What is the ROI of AI-powered low-code development?

You've pitched the productivity gains. You've explained how AI can accelerate delivery. You've outlined the strategic benefits of consolidating fragmented tooling. And now your CFO just asked the question that’s top of mind. "What’s the ROI?"

A new Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by OutSystems quantifies what enterprises could see when they invest in our AI-powered low-code development platform. The findings are substantial. A composite organization based on interviews with six decision-makers achieved a three-year 363% ROI and a payback period of under six months.

Here’s what the 2025 Forrester study found, starting with the answer to another popular C-suite question: “Does it make it easy to build AI agents and applications?”

The power of OutSystems: AI and agentic innovation become practical

According to the study, the capabilities provided by Agent Workbench and Mentor lower the barrier to agentic AI, enabling teams to test ideas quickly and cost-effectively.

"We're very positive about building agentic systems that enhance productivity between human handoffs, allowing AI to work autonomously and make its own decisions when given the right context," said a senior manager of applications development at a life sciences company.

The ability to deliver AI prototypes in weeks helps business units validate concepts and move forward with confidence. Organizations pursue more ambitious initiatives because the cost of failure drops significantly.

"We've adopted AI agents and built a few use cases that have been eye-opening in areas like sales, marketing, and finance," the senior manager added.

Legacy systems stop draining the budget

Most enterprises have legacy applications built on outdated technologies that cost a fortune to maintain and are nearly impossible to update. OutSystems enables replacement of these systems, eliminating licensing, infrastructure, and maintenance costs.

"Replacing legacy systems with OutSystems reduced our operational risks and made future updates much easier," said an enterprise architect at a distribution company.

The composite organization avoided $1.3 million in legacy application costs over three years. Beyond the financial impact, teams gained architectural flexibility they previously lacked.

Faster development and agility drive real savings

The most immediate impact hits development timelines. Organizations in the study reported 60% faster application development compared to traditional high-code environments. For the composite organization, this translated into $1.2 million in development savings over three years.

"We saw an average of 50% to 60% reduction in development time using OutSystems," said a senior director of IT at a life sciences company. "In some cases, it was even higher depending on the use case."

Reusable components, standardized templates, and AI capabilities that streamline workflows across the entire development lifecycle support development acceleration. Teams deliver more applications and agents with fewer resources. The platform's one-click deployment and automated dependency management eliminate the mechanical aspects of development that typically slow delivery.

Learn how The Pokémon Company International benefited from reusable components from OutSystems.

Development speed is only part of the equation. What happens after launch matters just as much. Change requests that once took days or weeks now happen in hours.

"Everything goes a lot faster with OutSystems," said a software development manager at a manufacturing company. "We confidently go in and say: 'Yes, we'll have something ready in two months. It's going to be quick, solid, and robust.'"

The composite organization realized $618,000 in change request efficiency over three years. Teams respond faster to evolving business needs. Backlog shrinks. Business units get what they need when they need it.

New developers contribute weeks sooner

Onboarding takes forever in complex high-code environments. New hires spend months learning proprietary systems before they become productive. OutSystems compresses that timeline dramatically.

Developers in the study ramped up 80% faster. Standardized frameworks and reusable components help new hires contribute within weeks. The composite organization captured $1.3 million in training and onboarding efficiency over three years.

"Developers who used to take months to ramp up were productive in just a few weeks with OutSystems," said a product manager at a pharmaceutical company. "[It] lowered the barrier to entry and made onboarding much faster compared to traditional platforms."

Executive confidence grows

Numbers tell part of the story. The qualitative benefits tell the rest.

A team using OutSystems delivered a CEO-sponsored initiative in one week. They launched a compliance form to thousands of employees in a week. Another interviewee modernized its entire ERP system on timelines that would have been impossible with traditional development.

"OutSystems allows us to be on time. It allows us to delight the executive team. We've had several one-off projects that we delivered in about a week. [They] were blown away," said a software development manager at a manufacturing company.

When IT consistently delivers on promises, trust follows.

The complete picture: Delivered 363% ROI, accelerated agentic AI innovation

Over three years, the composite organization experienced millions in total benefits against a little over a million in costs. The three-year 363% ROI reflects the cumulative impact of faster development, reduced specialized hiring, efficient onboarding, change request agility, and legacy system elimination.

For enterprise leaders facing the build versus buy dilemma, OutSystems delivers a third option, combining the customization of building with the speed of buying. Teams create applications and agents tailored to exact business requirements while maintaining enterprise-grade security, governance, and scalability. As the interviewees emphasized, this acceleration frees teams to focus on greater agentic AI innovation.

The Forrester study provides the independent validation that economic buyers need. The numbers are no longer theoretical. They're documented, risk-adjusted, and ready for your next executive conversation.

Access the full Forrester Total Economic Impact study to explore the methodology.