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Zapier, long known for workflow automation, is stepping into the AI orchestration arena with a new platform that helps startups and enterprises integrate, automate, and scale AI across thousands of apps. The company has hyped up its offering, describing it as the “most-connected” of its kind.
Customers using the AI orchestration platform will have two features that might be expected in such offerings: access to autonomous bots that can be integrated directly into workflows and human-in-the-loop controls, managed through Slack approvals. Zapier is also giving access to AI-first workflow templates, as well as enterprise tools such as its Tables and Interfaces products.
“We’ve seen AI usage explode in Zapier in just the last two years. AI tasks have grown by over 760 percent on our platform, making AI the fastest-growing category of apps we’ve ever seen,” Wade Foster, Zapier’s chief executive, says in an announcement video. “Right now, companies everywhere are encouraging their teams to try AI. Most teams use ChatGPT; marketing might use Anthropic’s Claude; sales might analyze calls with Gong. For a business trying to scale AI, you can see how quickly these individual workflows start to feel disjointed.”
“The real AI advantage,” he adds, “happens when you can connect workflows and tools in one place to completely reinvent your critical business processes from start to finish. It’s not just automation. It’s orchestrating AI.”
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Ready-to-Go Agent Templates
“Now, you can spend less time connecting tools and more time solving problems,” Kathy Huynh, Zapier’s senior product manager, states. At launch, there are at least 12 AI-powered templates available on the platform, spanning use cases such as lead management, sales generation, productivity, project management, customer support, and setting up marketing campaigns.
These templates allow businesses to rapidly deploy AI-driven agents that can handle tasks, such as answering questions, providing sales guidance, prospecting for leads, and nurturing leads through marketing automation. Zapier aims to make it easy for companies to integrate and orchestrate AI across their existing apps and workflows, without requiring extensive custom development.
This collection is designed to offload mundane, administrative tasks so teams can focus on the work that truly matters. However, unlike other platforms with similar agents, Zapier’s templates are system-agnostic, meaning they’re designed to connect data and workflows across third-party tools seamlessly. There’s a Gong-powered sales call coaching bot, a HubSpot-to-Slack closed-won deal notification agent, an IT help desk, and a lead-nurturing tool powered by Eloqua.
‘Innovation Shouldn’t Have to Wait in a Backlog’
According to Zapier, enterprise companies are “being asked to do more with less, move faster, and adopt AI automation, all while managing risk.” To help meet these demands, its AI orchestration platform includes features designed to help teams build impactful workflows easily while maintaining oversight. In other words, customers will receive all the bells and whistles from Zapier’s enterprise service.
This means that IT departments will have complete visibility on how AI and data are used within the organization. They can control who can build, access, and deploy the technology; implement human approval steps when needed without sacrificing performance; and take advantage of enterprise-grade security to ensure policy and regulatory compliance.
Build Your Own AI System
Zapier has long specialized in workflow automation, so it’s only natural that its new platform empowers users to build and scale their own AI-driven workflows. The company shares that has brought together a few of its existing tools to create an end-to-end automation stack that any company might need. This includes:
- Canvas: an AI tool to map and optimize processes
- Interfaces: create custom visual interfaces to help manage automation
- Tables: a database used for storing and enriching data with AI
- AI chatbots: answer common questions automatically
- Zaps: Zapier’s core building blocks—the automated workflow connecting two or more apps to perform tasks without any human intervention
The goal is to give companies a streamlined way to build the AI they need, without having to jump between apps, worry about scalability, or spend unnecessary time on setup and deployment.
“What sets Zapier apart? Most of our customers get their first AI workflow up and running in less than a day. We connect to over 300 AI apps and nearly 8,000 tools. It’s the most connected AI ecosystem out there,” Foster declares. “We’re processing more than 200 million AI tasks for over a million businesses. We built direct partnerships with the leading AI companies, and unlike most AI platforms, Zapier lets AI work for you, 24/7, even when you’re not at a computer.”
Featured Image: An AI-generated image of a human being managing robots in a office. Image credit: Adobe Firefly
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