WSO2 has made AI a first-class concept across its entire software stack. It says this will “enable enterprises to easily create, integrate, manage and secure intelligent digital products and services.” The company is doing this because it sees AI proof-of-concept projects continually fail to reach production due to problems with customer’s software platforms.
It is showing the latest version of its products at WSO2Con, which is taking place this week in Barcelona. Multiple stands will host demonstrations of its products’ AI-native capabilities.
Dr Sanjiva Weerawarana, WSO2 founder and CEO, said, “AI is fundamentally changing the applications that enterprises are building, as well as how they are building them. WSO2 is on a transformational journey across the company to help our customers use AI to boost their productivity and deliver great digital experiences.
“As part of this journey, we are building on our commitment to open-source software, a key enabler of AI adoption. We’re also investing in our team, and we are excited to have AI expert Rania Khalaf join WSO2 as Chief AI Officer to spearhead our company-wide strategy and roadmap for delivering on the promise of the AI era.”
Making AI central to the software development lifecycle
WSO2 sees AI as a key part of the IT environment from automation to autonomy with agentic AI and GenAI. Over the last year, it has made significant investments in AI and now it is putting it at the core of its software development lifecycle.
This is not just about using AI to bolster security teams’ ability to secure APIs. This is about writing, editing and testing code then deploying and monitoring it. It makes it a cross-discipline tool in the IT department. Importantly, that means removing the current siloed approach that many organisations have.
In the announcement, the company highlighted the use of low-code and pro-code programming to build AI agents and applications using AI. It also said, “the open WSO2 platform integrates out-of-the-box with AI ecosystem libraries, agent frameworks, knowledge bases, and GenAI APIs.”
This is an open platform, not a take it or leave it option. Customers can build AI agents on their framework of choice. Those agents can then take advantage of WSO2’s security, governance and monitoring capabilities. By making the platform open, WSO2 hopes to persuade customers that it can act as the glue to help get proof-of-concept projects into production faster and reliably.
Four ways that WSO2 is changing the SDLC with AI
WSO2 has set out four ways that it is using AI to improve the SDLC. They are code, integrate, manage and secure intelligence digital products and services.
- Code: WSO2 supports a new AI-native “natural programming” approach via its Ballerina specialised integration language. Choreo enables developers to create AI agents and AI APIs and build retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications using capabilities. Integration with other WSO2 applications and AI-powered tools also makes coding more effective.
- Integrate: The WSO2 Integration Manager and the Devant IpaaS allow developers to create intelligent integrations. There is extensive connectivity to large language models (LLMs), vector databases, AI agents, APIs and systems. The WSO2 API Manager and Bijira API management SaaS have an AI Gateway. This allows access to and management of third-party APIs and AI models.
- Manage: Multiple WSO2 products provide a management framework for AI APIs, AI agents, and AI integrations. The WSO2 API management products also add AI-driven governance to automatically ensure API compliance with organisational policies and industry standards.
- Secure: By making AI agents first-class citizens in its IAM products secures AI and provides IT security and compliance teams with controls. It also ensures that there is fine-grained management of what AI can see and use. It helps with the creation of guardrails for AI and prevents the leakage of data.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This is just one of several announcements that WSO2 is making at WSO2con in Barcelona. What is key to this announcement is that AI is not a bolt-on to its products. It is embedded in them and a first-class concept. As such, it makes it far easier to manage and secure it.
Importantly, the company is embracing the use of AI to generate code but there is little in the way of testing and verification processes. There is also no mention of vibe coding although this may come at a later date. The company has certainly set the stage for vibe coding with the way AI is integrated into its security and management tools. When it will go further may become clearer during the week.
WSO2 has stepped up its product development since EQT Capital took it private. Where it goes next with AI remains to be seen. These announcements are all internal developments. Will that pipeline be enough, or will we see it make acquisitions?
More importantly, customers will want to know how much coding around these announcements was done using AI. It’s a significant proof point and could even be an inflection point for its customers. It may well be the trigger for them to speed up AI adoption.
