Zapier Introduces Canvas: An Innovative AI-Powered Flowchart Tool for Streamlined Workflows

Zapier has unveiled its latest innovation, Canvas, a powerful tool designed to help users map and diagram their essential business processes, all enriched by AI capabilities that facilitate the creation of Zapier-based automations. Currently, Canvas is in early access.

Additionally, Zapier announced that its automation-focused database service, Tables, is now available to all users.

As part of its ongoing evolution, the 11-year-old company is hosting the virtual ZapConnect user conference today. Over time, Zapier has transformed from providing basic web service connections to enabling users to build intricate integrations and automate workflows. Co-founder and CEO Wade Foster highlighted that many users now create full projects—and even entire businesses—using Zapier. However, this growth presents challenges that the company aims to tackle with innovations like Canvas and Tables.

“One trend we’ve observed is that while users are thrilled with Zapier's tools during the early stages, enjoying their ease and speed, they often hit a ‘pit of success’ as their projects expand. As they invite more collaborators, complexity increases, leading to a tangled mess of connections,” Foster explained. “Both Canvas and Tables are designed to address this issue.”

Currently, Zapier provides a virtual editor that allows users to visualize the components they've connected, but this representation often neglects parts of their complete workflow that aren't linked to Zapier. Canvas aims to remedy this by enabling users to map out all their workflows, regardless of integration status.

“Canvas is a visual diagramming tool that allows you to outline processes from start to finish. You can edit components already connected to Zapier directly within Canvas,” Foster clarified. “Our long-term vision is for users to edit any component, whether it connects to Zapier or not, within the Canvas environment.”

Essentially, Canvas consists of two main features: it serves as a basic flowchart tool for documenting processes, and it provides an interface for editing those processes for connected components.

Additionally, AI is a crucial part of Canvas’s functionality. Users can describe the problems they're trying to solve, and Canvas will generate appropriate processes to assist—whether they are planning an elaborate birthday celebration or organizing complex business tasks. Canvas will also feature a comprehensive library of templates.

Like many companies today, Zapier is exploring how to incorporate AI, particularly generative AI, into its offerings. “Large Language Models (LLMs) present an excellent opportunity to revisit tough business challenges—those issues that have remained unsolved—and see if LLMs can simplify these problems,” Foster commented on his vision for AI integration.

Alongside the Canvas rollout and the general availability of Tables, Zapier is also introducing several smaller feature updates today. These include a new interactive editor capable of managing up to ten paths, enhanced admin controls, and expanded integrations, which now exceed 6,000.