Domo adds App Catalyst to platform to aid AI development
By combining natural language code generation with enterprise-grade security and governance, the vendor aims to help customers more successfully build cutting-edge applications.
Domo, once an analytics specialist, is evolving with market trends to add capabilities to its platform that simplify developing agents and other cutting-edge AI applications.
Toward that end, the vendor on Wednesday launched App Catalyst, a new tool within its AI and Data Products Platform that enables developers and other application builders to use natural language prompts when creating pro-code tools informed by their Domo data.
However, unlike natural language interfaces such as vibe coding tools that are aimed at quickly generating raw code to fuel AI pilots, App Catalyst helps data and AI teams generate code while also applying data access, security and operational standards at the outset of AI projects. The intent is to give AI initiatives a better chance of having a business impact than when access to data, governance frameworks and security restrictions are applied later in the development process.
Given that App Catalyst combines AI-powered code generation with the governance and security enterprises require to use an application, its addition to Domo's platform is significant, according to Mike Leone, an analyst at Omdia, a division of Informa TechTarget.
"We're seeing a shift where the hard part is no longer writing code, but more managing it," he said. "For Domo customers, this announcement matters because it … allows customers to move from a rough idea and experimentation to a legitimate, compliant business app without getting bogged down by the usual deployment hurdles."
Based in American Fork, Utah, Domo is a cloud-based analytics vendor that, like peers including Qlik and Strategy, has added AI development capabilities since OpenAI's November 2022 launch of ChatGPT and sparked surging interest building AI tools.
Striving for success
Despite the emphasis enterprises and platform providers alike are placing on AI development, most AI pilots never make it into production.
For Domo customers, this announcement matters because it … allows customers to move from a rough idea and experimentation to a legitimate, compliant business app without getting bogged down by the usual deployment hurdles.
Mike LeoneAnalyst, Omdia
Recently, vendors including Databricks, MongoDB and Teradata have all introduced capabilities that are designed to improve aspects of the AI development cycle in an attempt to help customers more successfully build AI tools. With App Catalyst now part of its platform, Domo is similarly trying to help customers more successfully build AI tools.
Vibe coding, which is AI-assisted development using natural language prompts to create code, has enabled data and AI teams to quickly build prototypes. But it's not meant for creating enterprise-grade AI applications that can be trusted to generate insights and autonomously execute business processes.
Fragile code and lack of alignment with enterprise data governance and security policies are among vibe coding's shortcomings.
App Catalyst is designed to offer the same simplicity as vibe coding, according to Ben Schein, Domo's chief analytics officer and SVP of product development. But instead of solely simplifying coding, App Catalyst integrates code from the outset with enterprise-grade capabilities.
"Vibe coding was all over the place, and our team was using it for fun side projects at home," Schein said. "But Domo always had the ability to create pro-code app components for use in low-code apps and dashboards. … So, it was natural to think we could lower that barrier."
Key benefits of App Catalyst's addition to the Domo AI and Data Products Platform include quick ideation through natural language prompts, self-service development of pro-code applications, rapid prototyping that enables projects to move go ideas to production and automatic integrations with governance and security policies.
Perhaps most valuable to Domo users is the automatic integration with governance and security frameworks, according to Leone, who noted that innovation stalls when applications aren't built with consistent governance standards that can be applied across an organization.
"It's about more than just security permissions," he said. "By baking governance in up front, Domo is helping customers solve the compliance headache that typically kills projects before they start."
Like Leone, David Menninger, an analyst at ISG Software Research, named integration with governance and security frameworks App Catalyst's most valuable feature, while calling a tool that enables users to create enterprise-grade applications with natural language "significant."
"Generative AI has enabled all types of natural language processing and assistance in software products, but natural language app creation is probably one of the most significant improvements," he said. "It's not bounded the way other assistants are bounded. Users are only bounded by their imagination -- and the availability of the data."
Regarding the value of a governance foundation from the outset, Menninger added that attempting to add governance after an application is built often causes substantial delays.
"While it may not be sexy, the governance foundation inherent in the Domo platform is one of the benefits enterprises will appreciate the most," he said.
While beneficial for Domo users, App Catalyst's AI-powered code generation capabilities are not unique, Leone noted. Many vendors provide tools that perform the same task, including hyperscale cloud vendors AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft. Integration with governance, security and curated data from the outset, however, is more unique, Leone continued.
"Most other options require you to stitch together a database, a separate App Catalyst and a governance layer," he said. "Domo is differentiating by offering that entire stack in one place. … That end-to-end flow is a bit harder to find."
Menninger likewise noted that App Catalyst adds something unique to Domo's platform, but predicted that competing vendors will be able to provide similar capabilities.
"Nearly all have generative AI assistants that can create dashboards and answer natural language queries," he said. "Some have code generation within notebooks, but few have full app development capabilities."
Next steps
Just as App Catalyst's addition to Domo's platform adds an AI-powered tool for fueling application development, the vendor's product development plans over the first half of 2026 focus on providing more AI capabilities, according to Schein.
"Cloud Integrations and AI remain a strong focus," he said.
AI initiatives include continuing to make it easier for customers to develop customized AI-powered agents and chatbots and expanding its Model Context Protocol server to provide users with a framework for connecting agents developed in Domo with other agents and AI platforms, Schein continued.
One feature Domo and its peers would be wise to add is a scenario planning tool, according to Menninger. Despite analytics vendors expanding beyond their traditional roots over the past few years, few have added capabilities that enable users to evaluate potential outcomes.
"Humans and agents need to evaluate alternative scenarios and that requires planning capabilities," Menninger said. "There are very few vendors that have combined planning with analytics, but I expect we will see more."
Leone, meanwhile, suggested that Domo advance App Catalyst beyond being an interactive tool and turn it into an autonomous agent. He noted that, in general, Domo has proven to be resiliently innovative over the past few years by adding AI development and AI-powered capabilities to its platform. Advancing App Catalyst would further demonstrate Domo's adaptability.
"They're already simplifying the build process," Leone said. "There's a massive need for apps that can execute tasks without constant human input. If they can make these AI-generated apps smart enough to trigger their own workflows based on real-time data changes, that will be a gamechanger."
Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for Informa TechTarget and a journalist with more than three decades of experience. He covers analytics and data management.
