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Boomi Introduces Ambitious Roadmap to Revolutionize Integration and Automation
Boomi’s vision for using AI is to help its customers unlock the power of their data. Boomi believes that AI can add analytical, predictive, and generative benefits to data-driven decisions, but only if the data is connected, available, and correct. Boomi’s strategy is to use AI to connect the dots so even nontechnical users can access the data and make dynamic dashboards without many analysts or process steps
Boomi, an integration platform as a service (IPaaS) provider, announced a roadmap at its customer and partner conference in May 2024 aimed at transforming the integration and automation landscape. Steve Lucas, the chairman and CEO of Boomi, introduced the company, its products, and its vision of using artificial intelligence to connect data, applications, and systems.
Boomi was acquired by Dell in 2010 and then sold to the private equity firm Francisco Partners and TPG Capital in 2021. Lucas joined the company in 2023 after stints as CEO of Marketo and iCIMS. His background in marketing is shown in his energetic keynote and the way technical concepts were simplified for a universal audience.
Image credit: Shashi Bellamkonda
This wall shows how attendees view the roles and importance of AI by using strings to link. A highly visual, engaging, and useful way to poll people.
Boomi World’s keynotes and sessions showed that Boomi aims to do more than “connect things.” It wants to help its customers unlock the power of their data with AI. Boomi’s position is that that AI can add analytical, predictive, and generative benefits to data-driven decisions, but only if the data is connected, available and correct. Boomi’s strategy is to use AI to connect the dots so even nontechnical users can access the data and make dynamic dashboards without many analysts or process steps.
Lucas announced two strategic acquisitions at Boomi World to help with API enhancements:
- APIIDA: Boomi acquired software assets from APIIDA GmbH, bolstering its API management capabilities.
- Mashery: Boomi also bought Mashery’s API management business from Cloud Software Group.
By enhancing its API management capabilities with the acquisitions of APIIDA and Mashery, Boomi enables customers to easily create, manage, and secure APIs for data exchange and integration.
AI-Powered Automation
Boomi is heavily investing in AI to drive intelligent automation across its platform, both building on existing capabilities and adding new ones.
Existing AI capabilities:
- Boomi GPT is a conversational tool that simplifies the process of connecting applications, data, processes, people, and things. You can use natural language to express your business objective, then change what Boomi GPT integrates and automates to suit your business needs.
- Boomi Pathfinder provides patented suggestions for creating connections between different software systems. It automatically matches up data, offers prebuilt solutions, helps fix problems, and more.
Newly announced capabilities:
- Boomi Scribe is capable of automatically generating process documentation for newly created or existing integrations.
- Boomi DesignGen can automatically build application integrations to save time for developers.
- Boomi DataDetective promises to automatically classify and protect personally identifiable information in your digital ecosystem.
- Boomi Answers enables developers to ask questions about the Boomi Enterprise Platform and get the best answer from over 250,000 community users.
AI Garden or Registry: The company highlighted new AI agents from third parties capable of automating complex tasks, such as generating personalized customer service videos and streamlining financial processes.
- Boomi FinTalk by Vianai: FinTalk allows finance users to access systems and data directly through a conversational interface and get immediate insights, graphs, and charts.Vianai’s CEO Vishal Sikka was previously CEO of Infosys.
- AI-created follow-up videos: Kalpa is an AI agent that can be added to Boomi and can create video summaries from calls and send a follow-up video generated automatically. Other uses are for marketing and customer support. Boomi is encouraging startups like Kalpa to get ahead with the addition to Boomi's AI library.
- Boomi DataHub: This service helps you keep important information such as customer details up to date and correct. You can use DataHub from your web browser.
- Boomi Task Automation Beta: This no-code tool automates repetitive tasks, freeing up time for IT and business professionals to achieve more results with less work.
Our Take
Boomi has an ambitious plan, strategic acquisitions, and a large investment in AI-powered automation that shows that the company wants to be more than just an iPaaS platform.
By adding third-party AI agents, Boomi is trying to compete with non-AI software as a service (SaaS) players within its customer base. This is a clever move, but Boomi will have to ensure that risk and compliance are managed well.
Boomi’s approach of working with over 200 partners, including big service names like Infosys, TCS, HCLTech, and LTIMindtree as well as emerging partners like EasyStepIn and OpenLegacy, is a good one. This will help the company to expand its reach and provide more comprehensive solutions to its customers.
The iPaaS market is dynamic and competitive, and customers expect solutions that are innovative and easy to use. With the growth of AI, integration platforms like Boomi may take on increased importance and potentially challenge other players as enterprises look to simplify their software stack.