According to Francis Carden (Analyst, Analysis.Tech), the world of enterprise applications is experiencing a “tectonic plate shift” with the emergence of a new generation of low-code technologies that are utterly transforming the software industry.
Launchpad belongs to this new generation – revolutionizing development and enabling software providers to build and commercialize their applications faster and more cost-efficiently than ever before.
Francis and Rob Koplowitz (Principal, Analysis.Tech) sat down with Chief of Launchpad, John Huehn, to discuss this new world and how Launchpad provides an exciting new platform for building and going to market in this space.
Here are the highlights of the podcast:
John's journey to Launchpad
John Huehn's story begins in a call center, where he started his career talking to wireless customers at Canada's largest telecom. Over the years, he ascended into an executive role, leading contact center strategy and operations. In 2010, John left the telecom company to start InTheChat, a digital customer engagement platform. In 2019, Pega acquired John's company, and he joined Pega to integrate their technologies and lead the customer service business. This experience paved the way for John to explore entrepreneurial opportunities within Pega, leading to the creation of Launchpad.
A new era for app development
John distills the essence of Launchpad: an end-to-end platform for building workflow-centric, largely B2B, SaaS applications – fast. Launchpad simplifies app development by taking away all the non-competitively differentiating architecture and work that companies typically invest into their products. Everything companies would typically build and manage is built into the platform already: cloud operations, database, scalability, security & certifications, workflow capabilities, low code tools, multitenancy, and subscriber management. Eliminating this work means that companies can focus instead on building an innovative product and getting it to market.
The tale of two AIs
Launchpad comes from Pegasystems which, as John notes, brings a strong 20-year history of “left brain” AI - which is logical, analytical, and predictive. Building on this foundation with “right brain” GenAI functionality brought a lot of excitement, enabling Launchpad to provide broad AI capabilities. A prime example: Blueprint – a GenAI tool that enables anyone can create an application design in minutes. Better still: you can upload your Blueprint onto the Launchpad platform, and half of the application will already be built for you, thanks to GenAI. But it doesn't stop there: Launchpad provides a built-in GenAI connector that enables apps to connect with various LLMs. This means that apps can leverage those LLMs to get work done for users, for example: reviewing and approving an application or completing an insurance claim. The possibilities are endless.
The future of software development
Rob Koplowitz points out a monumental change that platforms like Launchpad bring to the software business: “it short circuits the time…to get from idea to execution.”
It short circuits the time…to get from idea to execution.
-Rob Koplowitz
Principal, Analysis.Tech
Rob Koplowitz points out a monumental change that platforms like Launchpad bring to the software business: “it short circuits the time…to get from idea to execution.” Software companies no longer have to figure out how to manage data, hire developers, build a security model, or earn certifications. Instead, a businessperson with a business idea can build an application quickly and start selling it. This change constitutes the democratization of application development, where business experts can create solutions without extensive technical expertise - opening up the world of software to ideas which would never have before been feasible or possible.
The full chicken dinner
What does Launchpad offer that John Huehn finds really exciting? Achieving real, complete outcomes. Huehn uses the analogy of bringing automation and AI together to make a chicken dinner. While AI can craft the recipe and tell you where to buy the ingredients, automation can make that recipe and those ingredients into a real (tasty) outcome. He sees Launchpad as a place where software providers can build the apps that bring those real outcomes to companies, from conducting an audit to processing an insurance claim: Launchpad has the power to provide the full chicken dinner.
Want to hear the full story? Check out the complete interview: Pega Chief of Launchpad, John Huehn on Low Down on Low-Code.
About the Author
The Launchpad Team empowers companies to build B2B SaaS apps fast and at minimal cost - enabling them to go from ideation to application at rocket speed.