AI Is Rapidly Redefining How Humans Develop and Use Apps
By Burley Kawasaki
Steady advances in no code and AI will continue to blur the lines between developer and end user.
Over the past two decades, the journey of democratizing app creation has been a fascinating evolution in which I have been deeply invested professionally and personally. It’s a story of how tools have shifted from being accessible only to software developers to empowering non-technical individuals, or “citizen developers,” to build applications with greater ease and efficiency.
The story began with early tools like workflow and business process management (BPM), which allowed you to design processes visually. Low-code platforms emerged as the next step in this evolution and allowed users to build complete applications while reducing the coding complexity. Yet, despite these advances, app development generally remained out of reach for non-technical users due to their learning curve and underlying technical complexity. I spent a decade of my professional life building these types of software tools — we were making progress, but only partially.
Then came the era of actual no-code platforms. Thanks to advances in usability and composable architectures, these tools represented a significant leap forward. I’ve witnessed this new wave and its impact — for the first time, non-technical users can build robust applications without writing a single line of code. However, there is a learning curve even with these advancements: users must still learn how to navigate these tools, read documentation, and follow practices to build enterprise-grade applications successfully. To help address this, I also wrote the “No-Code Playbook” as a first step to provide practical help — it provided vendor-agnostic methods and best practice guidance tailored for teams building no-code Enterprise apps.
But as I reflect on the progress made, I ask: What’s next?
Historically, the path to building applications has always involved humans adapting to software tools. But what if we flipped that script? What if software learned to work with us instead of vice versa? This shift represents a fascinating opportunity in the app development space. It revolves around three key AI trends:
English as the New Programming Language
We see this today in increasing stages of reality: expressing your application requirements in plain text or uploading files like process diagrams or simple sketches and having AI generate a working app. Today, AI-generated apps are still relatively simple and turnkey. Still, we’ll quickly see this evolve to where you can develop and iteratively refine all parts of an app. Natural language statements combined with composable architectures (with AI-suggested pre-built components and workflows) will mean you can quickly assemble much more sophisticated apps.
User Experiences That Adapt to You
But natural language may not be correct for you. Adaptive user experiences (UX) will take personalization to the next level. Instead of forcing app creators to static development workflows, AI will learn how you prefer to develop. You may favor natural language commands for capturing requirements. Pseudocode when you’re fleshing out the design? Then, switch to complete visual drag-and-drop tools for fine-tuning the UX. Adaptive experiences will teach you how you work best and tailor the process to you, whether you’re a single creator building simple DIY apps or collaborating with a fusion team. This adaptability will mean creators are supported at the right amount, regardless of their skill set or project complexity.
Agents on Demand — From Assist to Autopilot
Notwithstanding the current hype around AI agents, there is real value in having AI augment the human developer. But agents can’t blindly and robotically operate like many current agents do. They need to adapt to your preferences for building apps and your skill level. Perhaps they start in “assistive” mode, prompting and asking if you want their help. But as you get more confident in your abilities and also trust that the agents know you and can assist your efforts (e.g., finishing off the polishing of a user interface or completing the mappings to an API), you can move them into full “autocomplete” where they act more autonomously to take action without you asking — they anticipate your needs.
As we move forward, these three trends will combine. Steady advances in no-code and AI will continue to blur the lines between developer and end user, tool and collaborator, and significantly compress the traditional software development lifecycle. They will make app development more intuitive, intelligent, and personal than ever before. For me, this isn’t just an exciting professional challenge; it’s a deeply personal mission. The dream of empowering anyone to create is closer than ever, but it’s clear the journey is far from over.
The future of app development is not just about making tools more straightforward. It’s about reimagining the relationship between humans and technology, enabling software to genuinely understand and adapt to us. I believe this is the new era in democratizing app creation.