Zoho Corporation says it has upgraded its Catalyst cloud platform with new AI-powered tools to help developers turn computer-generated code into working applications more easily.
The Country Head of Zoho Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogundare, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.
Ogundare said the new tools would simplify the process of building, testing and launching applications, while reducing the time and effort developers spend managing technology.
He noted that AI coding tools had made it faster to create applications, but getting those applications ready for real-world use remained challenging.
According to him, Catalyst is designed to reduce such challenges by providing the tools and infrastructure needed to build, launch and expand applications on one platform.
He said developers could use AI coding assistants, including Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, while Catalyst handled much of the underlying technology required to run their applications.
“Developers still spend significant time managing infrastructure and bringing together separate cloud services,” Ogundare said.
He explained that one of the new features, Catalyst Agent Skills, gave AI assistants the information needed to work correctly with the platform and follow recommended development procedures.
Another feature, a non-interactive command-line tool, allows AI assistants to carry out several development tasks without requiring developers to provide instructions at every stage.
He added that its Model Context Protocol (MCP) support would also allow developers to perform tasks such as creating database tables directly from their usual coding environments.
Ogundare said the new features would help developers move more quickly from writing code to testing and launching applications, while reducing the need to use several separate cloud services.
He noted, however, that human control would remain part of the process, with developers required to manually move applications from testing environments into production.
Developers would also have access to records showing actions taken by AI assistants, while changes could be tracked, reversed and attributed to specific users.
He also said Catalyst would be completely free for students developing non-commercial applications, without requiring subscriptions or credit cards.
Students would have access to tools for hosting applications, managing databases and experimenting with AI, helping them gain practical experience beyond learning how to write code.
Catalyst also provides a free monthly option for developers, as well as N192,500 in free credits for users who want to explore more of the platform over six months.
The platform is available under a pay-as-you-go model, with spending controls designed to help users monitor and manage their costs.
Ogundare said Zoho had also made some of Catalyst’s development tools available as open-source projects, allowing developers to inspect, improve and contribute to them.
Applications built on Catalyst run on Zoho’s own data centres and benefit from security measures including protection against cyberattacks and regular security testing.
Zoho, which operates more than 60 business applications, has more than 150 million users worldwide who rely on its products.
