On paper, low-code sounds like a productivity slogan. In real life, it looks like something much less glamorous:
A procurement manager who’s tired of chasing approvals across email threads.
An IT lead who’s done hearing “can we build a small app for this?”—for the 300th time.
A finance team that lives in spreadsheets because the “real system” is too rigid to change.
This is exactly why low-code has moved from “nice-to-have” to “how we actually get work done.”
And the biggest reason it’s catching fire right now is simple: modern low-code is no longer just “drag-and-drop apps.” It’s becoming AI-assisted, governance-first, enterprise-ready delivery—with real ROI attached.
What’s changed recently (the “updated news” part)
Low-code platforms are rapidly blending into the broader “AI agents” wave across enterprise software:
- Microsoft’s Power Platform 2025 Release Wave 2 (Oct 2025–Mar 2026) is explicitly framed as a major feature cycle for Power Platform, which is a core low-code ecosystem.
- Microsoft also announced Copilot Tuning as a low-code capability in Copilot Studio—aimed at letting organizations tune AI behaviors using their own data/workflows without deep ML effort.
- ServiceNow unveiled its ServiceNow AI Platform positioning around “any AI, any agent” across enterprise workflows—meaning low-code workflow orchestration is increasingly agent-enabled.
- OutSystems pushed further into “AI-powered SDLC automation” with Mentor (GA announced in 2025), showing how low-code is expanding beyond app-building into lifecycle acceleration.
So when people say “low-code is getting big,” what they often mean now is: low-code is becoming the control layer for business workflows + AI automation.
Why low-code streamlines work (in human terms)
Most enterprises don’t suffer from a lack of software.
They suffer from work happening in the gaps between software.
The request comes in through email.
The data lives in Excel.
The approval sits in someone’s inbox.
The update goes into Slack.
And nobody knows the status unless they ping three people.
Low-code streamlines ROI because it’s great at the “glue” work:
1) It turns “email + spreadsheets” into structured workflows
Instead of:
- request → follow-up → reminder → escalation → missed SLA → fire drill
You get:
- request intake form → rules-based routing → automatic approvals → SLA timers → dashboards → audit logs
That’s not just cleaner. It’s measurably faster.
2) It reduces handoffs (the real productivity killer)
Every handoff is a delay: “Who owns this?” “Where is this?” “Did it get approved?”
Low-code automates the handoff logic, so work moves even when people are busy.
3) It creates visibility (which reduces rework)
When teams can see bottlenecks, they stop re-doing work “just in case.”
And managers stop running the business via status meetings.
Where the ROI actually comes from
If you’re selling low-code internally, “speed” is nice—but CFOs want ROI.
Here are the most common ROI buckets low-code delivers:
A) Faster cycle times (which hits revenue and customer experience)
Example: onboarding, approvals, case resolution, quote routing
If you cut a process from 12 days to 4, that impacts:
- customer satisfaction
- time-to-revenue
- operational predictability
B) Lower operational cost (less manual work)
Every manual step is labor cost:
- data entry
- follow-ups
- copying between systems
- reconciling versions
Low-code replaces those with automated workflow steps and validated inputs.
C) Reduced risk and fewer errors (quiet but huge ROI)
Mistakes aren’t just embarrassing—they’re expensive:
- wrong approvals
- wrong vendors
- missed compliance checks
- missing audit trails
Low-code workflows make the “right way” the default way.
D) Developer time saved (the hidden enterprise ROI)
IT teams spend too much time on:
- small internal apps
- departmental requests
- “just one more dashboard”
Low-code lets IT:
- set guardrails + templates
- approve designs quickly
- focus developers on complex, high-leverage work
5 low-code use cases that reliably show ROI
If you want quick wins, these are usually the safest bets:
- Approvals & purchase workflows
Purchase requests, budget approvals, vendor onboarding approvals - Employee-facing internal apps
Asset requests, IT tickets, HR requests, facilities, access provisioning - Case management
Exceptions handling, complaints, claims, service requests, compliance issues - Operations automation
SLA tracking, escalations, audit logs, standardized handoffs - Legacy modernization “around the edges”
Instead of ripping out a legacy system, build low-code layers around it:
- modern interfaces
- workflow routing
- data capture + validations
- integration triggers
What enterprise leaders are doing differently in 2026
The mature organizations aren’t “letting everyone build apps.”
They’re building a governed low-code operating model:
1) A Center of Excellence (CoE)
- reusable templates
- training for makers
- app review + publishing standards
2) Guardrails before scale
- role-based permissions
- environment separation (dev/test/prod)
- audit requirements
- data classification rules
3) AI + low-code together, with control
This is where the “updated news” connects: platforms are pushing AI agents into workflows, but enterprises are insisting on governance (human-in-loop, oversight, policy controls). That’s visible in how major vendors frame their roadmap and releases.
A simple ROI story you can use internally
If you need a narrative that doesn’t sound like marketing, use this:
“We’re not adopting low-code to replace engineering.
We’re adopting low-code to eliminate operational friction—
the repetitive, cross-team workflows that slow us down and create risk.
We’ll start with 2–3 processes where cycle time and manual effort are high,
measure time saved and SLA improvement, and scale with governance.”
That gets buy-in faster than “low-code is the future.”
Closing: low-code is becoming the enterprise “execution layer”
Right now (early 2026), low-code is converging with a bigger trend: agentic automation across business software—where AI and workflow orchestration blend. But the practical win is still the same:
Low-code helps businesses streamline the messy parts of work—and prove ROI by cutting cycle times, reducing manual effort, and improving compliance.
