make it with the Agent Workbench platform.
The OutSystems One event was full of successful case studies of AI agents improving workflows, unlocking data, and maximising efficiency which all translated into better experiences for end users.
So, whether the AI revolution is oversold or not, I’m happy to buy into it.
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