YESCO delivers governed field ops and agentic apps with OutSystems

"We wanted to implement agentic AI into our business and OutSystems gave us the confidence to do it. The embedded guardrails and governance tools prevent rogue AI and protect our private information while ensuring AI remains grounded in our internal data. That’s the only right way to innovate with AI."

Mike Neyman

Director of Software Integration and Operations

YESCO

When end-of-life sparks a new way of working

YESCO is responsible for designing and manufacturing some of North America’s most iconic displays, including the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.  

The company takes pride in being an innovator, both in its work and in how they build it. That’s why, a few years ago, they adopted OutSystems to replace the soon-to-be-retired Adobe Flex®, YESCO’s main development platform, and standardize software development.

“We chose OutSystems for its unified environment that enabled us to orchestrate data across departments and maintain consistent operations between the central business and franchise network,” said Mike Neyman, Director of Software Integration and Operations. 

OutSystems also integrated with YESCO’s complex enterprise systems, such as NetSuite® and QuickBooks®. Plus, the platform’s DevOps capabilities, which automated governance and app lifecycle management, allowed YESCO’s team to stay highly productive and cross-functional.  

"Before OutSystems, DevOps was incredibly challenging. We needed to clear everyone scheduled for one or two weeks and go all-hands-on-deck just to release a new version. With OutSystems, it is much easier and allows us to remain a small, tight-knit team that’s really cross-functional."

Mike Neyman

Director of Software Integration and Operations

YESCO

New agentic AI apps transform employee and customer experience

Since adopting OutSystems, Mike and team have developed several major manufacturing and field service applications. The crown jewel is their field service ecosystem that combines lead-generation, CRM, and field service management into one solution.

“Field workers can use a mobile app to update job statuses and log new sales opportunities on-site, while our night patrollers who scout for broken signs and lighting outages, can log both customer outages and non-customer leads,” explained Mike.

"Getting on the OutSystems platform has been a huge benefit for us. We do all of our in-house development on OutSystems. Our developers are more productive, we build faster, and we’re able to meet deadlines."

Warren Strong

CIO

YESCO

More recently, the development team began using OutSystems to bring agentic AI into the business to help the teams do their job better. 

“The agentic systems capabilities of OutSystems allow us to build AI agents while applying governance and guardrails aligned with company rules and regulations,” said Mike. 

YESCO’s first agentic project incorporated AI into their estimating app. Users can upload a photo, and the AI agent corrects the perspective and converts flat 2D logos into 3D visualizations mapped onto the building. The agent also generates a price and vectorized file, saving hours of design and estimating time per build.

For larger, more complex projects that require street closures or permits, the team is developing a more complex estimating tool that combines a vector database with large language models to capture decades of veteran estimators’ tribal knowledge. Then users can simply describe a project in natural language and the agent automatically generates an accurate bill of materials.

"OutSystems provides us the governance and security we need to take advantage of AI without it going off the rails."

Mike Neyman

Director of Software Integration and Operations

YESCO

Building a governed and secure agentic SDLC

Mike’s team has also been leveraging OutSystems Agent Experience, the open, enterprise-governed platform layer that enables external coding agents to safely reason over, build, and evolve OutSystems applications without bypassing IT controls. “We've been using OutSystems Agent Experience to build and improve agents and applications with OutSystems and Claude. We are also documenting our portfolio and taking our DevOps to the next level. This is the natural evolution of the SDLC,” shared Mike.

The team can understand their database and applications as never before, adding new features, fixing bugs, and writing documentation. “It's fantastic. We get the best of both worlds: the development productivity of AI and the governance and security of OutSystems. That helps us build confidence and delight our customers and executive team with reliable, cutting-edge solutions, because we can innovate using the latest technologies within a trusted environment,” he added.

"OutSystems Agent Experience is game-changing. The platform’s open, model-neutral approach helps us delight executives and customers with AI innovation while maintaining the governance and security required for enterprise use."

Mike Neyman

Director of Software Integration and Operations

YESCO

Agentic AI improves employee and customer experience

Since adopting OutSystems, YESCO’s development team has reduced development time by 50%.

"Before, it took us six months to deliver new solutions. Now, with OutSystems, we work in two-week cycles to update, improve, and release new apps. It's changed how our development team is perceived, but more importantly, our customers are much happier with our service."

Mike Neyman

Director of Software Integration and Operations

YESCO

The faster release cycles also helped win over YESCO’s more veteran estimators, who were initially skeptical of the new agentic solutions. “Once they saw how quickly we implemented their feedback and addressed the shortcomings of the previous solution, they were on board. We really customized it for their needs, something that wouldn’t be possible with a COTS,” said Mike. 

These new agentic solutions are expected to save hours of design and estimating time on every customer project. They are also improving customer service, allowing customers to immediately review and adjust mockups and instantly receive accurate price quotes.

From a governance standpoint, using OutSystems as an orchestration layer across YESCO’s enterprise systems has helped eliminate departmental silos. “Before, departments, even individual teams, used their own tools, building massive spreadsheets to manage data. With OutSystems, we can move information between departments while keeping everything in sync,” Mike explained.

Finally, these new solutions have helped YESCO reinforce its reputation as an innovator and drive business growth. One key example is the field sales portal Mike’s team built, which allows distributed vendors and franchisees to operate as independent businesses while receiving centralized support from national headquarters. 

This solution replaced a slow process previously reliant on phone calls and emails and is now a competitive advantage for YESCO.  “The workflow is so smooth that franchisees have come up to me and told me that the reason they wanted to work with us is because of our software,” explained Mike. “Everything else is gravy on top of that,” he added. 

With OutSystems as its foundation, YESCO continues to blend a century of craftsmanship with the latest in agentic AI, proving that even the most iconic legacy brands can lead the way into the future.

"OutSystems provided our company with a complete development stack, giving us the tools to deliver applications faster and at a lower cost than with traditional development tools. We’re able to serve management better by delivering top-quality applications on tight deadlines."

Warren Strong

CIO

YESCO