5 trends driving the future of low-code
The rapid advancement of AI is reshaping industries, prompting businesses to adapt their workforces for the future. Reskilling employees has become a priority as companies face a shortage of skilled workers and potential disruption from automation.
Adopting reskilling and low-code technologies can help businesses create purpose-rich careers for their employees, embrace digital transformation and prepare their workforces for the challenges and opportunities of the AI era.
Here are five key trends driving the future of low-code:
1. Reskilling in the AI era
The widespread integration of AI is reshaping workforce requirements across industries. Routine and repetitive tasks are being automated by AI-driven systems, leading to concerns about job displacement in traditional roles.
Organisations are experiencing these challenges firsthand. Dropbox laid off 500 employees due to the impact of AI, prompting CEO Drew Houston to emphasise the need for talent realignment toward AI and early-stage product development. IBM echoed this trend, revealing plans to replace thousands of jobs with AI within five years.
While experts agree that AI will eliminate some jobs, it will also create new opportunities. The nature of some jobs will change, and individuals will need to develop new skills to stay relevant in the job market. By reskilling workers and placing them in high-value roles, organisations can close the talent gap and position themselves for success.
2. Future-proofing organisations with reskilling
Reskilling not only equips employees with updated skills, but it can also help cultivate continuous growth. When organisations actively invest in reskilling, they signal their commitment to developing employees, increasing retention, and attracting top talent.
Neglecting investment in reskilling can have significant financial implications for businesses. According to IDC, 90% of organisations will face IT skills shortages by 2025, at a cost of $6.5 trillion globally due to delayed product releases, decreased customer satisfaction and loss of business.
Beyond recruitment and training, the time it takes for employees to ramp up and be fully productive is a significant cost factor. To help with this challenge, successful organisations prioritise investing in existing employees and company familiarity for cost-effective skills development.
3. New citizen development strategies
Four out of five U.S. companies have adopted low-code platforms for application development, according to market research firm Fact.MR. Low-code platforms have emerged as transformative tools, accelerating application development by up to 90% and empowering a new kind of knowledge worker: citizen developers, according to McKinsey.
Citizen developers are technology enthusiasts who, despite lacking formal IT training, have developed low-code solutions to address bigger challenges, says Gregg Aldana, global senior director of creator workflows at ServiceNow.
4. Increased workforce collaboration
The impact of low-code development extends beyond the platform, across an organisation. It's now possible for anyone to participate in and contribute to developing solutions. Organisations are embracing this collaborative approach through "fusion teams" that unite business executives and IT professionals.
This method combines the expertise of those who understand the operational needs and demands of the business units with the technological insights and controls maintained by IT professionals.
A fusion team operates as a bridge, fostering lateral collaboration over a conventional top-down structure. By combining diverse perspectives, the team encourages knowledge sharing and broad employee engagement, both of which drive adaptability and agility.
5. Reskilling with low-code platforms
Through its visual and collaborative nature and wide accessibility, low-code development enables anyone across an organisation to engage in building apps with minimal technical expertise.
Sandbox environments offer a controlled space for citizen developers to experiment and ideate proof-of-concept apps without affecting existing systems. If business owners are satisfied with proofs of concept, IT can put a small-scale pilot into production. This unlocks creative ways to drive reskilling with a strategic low-code approach.
By adopting AI-powered low-code platforms and citizen development strategies, enterprises can foster a future-ready workforce, empowering employees to take on new challenges and focus on tasks that require their cognitive skills.
Find out more in our ebook: Build and automate with low-code.