Discover how DHL Group increased connectivity across the enterprise and automated multiple processes end-to-end
AI is penetrating all aspects of work; and programming and development are no exception.
We’ve seen multiple uses of AI with Bizagi, both in the back end and development, as well as end-users who are making good use of Bizagi’s generative AI assistant, Ada.
One excellent example of using AI is to create custom connectors that extend your apps’ capabilities by integrating with other systems or apps. While there are numerous ready-built Bizagi connectors available on the Connector Xchange, you can also create your own connectors.
“I love custom connectors because they give you the freedom to build integrations in the way you want to,” says Martins Seimuskins, a process automation consultant with over 15 years’ experience.
“There might be really complex, scenarios where you need to build custom authentication schemas, tailored error handling, or complex data transformation, especially if you need to unify data from different sources and bring it together in the Bizagi platform.”
“The biggest benefit of the custom connectors is that you can perform big abstractions of all those complex interactions to the degree that your process is not affected, meaning that your process still will keep a reasonable business context.”
As Seimuskins highlights though, there are challenges in building integrations:
- NodelJS proficiency needed
- Time-intensive
- Testing complexity
- Elevated risk of errors from code quality
- Collaboration challenges (IT vs citizen developers)
This is where AI can help. “AI allows citizen developers to step into the programmers’ shoes…. This is a really good example of how AI can enable us to do relatively complex things without having this deep and proficient knowledge of skillset,” says Seimuskins.
Building integrations with AI also saves time as it generates most of the code for you and is helpful for beginners or those with limited coding knowledge as it provides clear code explanations and upholds code integrity and naming standards. It also helps you make improvements by offering logic correction suggestions, identifying security vulnerabilities and proposing automated tests.
Seimuskins illustrates how to create a custom connector using three things: a code editor, a node package to give context to your AI, and an AI assistant of your choice.
Watch the video below to see him building a custom CRM connector with the help of AI:
As you can see, AI significantly helps to speed up the process and ensure proper execution. Benefits of using AI to assist your integration coding include:
- Enable citizen developers to build high-quality integrations with unit tests
- Promote collaboration between programmers and citizen developers
- Utilize existing resources, such as Git, Jenkins, Artifactory etc.
- Enable parallel development on the same connector
- Low-level visibility on each change
- Create reusable templates based on your needs
Try creating a custom connector yourself with the help of an AI assistant and let us know on social media how you get on. Don’t forget the hashtag #Bizagi
Don’t forget to check out the Connector Xchange for pre-made connectors to extend your apps’ capabilities.
