Nicolás
Jodal, CEO of GeneXus, opened GeneXus Live | Enterprise Low-Code Meets GenAI with a clear promise:

“During this keynote, our goal is to share three things with you. The first is: What’s happening in software development? The second is: What are we doing about it? But most importantly, what matters most to us is: What opportunities are these changes creating for the entire GeneXus community?”

In this article, we share the most impactful phrases from his speech, which will make you reflect on the direction software development is taking, how GeneXus is addressing the shifts brought by this new technological revolution, and how you can harness these trends in your own journey.

Watch the full video of Nicolás Jodal’s keynote here:

What’s Happening in Software Development?

Software development is undergoing a major transformation. Since November 2022, with the launch of ChatGPT, generative artificial intelligence has changed the rules of the game. However, as Nicolás Jodal explains, there are other ongoing revolutions that are redefining how we create systems and interact with them.

Download our free Practical AI Glossary to learn what ChatGPT, OpenAI, and other key terms in this technology mean.

Key phrases

1. “If I had to summarize what’s happening, it’s that Enterprise Low-Code meets Generative AI. These two technologies, which had been developed somewhat independently, have converged to create a significant revolution. This has brought about a major shift in how we develop software. For the first time, we’ll be able to communicate with systems using natural language to program them.”
2. “There’s another revolution happening, one that’s talked about much less in the media, yet it’s equally or even more important to us. It’s that the systems we’ll develop going forward are different from the systems we’ve created in the past.”
3. “At GeneXus, we’re used to managing and taking advantage of revolutions. We’ve done it throughout our history. The difference now is that we’re facing a tectonic shift. For the first time, these two phenomena are happening simultaneously, and we have to address them both at the same time. What did we do? First, we recognized the need to create a new version of GeneXus—something we never even dreamed possible.”

GeneXus’ response: Innovation amid a new technological revolution

GeneXus has responded to this context with solutions that radically transform software development at every stage. GeneXus Next and Globant Enterprise AI are the new platforms reflecting the company’s strategic commitment to leading this revolution.

About GeneXus Next

4.  “We said, ‘We can take a step further,’ and that led us to build a new edition of GeneXus (GeneXus Next). Now, we can use natural language within GeneXus to express intent—what you want to do—in a much faster and more direct way than if you had to write it as before in the GeneXus language.”

5.“GeneXus Next is the edition of GeneXus embedded with all aspects of Generative AI.”

About Globant Enterprise AI

6. “When we started building GeneXus Next, we realized we needed functionalities to work with Generative AI that didn’t exist. We needed a product that allowed us to handle the constantly changing landscape of AI models, insulating us from model updates and enabling rapid progress. This led to the creation of GeneXus Enterprise AI (now known as Globant Enterprise AI), which we launched in early 2023. It has been widely adopted within the GeneXus community and by Globant clients who aren’t GeneXus users.”

7. “Globant Enterprise AI has two essential features. It’s a strategic product for anyone building enterprise applications that use Generative AI. Secondly, it’s independent of GeneXus.”

8. “Globant Enterprise AI is the mechanism that enables us to create AI-based applications for the enterprise world.”

9. “Globant Enterprise AI represents our response to the types of systems we’ll create going forward. These systems are driving us toward a new user experience. We’re moving from a point-and-click model to one where users describe what they want—whether by writing or speaking. Conversational interfaces, both written and spoken, are becoming increasingly vital.”

10. “Until now, text wasn’t central, but that’s changed completely. We can now build applications where the focus is text. Today, when I speak with a client, the first thing I ask is, ‘What text do you have?’ From there, we quickly figure out how we can use Generative AI to improve productivity and manage that text effectively.”

Legacy Systems: From a Challenge to an Opportunity

The modernization of Legacy Systems is another area where GeneXus aims to make a significant impact. With AI, the challenge of interpreting old code is turning into a major opportunity to bring it into the present.

11. “Since we began with Breogán Gonda, we said we would never touch old, manually written code. If a client wanted to use GeneXus and had, for instance, millions of lines of COBOL or RPG code, we would tell them we had tools to help with data conversion, but not code conversion. Why? Because we believed diving into code conversion was easy to start but impossible to exit.

Understanding what a COBOL programmer intended 30, 40, or 50 years ago seemed impossible. Well, now it’s becoming interesting. With Globant Enterprise AI, we’re starting to understand the intent behind that COBOL code written 50 years ago. We’re already running experiments. For now, it’s experimental, but we hope our R&D team can create something to assist in large projects to convert old systems—often in languages like PL/1—into new versions of GeneXus.”

Messages to the GeneXus Community

Nicolás Jodal concluded his presentation with a powerful call for renewal. At a time when everything is flourishing, the key to leveraging this revolution is to evolve alongside it.

GeneXus’ commitments

12. “GeneXus is a company built on two major commitments. The first, our founding commitment, was to create software development tools powered by artificial intelligence. Over 30 years ago, with Breogán Gonda, we said that the future of software development would involve generating code automatically with AI. Until recently, we had to explain this concept. Now, we no longer do. The conversation has shifted to discussing capabilities, not questioning the premise.”

13. “Our second major commitment came in May 2022, when we partnered with Globant to expand GeneXus technology worldwide. The partnership has been very successful, and we expect to close 2024 with over 40% growth—much higher than pre-partnership rates.”

14. “We made these commitments because the GeneXus community bet on us. Today, we want to thank and acknowledge all your support.”

A call for renewal

15. “We all need to renew ourselves. GeneXus must renew itself, as must all companies in the GeneXus community. We’re already doing this, as you’ve seen. We have GeneXus Next, Globant Enterprise AI, and even a new logo.”

16. “There’s a renewal happening across all systems. They need to be rebuilt or enhanced with artificial intelligence.”

17. “I remember something similar when mobile technology first emerged. At that keynote, I said, ‘Go out and buy a smartphone.’ Some criticized me for it, asking why I’d recommend such a thing. But I felt it was necessary.”

What to Do Now?

Nicolás Jodal provided clear action points for the community:

Explore Globant Enterprise AI

18. “Start by exploring Globant Enterprise AI and completing the simplest task with Enterprise AI: create a private chat for yourself or a client, and begin developing assistants around that private chat.”

Adopt GeneXus Next

19. “Next, dive into GeneXus Next and explore the new way of developing systems—using more and more AI-driven assistants. If we do these two things, we’ll dive into this new revolution, renew ourselves, and unlock enormous opportunities for the GeneXus community.”

You might also be interested in: HowTo: Install and run GeneXus Next on your desktop

We recommend these videos:

• GeneXus Next: The AI-Powered Low-Code Platform to Accelerate Software Development
• GeneXus Next Start: Kick Off Projects with AI and Low-Code in a Hybrid Conversational Environment
• Modeling AI Applications: Creating New Experiences Powered by AI
• How AI is Revolutionizing the Development and Design Cycle in GeneXus

Final Reflection

20. “Each of us must understand this revolution by getting hands-on with what’s happening. We are the community best prepared to lead this revolution if we fully engage with it.”

Don’t miss out!

Nicolás Jodal’s keynote and the 14 deep dives specially designed for GeneXus Live | Enterprise Low-Code Meets GenAI are available on-demand in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Enjoy them anytime, anywhere on the official event website. Knowledge is just a click away!

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