Glossary
Business automation and AI terminology reference
A
Artificial Intelligence
Technology enabling machines to mimic human intelligence
AI Agent
Autonomous AI system for task execution
Anomaly Detection
Identifying deviations from normal behavior in data
Attention Mechanism
Mechanism for neural network to focus on important input parts
AutoML
Automation of ML model creation
Anomaly Detection
Identifying deviations from normal behavior in data
AI Bias
Prejudice in AI data and models
API
Interface for communication between programs and services
Automation
Task execution without human involvement
Attended RPA
RPA with human involvement
Automation ROI
Return on investment in automation
API Automation
Automation through programming interfaces
Automation Pipeline
Pipeline of automated tasks
API Gateway
Single entry point for API requests
API Versioning
API version management
API Composition
Combining data from multiple services
Anti-Corruption Layer
Isolation from external data models
Ansible
Server configuration automation tool
API Gateway
Single entry point for API requests
Apache Kafka
Event streaming platform
Argo CD
GitOps tool for Kubernetes
Ansible
Server configuration automation tool
Authentication
Verification of user or system identity
Access Control
Managing access rights
ABAC
Attribute-based access control
ARR
Annual Recurring Revenue
ARPU
Average Revenue Per User
Activation
User reaching key value
Attribution Modeling
Determining channel contribution to conversion
A/B Testing
Comparing variants for optimization
Agile
Flexible development methodology with iterations
AI Website Generator
AI-powered tool for automatically creating websites from text descriptions
B
BERT
Google language model for text understanding
BPM
Business Process Management
BI
Business Intelligence — data analysis tools
Big Data
Processing large volumes of data
Business Rules Engine
Business logic management system
Bot Lifecycle Management
Bot creation, deployment and maintenance processes
BI
Business Intelligence — data analysis tools
Backend for Frontend
Separate backend for each frontend
Backend
Server-side of application: business logic, databases, APIs
Behavior-Driven Development
Development based on behavior specifications
Backend
Server-side of application: business logic, databases, APIs
Blue-Green Deployment
Instant switch between environments
Backup Strategy
Plan for backup creation and storage
Backup
Creating data copies for recovery
Big Data
Processing large volumes of data
Burn Rate
Cash spending rate
Blockchain
Distributed ledger technology
C
ChatGPT
AI assistant from OpenAI for conversations
Claude
AI assistant from Anthropic
CRM
Customer Relationship Management system
Chatbot
Program for automated user communication
Conversion
Percentage of visitors completing target action
Citizen Developer
Business user creating applications
Center of Excellence
Team for developing automation in company
Circuit Breaker
Pattern for protecting from cascading failures
CQRS
Command Query Responsibility Segregation
Change Data Capture
Tracking database changes
CI/CD
Continuous Integration and Delivery
Clean Code
Readable and maintainable code
Code Review
Peer code review
Caching
Storing data for fast access
CI/CD
Continuous Integration and Delivery
CDN
Content Delivery Network for faster loading
Chaos Engineering
Testing resilience through failures
Canary Deployment
Gradual rollout to subset of users
Container Registry
Docker image storage
Cybersecurity
Protection of systems and data from threats
Compliance
Adherence to regulatory requirements
Conversion
Percentage of visitors completing target action
Churn Rate
Customer or revenue churn
Customer Acquisition Cost
Cost to acquire a customer
Conversion
Percentage of visitors completing target action
Customer Success
Ensuring customer success
Customer Satisfaction Score
Measuring customer satisfaction
Customer Effort Score
Measuring customer effort in interactions
Cohort Analysis
Analyzing user groups over time
Customer Analytics
Customer data analysis
Computer Vision
AI for image and video analysis
Cloud Computing
Computing resources via internet
D
Deep Learning
ML subset using multi-layer neural networks
Data Augmentation
Artificially expanding training data
Digital Transformation
Integration of digital technologies into all business areas
Document Understanding
AI data extraction from documents
Decision Management
Business decision automation
Digital Worker
Software robot as team member
Data Mapping
Field correspondence between systems
Data Transformation
Converting data from one format to another
Data Lake
Raw data storage in any format
Data Warehouse
Structured storage for analytics
DevOps
Methodology combining development and operations
Design Patterns
Typical solutions for architectural problems
Domain-Driven Design
Design based on business domain
Dependency Injection
Pattern for passing dependencies externally
Design System
Set of components and design rules
DevOps
Methodology combining development and operations
Disaster Recovery
Recovery after disasters
Disaster Recovery
Recovery after disasters
Data Privacy
Protection of user personal data
DevSecOps
Security as part of DevOps
Dynamic Application Security Testing
Dynamic security testing
DDoS Protection
Protection from distributed attacks
Data Masking
Hiding sensitive data
Digital Transformation
Integration of digital technologies into all business areas
Data Science
Science of data and analytics
Data Engineering
Building data infrastructure
Data Pipeline
