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Day Two Recap: Appian World 2019

Roland Alston, Appian
May 15, 2019

Day two at #AppianWorld19 kicked off with a vigorous early morning 5k run with proceeds goingto Black Girls Code (BCG), an Atlanta-based organization focused on securing the future for women and pre-teen girls of color in fields that require strong skills in science, technology, engineering and math.

One hundred and thirty runners turned out for the BCG 5k run which was double the number of participants in last year's run.

Throughout the day, our social media mavens kept Twitter poppin' with numerous tweets on conference trends, influencers and buzzworthy activities. (Follow along @Appian with #AppianWorld.)

News You Can Use from #Appian 2019:

For those keeping up with news from Appian World 2019, several releases hit the wires on Tuesday including an announcement on Appian's new technology alliance with UiPath, a major robotic process automation (RPA) software company. The alliance will accelerate high-impact digital automation for large organizations. A no-code integration between Appian and the UiPath platform is now available on the Appian AppMarket.

Here's the significance of the UiPath release:

Companies struggling with rising demand for enterprise automation now have a better way to deploy automation solutions that bring people, robots, and systems together.

"Our alliance with Appian, together with bi-directional no-code' integration, enables our joint customers to easily integrate their RPA and business process management initiatives. This is delivering an end-to-end automation first' approach where robot, system, and human activities are orchestrated uniformly to deliver accelerated digital transformation," said Param Kahlon, Chief Product Officer at UiPath.

On a related note, Appian raised the curtain on the new Robotic Workforce Manager solution for @Blue_Prism, which makes it easier for organizations to manage their digital workforce and optimize collaboration between software robots and humans.

A Centralized Way to Manage Digital Labor

"Using Appian and Blue Prism together gives us greater power in automating complex processes," said Adeel Javed, Manager of Process Automation at OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. "Combining the two products extends the reach of our automation initiatives and enables centralized management of the entire workforce."

Appian AI also announced the immediate availability of no-code/no-fee artificial intelligence from Google Cloud Platform Services to any application built on the Appian platform, including high-impact applications such as image recognition, sentiment analysis and more.

Making AI Integration Simple

Why it matters: Appian took the hassle out of contracting with Google as a third-party provider, estimating proper funding, and administering the Google Console to manage security, projects, and service accounts.

"We want to give everyone a free and easy way to use AI in all of their enterprise applications," said Medhat Galal, Vice President of Software Development at Appian.

"We set up their link to Google's AI services and our customers are off to the races. And, we subsidize the entire cost of the free tier of Appian AI, so all the customer has to think about is which services to use for their business problem."

In the final release of the day, Appian announced the newest version of the low-code Appian Platform, which increases the speed and business impact of low-code development.

Low-Code: From Idea to Application in Just Eight Weeks

"Today's release advances low-code development as a key IT asset for quickly building and deploying transformational and mission-critical business applications," said Malcolm Ross, Vice President of Product at Appian. "Appian has the speed and enterprise-grade qualities to take our customers from idea to application in eight weeks. That's the mission of the Appian Guarantee."

Coincidentally, this year's conference marks Appian's 20th year in business. But the overarching theme of the conference was that Appian is in the business of helping customers find inspiration for innovation.Appian CEO and Founder Matt Calkins said that Appian World is not about us (the company) it's about you (the customer). Here's how Calkins put it in his keynote remarks in the general session:

"What makes this venture worthwhile is not how long we've been at it but what we've done for you (customers). It's about the difference we've been able to make in your company and in your career that would make it worthwhile."

Low-Code Has Arrived

"So, this conference didn't have a theme or a slogan. ...But if we were going to have a theme, it would be something like low-code has arrived.' Something that would commemorate this idea that we've been chasing for a few years. It would be about the fact that low-code is now a recognizable thing. And I would say that the people in this room have built the best low-code applications in the world--the most scalable, the most impressive applications with the best ROI."

Once Calkins' keynote was over, it was time to catch as many breakout sessions as possible before capping off the day with an epic party on the flight deck of the historic USS Midway, the longest-service aircraft carrier of the 20th century.

By the time I walked from the Hilton to the Midway, the party was poppin' on the flight deck as conferees jammed to the throwback beats of the 80's band. Whatever musical genre you preferred, the band had it covered in a hit-filled set that even included a freestyle rap on low-code, all followed by an amazing fireworks display that brought down the house.

That's a wrap for day two. Check back tomorrow for our recap of day three.