What you need to know
- Microsoft invests an unconfirmed sum of money into Builder.ai, a startup specializing in low-code app development software.
- Buider.ai’s in-house AI, codenamed Natasha, will integrate into Microsoft Teams alongside Microsoft’s own AI suite powered by Azure.
- Low-code app suits allow users with little to zero knowledge of coding to create desktop or mobile apps and help distribute them to consumers.
In another example of Microsoft’s (opens in new tab) commitment to making AI tools genuinely helpful, it has invested a confidential amount of cash into Builder.ai (opens in new tab) — a startup company aiming to make app development approachable for anyone, regardless of coding knowledge. Looking to combine Builder.ai’s in-house AI assistant ‘Natasha’ with its Azure platform and various tools gained via Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, users will soon be able to build apps within Microsoft Teams collaboratively.
Determining how Builder.ai will operate within Microsoft Teams (opens in new tab) among the usual slew of corporate-speak within the announcement is tricky. Still, given its stance as a low-code platform, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to translate its Builder suite into a collaborative Teams environment. The official statement explains the goal of helping users ‘create AI-powered solutions that empower businesses to develop applications and become digitally native without the need for any technical expertise.’
We are thrilled (that) the world’s largest software company chose Builder.ai as a collaborator to lay down deeper roots in helping the next 100m businesses and beyond become digitally native.”
Sachin Dev Duggal, Builder.ai
It’s a fancy way of describing its building-block approach to app development rather than learning an entire coding language to create something simple for desktop or mobile devices. A fascinating yet somewhat hidden detail relates to the apparent integration of apps built with Builder.ai to the Microsoft Teams Store, a business-focused app repository, to help quickly distribute your app to internal or external users.
It’s not a completely alien landscape for Microsoft, given their current experiments with AI inside Power Apps (opens in new tab), closely resembling the low-code stylings of Builder.ai. Without knowing exactly how much money went into securing this deal, it’s still evident that Microsoft has no desire to reduce its efforts to become the top dog in AI-powered software.
Google still stands as its most relevant rival with Bard AI (opens in new tab), but for any company already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, offering powerful app-building tools to those with low-to-zero coding knowledge can only benefit developers worldwide.
Microsoft’s corporate vice president Jon Tinter expects the deal to create “an entirely new category that empowers everyone to be a developer,” which aligns with the rapid advancements affecting tech startups and established giants.
