Amazon Q Business now available with new app-builder capabilities

Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday said its generative AI-based assistant for business applications — Amazon Q Business — is now generally available.

Introduced at re:Invent last year, Amazon Q Business can be used to have conversations, solve problems, generate content, gain insights, and take action by connecting to a company’s information repositories, data, and enterprise systems, AWS  said. 

To use Q as an assistant for business apps, enterprises first need to configure the generative AI (genAI) assistant by connecting it to existing data sources, which can include AWS’ S3 storage service as well as applications from vendors including Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, and Slack. 

Q currently supports connectors for more than 40 tools and applications.

Additionally, AWS has added a new app-building capability to Amazon Q Business, which is a web-based application.

Named Amazon Q Apps and currently in preview, the feature will allow enterprise users, including business users, to develop applications based on their enterprise data using natural language.

“With Q Apps, employees simply describe the app they want, in natural language, or they can take an existing conversation where Amazon Q Business helped them solve a problem, and with one click, Q will instantly generate an app that accomplishes their desired task that can be easily shared across their enterprise,” said Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, vice president of technology at AWS. 

Q Apps could include HR or marketing apps designed either to onboard employees or to automate tasks. They can be accessed via the Amazon Q Business application environment, the company said; Q Apps is enabled by default and can be switched off from the Amazon Q Business console.

Bukovec said a Q App is made up of a collection of cards, with each card serving as a  user interface element that can be combined with other cards to generate an application.

“Cards take in user input, support file uploads, connect to other cards, generate text output, and allow actions through Amazon Q Business plugins,” the company said in a blog post. 

Enterprise users can add to the Q app, edit it, or delete a card, AWS said. 

At a more basic level, text output and plugin cards contain prompt instructions that determine how Amazon Q Business is queried to generate a response. 

“When enterprise users use the Amazon Q Apps Creator, relevant cards are automatically generated with prefilled prompts. Users can further refine these prompts using simple, natural language,” the company said.

“When writing or editing a prompt for a card, your users can reference other cards using ‘@’ mention to select from the list of cards in the app. Users can also instruct in the prompt to reference your enterprise data already in Amazon Q Business,” AWS said.

Amazon Q Apps developed by one enterprise user can be shared with other users across the company via the Amazon Q Apps library.

Q Apps can also be copied and customized by other users to create a new version. 

Amazon Q Business is available in two subscription models — Lite and Pro — which are priced at $3 and $20 per user, per month, respectively. The Pro subscription offers Amazon Q Apps, extended capabilities via custom plugins, and the ability to gain insights via Q in QuickSight. These capabilities are not available in the Lite subscription pack.

Additionally, the Pro subscription allows enterprise users to receive responses in a conversational interface up to approximately seven pages compared to the Lite pack’s limit of one page.