The Four Core Approaches to AI Connectors: Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

2. Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

The Approach: Use cloud platforms like Zapier, MuleSoft, Workato, or Boomi that provide pre-built connectors and visual workflow builders.

Major iPaaS players enable connections like Zapier linking AI tools to over 5,000 apps, MuleSoft powering enterprise integrations at companies like Coca-Cola and Spotify, Workato orchestrating workflows between AI and systems like NetSuite and Jira, or Boomi handling complex B2B integrations with EDI and API combinations.

How it actually works in practice:

Your AI application sends a webhook to Workato when a sales opportunity reaches a certain score. Workato automatically enriches the lead data from Clearbit, checks inventory availability in NetSuite, creates a custom proposal in PandaDoc, and notifies the appropriate sales rep in Slack—all without writing integration code. Business analysts can modify this workflow through a visual interface.

Real-world example: A retail company using Workato to connect their AI demand forecasting model to their inventory management system (NetSuite), point-of-sale data (Shopify), and supplier ordering system (custom API), with automatic reordering triggered when AI predicts stockouts.

Advantages

• Launch integrations in days instead of months
• Pre-built connectors for 1,000+ popular business applications
• Business users can create and modify workflows themselves
• Platform handles API version updates and authentication
• Built-in monitoring dashboards and error alerting
• Both no-code interfaces and developer APIs available

Challenges

• Monthly costs scale with usage—can reach $50k+ annually
• Limited ability to handle complex, proprietary business logic
• Switching vendors means rebuilding all integration workflows
• Additional latency from routing through third-party infrastructure
• Data sovereignty concerns with information passing through vendors
• Debugging complex workflows becomes a black box exercise

Are you optimizing for speed to market today, or lowest total cost of ownership over five years? Let's discuss this at length.

Read the previous post: The Four Core Approaches to AI Connectors - Part 1: API-Based Connectors