Frontier PPM: when AI builds the software, governance makes the difference
AI can now generate enterprise applications in hours. In the core business of large enterprises, however, what counts is whether these applications run under control.
Munich, November 5, 2026 – In project and portfolio management (PPM), large enterprises have long had to choose between two paths. A tailored solution meant months of specification and implementation. A standard solution was faster, but forced the organization into processes that were not its own. AI is changing this equation, because applications can now be generated in hours. cplace uses the term “Frontier PPM” for the approach that follows from this for enterprise PPM.
What Frontier PPM means
Generating an application with AI is no longer difficult. The hard part is running it in the regulated core business of a large enterprise, with clear permissions and under the control of IT. So far, PPM suites have mainly offered domain depth, and AI app builders mainly speed. Frontier PPM combines both on one platform: enterprise PPM whose solutions are created with AI and can be continuously adapted, within the guardrails set by IT.
“Building is becoming a commodity, but governance is not,” says Doug Surrett, CEO of cplace. “Anyone can generate an application now. Almost nobody can run one where it actually matters: with your permissions, your audit trail, your integration into everything else and somebody accountable for it on a Tuesday.”
What Frontier PPM requires
For business units to build their own applications with AI without creating new shadow IT or shadow AI, several prerequisites need to come together, in cplace’s view.
Governance: IT sets the guardrails, and every AI action runs with the same permissions as work done by a person. Every change is traceable and can be reversed.
One platform instead of more isolated solutions: New applications are created where the project data already resides, not in a separate tool. Changes are configured rather than programmed and take effect immediately.
Domain expertise from the project business: AI can only build as well as it understands the context. Anyone managing the portfolios, resources and schedules of large programs needs applications that reflect this logic, as well as experts who can judge whether the result is right.
How this works in practice: the cplace AI Builder
At the heart of the approach is the newly launched cplace AI Builder. From requirements documents, Excel files or an existing cplace solution, it generates the data model, workflows, layouts and dashboards. According to cplace’s analyses of customer projects, this reduces the effort for solution development by around 40 percent. The customer’s team approves the design and implementation plan before anything is built.
How fast this can be was demonstrated last week at cplace Day 2026, Europe’s largest PPM conference, in Munich. In the morning, participants voted on which application should be built. A cplace team built it with the AI Builder within seven hours and presented a scenario planning solution on stage in the evening. Customer projects work on a similar scale: at a global provider of rail transport solutions, the AI Builder replaced an Excel solution for tracking work package costs. The starting point was a short list of requirements and the existing Excel file. A first usable version was ready after seven to eight hours.
Seeing before building
The faster software can be built, the more important the question becomes of whether the right thing is being built. With the new cplace AI Designer, business units therefore first see a clickable draft of the future application. “AI lets you also build the wrong thing with full speed,” says Navid Heidemann, Head of Product at cplace. “We want you to decide with your teams, with your stakeholders, with your managers if this is the right thing to build before you build it.”
Implementation itself is changing too. With cplace Accelerate, the new implementation method, an early clickable draft replaces months of specification. Experience from cplace customer projects shows that customers put the software to productive use three to four times sooner than with conventionally run implementations.
About cplace Day
cplace Day 2026 took place at the Bergson Kunstkraftwerk in Munich and online. Of the more than 1,350 registered participants, 500 attended in person and over 800 registered for the online livestream. Companies represented on stage included Bayer, Daimler Buses, Daimler Truck, Harting, Rheinmetall and ZF LIFETEC. Recordings of the individual conference sessions are available here: Content-Hub
About cplace
cplace is a modern software platform for project and portfolio management (PPM). It revolutionizes and transforms the way people and organizations collaborate, enabling companies to efficiently manage complex projects. cplace combines the reliability of standard software with the flexibility of customized solutions. The flexible, AI-centric platform provides a unified data foundation, promotes cross-site and cross-functional collaboration, and enables real-time adaptation for complex scenarios.
International industry leaders, including those in the automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical and life sciences, and mechanical engineering industries, rely on cplace to develop innovative and complex products, utilize resources efficiently, improve decision-making processes, and successfully complete projects.
Behind the cplace brand is collaboration Factory GmbH, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Munich, Germany.
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