More organizations in the Philippines are turning to low-code and no-code technology to reskill or upskill non-IT staff to create applications, according to Rakesh Nandakumar, AVP for Asia Pacific at Kissflow.
Nandakumar told Back End News in an interview that the adoption of these platforms is driven by gaps in digital operations and the urgent need for modernization.
“Now they realize that there is a gap, and there is a lot of affinity to fill this void, be it legacy modernization or extending your core systems or being fully digitized as a vision,” he said.
Low-code and no-code platforms allow employees to build apps without prior experience in software development. These tools have made it possible for ordinary staff to participate in digital transformation, creating a group often referred to as citizen developers. Finance teams are usually among the first to adopt these systems, as they handle critical operational data that benefit from digitization.
Nandakumar cited one of Kissflow’s partner banks, which has 650 citizen developers, most of them tellers or operations staff.
“They have the openness to go and explore it, and they were successful,” he said. “Today, that organization has more than 1,000 processes running with nine million records going in every year.”
The example illustrates how citizen developers can play a significant role in expanding a company’s digital capacity without relying solely on IT departments. Nandakumar said the democratization of low-code/no-code technology is making app development accessible to non-specialists and fostering a culture of experimentation within organizations.
Beyond improving day-to-day work, using low-code and no-code tools also helps companies get ready for AI. Nandakumar said companies that start using AI usually recover their investment in about 2.8 months and see returns in around eight months.
“Kissflow’s approach emphasizes partnerships, transformation workshops, and AI capabilities to enhance operational efficiency and compliance,” he said. “The Philippines is prioritized due to its openness to experimentation and willingness to adopt new technologies.”
He added that AI relies on digitized data, which requires companies to have low-code programs for IT and no-code programs for business staff. Without these systems, data cannot be properly prepared for AI applications.
While adoption is accelerating in the Philippines, Nandakumar noted that smaller enterprises should focus on growing their core business rather than prioritizing automation. He said the country’s market is relatively open compared with mature markets, allowing organizations to experiment with new approaches and adopt citizen developer programs at scale.
Nandakumar also revealed that Kissflow is expanding its Philippine presence to support this demand. The company plans to double its team by the end of this year and triple it by the end of next year, targeting large enterprises seeking to accelerate digital transformation through low-code and no-code platforms.