Appian’s Unified Approach to Process Orchestration and Developer Velocity

/ AI, Appian World 2025, Application Development, Enterprise Software
Appian’s Unified Approach to Process Orchestration and Developer Velocity

At Appian World 2025, one of the most developer-relevant sessions came from Appian’s Mark Bolembach and Alex Flickstein of Asplundh. In “Rethinking Integration with Process Orchestration, Data Fabric, and Prebuilt Connectors,” the conversation turned to a critical reality: integration is no longer a backend concern, it’s a core enabler of business transformation.

Drawing on both architectural insights and real-world lessons, the session broke down how Appian’s unified platform enables developers to shift from a data-centric mindset to a process-first orchestration strategy; one where APIs, bots, AI services, and data fabrics serve the process, not the other way around.

From Integration by Necessity to Orchestration by Design

Early enterprise integration practices often focused on mechanics over intent. Drawing inspiration from Gregor Hohpe’s foundational work on enterprise integration patterns, Bolembach argued that traditional models (data replication, shared services, adapters) were often implemented without clearly defining the business outcomes they were meant to serve.

Why this is important

Many integration efforts fail not because they lack APIs, but because they lack alignment to process. What starts as a technical task can quickly become a scalability nightmare if business context is missing.

As organizations evolved, some adopted integration hubs and pipelines that moved data around, but without addressing the underlying workflows. Appian’s counterpoint is simple but profound: AI works best in the process. Integration does, too.

By putting process orchestration at the center (with defined start and end points, decision logic, categorization, augmentation, routing, and storage) developers are able to build integrations that drive outcomes, not just data movement.

Unifying Process, Data, and Services

Appian’s value proposition lies in its unified platform, combining process modeling, automation services, and integration frameworks under one umbrella.

1. Process Orchestration as a Backbone

  • Supports Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) for structure and transparency.
  • Handles complex workflows with human-in-the-loop steps, AI-driven decisions, and rule-based routing.
  • The upcoming Autoscale process engine allows orchestration to scale dynamically without pre-provisioning.

2. Data Fabric as an Integration Layer

  • Unlike traditional replication methods, Appian’s data fabric provides a virtualized, secure, and relational data model across disparate sources.
  • Developers can define data structures, enforce security, and build relationships between systems without moving the data.
  • This enables low-latency, high-integrity access to live data, essential for real-time automation and decisioning.

Industry data shows that most enterprises work with more than 400 individual data sources. The ability to unify and secure that data contextually without duplicating or syncing is a massive productivity unlock for developers.

3. Automation Services and Prebuilt Connectors

  • Whether calling APIs, performing robotic automation, or using AI functions like document classification or summarization, Appian’s automation services support integration without full data ingestion.
  • The Appian AppMarket extends capabilities with connectors and plug-ins for systems like SAP, Salesforce, and more.
  • New Kafka integration (currently in beta) will increase the flexibility and throughput of Appian’s orchestration engine.

Developer Enablement in a BOAT World

The session tied into the broader shift toward BOAT (Business-Oriented Automation Technology), a framework emerging from industry conversations to reframe automation around outcomes, not just efficiency.

Appian’s approach aligns closely:

  • BOTs, APIs, microservices, and AI all operate in support of the central process.
  • Unattended automations are increasing, driven by the demand for scalable solutions that remove human bottlenecks while maintaining control.
  • Developers are given the tools to scale intelligently, using orchestration, not just script-level integration.

As Flickstein noted from his experience at Asplundh, the more customers automate, the more automation becomes the default expectation. But scale requires planning and process-first integration makes that scale sustainable.

From Integration to Innovation

Appian’s pitch to developers is clear: Don’t just build integrations. Build orchestrations that solve real business problems.

The combination of declarative data fabric, a scalable orchestration engine, and a library of automation services and reusable connectors gives developers the architecture they need to build adaptive, intelligent, and secure systems.

With upcoming releases extending support for event-based orchestration, streaming integrations (Kafka), and AI agent enhancements, Appian is positioning its platform as the connective tissue of modern enterprise apps.

Author

  • Bringing more than a decade of varying experience crossing multiple sectors such as legal, financial, and tech, Sam Weston is an accomplished professional that excels in ensuring success across various industries. Currently, Sam serves as an Industry Analyst at Efficiently Connected where she collaborates closely in the areas of application modernization, DevOps, storage, and infrastructure. With a keen eye for research, Sam produces valuable insights and custom content to support strategic initiatives and enhance market understanding. Rooted in the fields of tech, law, finance operations and marketing, Sam provides a unique viewpoint to her position, fostering innovation and delivering impactful solutions within the industry. Sam holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems and Business Analytics from Colorado State University and is passionate about leveraging her diverse skill set to drive growth and empower clients to succeed.

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