Anvil AI-Powered Workflows is now available to everyone
We launched Anvil 4 years ago with a vision of enabling anyone to replace their clunky, document-driven workflows with a dynamic and mobile-friendly webform. The premise was simple; upload PDF forms, get webform. As we pursued this idea, we quickly uncovered the complexity of modern document-driven processes.
- First – there was the complexity of the forms, logic, rules, calculations, and exception cases.
- Then - there was the actual document preparation, selecting the correct form to fill out, filling in the correct blanks, and wrestling with the terrible PDF file format.
- Finally – the e-sign ceremony, which is an industry in its own right.
To truly modernize paperwork, we knew Anvil had to support the entire end-to-end process from data-collection to the e-signature.
So we started by building all of the features, initially only accessible by hand-writing Anvil configuration files and eventually creating a no-code UI we call the Anvil Workflow Builder. Today, about 90% of Anvil Workflow features can be accessed via our no-code builder. We thought our job was done: we had a UI-based online application builder that allowed citizen developers to digitize their entire paperwork process.
Boy were we wrong.
Given the product surface area of Workflows, it meant that a lot of features were shoved into a single interface. Users were faced with the blank page problem; without any prompts on what to do, confusion and frustration took over, and folks simply abandoned the product. Even users who understood Anvil were tired of the number of clicks (time) it took to create a Workflow. We learned the hard way that no-code does not mean no work. As much as we tried to make Anvil accessible, we came to the realization that Anvil was a power user tool, used by technical teams to build software faster – not by non-technical individuals looking for an accessible way to build software. One year ago, it was this realization that led to our decision to gate the Anvil product behind a paid plan. Only customers that spent time with our team to learn how to use Workflows were given access. We turned our back on the citizen developers we initially hoped to support.
Using AI to empower document automation
We spent the last year researching, understanding, and building to explore how we could utilize AI to enable users of Anvil Workflows to build document automation processes with as little friction as possible.
Today, with our new AI-powered Workflow builders, creating a Workflow really can be as simple as “upload your PDFs”. Building a Workflow used to take at least half an hour, but now it only takes seconds, just the amount of time it takes our AI models to do their magic. Of course, you still have the full power of the Workflow editor to modify a Workflow to your heart's content; but the initial setup experience is vastly improved. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this new AI infused Workflow builder is that it makes Anvil Workflows accessible to even the least technical individual. If you can upload a PDF, you can create an Anvil Workflow. So today, the new and improved, AI-Powered Anvil Workflow is open to everyone. This is a real example of how AI can transform the way people work. Applying AI to our existing Anvil system has made the entire Workflow building experience faster and more accessible. We are finally able to empower everyday individuals and citizen developers the ability to create custom software tailored to their document needs (and achieve the vision we set for ourselves 4 years ago).
If you have a document process that you are dying to digitize, give it a try.