Then vs. Now: Rethinking Business Apps with AI

August 20, 2025

How AI is transforming business apps: faster, cheaper, more personalized – and finally centered around people.

This article is part of my “Past vs. Now” series. I want to show how AI enables a shift from complexity to clarity – business apps that are not only faster and cheaper, but also more human-centered.

A bridge in the morning fog with sunlight – a metaphor for transition, orientation, and new beginnings.
A bridge in the morning fog with sunlight – a metaphor for transition, orientation, and new beginnings.

The image above is more than just a sunrise to me. It shows a bridge in the fog – a transition from yesterday to tomorrow. That’s exactly how my work feels right now: we are in the middle of change. Much is still unclear, but the direction is becoming visible.

Over the past weeks, I have facilitated numerous workshops on business apps. What strikes me again and again: how dramatically AI is changing the rules of the game. In the past, we planned and built large applications over months – complex, expensive, and often overloaded. Today, many things take only a few days – sometimes just a single prompt is enough.

How AI is changing business apps

  • Cost & speed: Instead of months, we’re talking days or weeks. Ideas can be tested and adapted much faster.
  • Integration: Not everything has to be built into one big app. AI connects existing tools, data, and workflows far more flexibly.
  • Personalization: Business apps now adapt to roles, situations, and needs – not the other way around.
  • Empowerment: With AI and low-code, business units can shape solutions themselves. This creates ownership and relieves IT.
  • People at the center: AI makes technology more accessible – voice input, image recognition, visual interfaces instead of endless forms.
  • Agility as a principle: AI forces us to work iteratively. Do – Inspect – Adapt is no longer optional. Whoever continues planning in quarterly cycles will lose pace.

Concrete examples

  • Supplier database: from complex input forms to automated AI analysis.
  • Office attendance app: from tedious calendar matching to simple AI suggestions.
  • Onboarding process: from Excel lists to personalized training plans generated with a prompt.
  • Sustainability app: from manual forms to photo-based meter readings.

In the coming weeks, I will share these examples in a short and practical “Past vs. Now” series. What matters to me: AI is not a silver bullet. It inspires new ways of working, accelerates processes, simplifies tasks – but it also has limits. This balance belongs to every honest conversation.

Why this matters

Technology only works if people want it. With AI, we have the chance to rethink business apps: faster, cheaper, more personalized – and above all, more human-centered. For me, this is not a trend, but a shift in perspective: we start with impact, not with technology.

👉 My invitation: Where do you see the biggest shifts? What “Past vs. Now” moments are you experiencing in your environment?

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