How Citizen Development, Generative AI and Hyper Automation Can Transform Your Business

August 30, 2023

Organizations in all sectors are harnessing hyper automation, generative AI and citizen development to innovate faster and gain a competitive edge. 

According to a recent study, the hyper automation market will increase from $9 billion in 2021 to $26.8 billion by 2028 as more organizations adopt the technology to enhance employee productivity. Meanwhile, 49% of companies currently use ChatGPT, while another 30% plan to use it in the future.  

Citizen development is helping companies build applications quickly—even if they struggle with a shortage of software engineers. In fact, 89% of CIOs said that low-code platforms help them increase efficiencies while 87% said that the platforms are helping them cut costs.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can use cutting-edge technologies and processes to make your organization more agile. You’ll also learn the differences between citizen development, generative AI and hyper automation—and when it makes sense to use each one.

What is Citizen Development, Generative AI and Hyper Automation?

Citizen development allows employees who don’t have professional development skills to build applications to solve business problems. Low-code and no-code platforms, such as Microsoft’s Power Platform, significantly reduce development complexity and allow business users to create custom applications they need to make their jobs easier. You can use these applications in a range of areas—from automating manual processes to complex BI reporting and more.  

Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that uses machine learning techniques to generate text, images and other outputs. Tools such as ChatGPT have human-like conversations with users and turn their prompts into new content. Generative AI can also enhance automation and streamline workflows in a no-code and low-code context.    

Hyper automation combines advanced technologies, including generative AI, machine learning and process mining to automate business processes.   

For example, ChatGPT and Microsoft Power Platform can work together to automate responses to email complaints. Microsoft Power Platform will automatically process these emails and classify them by topic. Then, ChatGPT will analyze the results and send relevant feedback to the customer support team.  

When Should You Use Citizen Development, Generative AI and Hyper Automation?

Cutting-edge processes and technologies like these can help your organization boost efficiency and drive innovation. Here are some ways you can apply them to gain a competitive edge: 

• Consider citizen development if you want to democratize digitalization and leverage your organization’s diverse range of skills when creating applications.  
• Generative AI is valuable when people within your organization want to reduce their manual effort and complete tasks—such as drafting reports and creating marketing content—faster.  
• Hyper automation can help you automate processes from end to end to increase efficiency and productivity across your organization.

While these processes and technologies can work together, they are not substitutes for each other. Generative AI focuses on one output, such as summarizing content, while hyper automation streamlines entire processes. For example, hyper automation can automate the entire process of getting ChatGPT to summarize content, and then sending that content to the right people for review.

How to Get Started

Low-code development, generative AI and hyper automation can provide immense business value. But unlocking their full potential requires unique skills and knowledge. 

That’s where Adastra can help.   

We have 20+ years of experience helping organizations in all industries achieve their data management, analytics, and AI goals. Let us help you navigate new technologies and uncover the opportunities they present for your business.   

Contact us now to learn more.