Automated data processing flow
Data Quality
Ensuring data accuracy and completeness
Data Governance
Managing data as an asset
Data Catalog
Organization data catalog
Data Lineage
Tracking data origin
Descriptive Analytics
Analysis of what happened
Diagnostic Analytics
Analysis of event causes
Data Visualization
Graphical data representation
Data Democratization
Data access for all employees
Docker
Application containerization platform
Data Science
Science of data and analytics
E
Embeddings
Vector representations of data for ML
Edge AI
Artificial intelligence on edge devices
Embeddings
Vector representations of data for ML
Explainable AI
AI with transparent decision making
ETL
Extract, Transform, Load data
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning system
Exception Handling
Error and edge case management
Event-Driven Automation
Automation triggered by events
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning system
Event-Driven Architecture
Architecture based on events
Event Sourcing
Storing state through event history
End-to-End Testing
Testing entire system flow
Elasticsearch
Search and analytics engine
ELK Stack
Elasticsearch + Logstash + Kibana
Encryption
Converting data into unreadable format for protection
Encryption at Rest
Stored data encryption
Encryption in Transit
Data encryption during transmission
Expansion Revenue
Additional revenue from existing customers
Embedded Analytics
Analytics inside applications
F
Fine-tuning
Additional training of a model on specific data
Foundation Model
Large base model adaptable to various tasks
Feature Store
Centralized repository of features for ML
Federated Learning
Distributed learning without data transfer
Face Recognition
Identifying a person by face
Few-Shot Learning
Training model on few examples
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
Full-time equivalent for savings estimation
Frontend
Client-side of application: user interface
Feature Flags
Feature toggles in code
Frontend
Client-side of application: user interface
Flux CD
GitOps operator for Kubernetes
Firewall
Network traffic filtering system
Freemium
Free basic product with paid features
Funnel Analysis
Analyzing conversion sequences
G
GAN
Generative Adversarial Networks for content creation
Generative AI
AI for creating new content
GraphQL
Query language for APIs
gRPC
High-performance RPC framework
Git Flow
Branching model for Git
Git
Code version control system
Grafana
Data visualization and analytics platform
GitOps
Managing infrastructure through Git repository
GitOps
Managing infrastructure through Git repository
Grafana
Data visualization and analytics platform
GDPR
European data protection regulation
GDPR
European data protection regulation
H
Hyperparameters
Model settings defined before training
Hyperparameter Tuning
Optimization of ML model settings
Hyperautomation
Combination of AI, ML, RPA for maximum automation
Hyperautomation
Combination of AI, ML, RPA for maximum automation
Headless CMS
CMS without frontend, API only
Helm
Package manager for Kubernetes
HashiCorp Vault
Secrets management platform
High Availability
Minimizing downtime
I
Image Segmentation
Dividing image into semantic regions
Intelligent Automation
RPA + AI for smart automation
iPaaS
Integration Platform as a Service
Intelligent Automation
RPA + AI for smart automation
Integration
Combining different systems and applications to work together
iPaaS
Integration Platform as a Service
Idempotency
Repeated request gives same result
Integration Testing
Testing component interactions
Inversion of Control
Control inversion in architecture
Infrastructure as Code
Managing infrastructure through code
Immutable Infrastructure
Servers are replaced, not changed
Infrastructure Testing
Validating IaC before applying
Identity and Access Management
Identity and access management
Incident Response
Security incident handling process
IoT
Network of connected physical devices
J
K
L
Large Language Models
AI models trained on large amounts of text
Low-Code Platform
Application development with minimal code
Load Balancer
Traffic distribution between servers
Load Balancing
Traffic distribution between servers
Lead
Potential customer who showed interest in product
Lifetime Value
Customer Lifetime Value
Low-Code
Building applications with minimal coding
M
Machine Learning
AI branch where systems learn from data
Multimodal AI
AI working with different data types: text, images, audio
MLOps
DevOps practices for machine learning
MLOps
DevOps practices for machine learning
Model Drift
Degradation of ML model quality over time
Model Compression
Reducing ML model size
Multimodal AI
AI working with different data types: text, images, audio
MVP
Minimum Viable Product for hypothesis testing
Message Queue
Asynchronous messaging between systems
Microservices
Application architecture of independent services
Monorepo
Single repository for all projects
Microservices
Application architecture of independent services
Message Queue
Asynchronous messaging between systems
MFA
Multi-Factor Authentication
Malware
Software causing harm to systems
MFA
Multi-Factor Authentication
MVP
Minimum Viable Product for hypothesis testing
Monthly Recurring Revenue
Monthly Recurring Revenue
Marketing Qualified Lead
Marketing Qualified Lead
Master Data Management
Master Data Management
Marketing Analytics
Marketing effectiveness analysis
Multivariate Testing
Testing multiple combinations
N
Neural Network
Computing system mimicking brain structure
Named Entity Recognition
Extracting named entities from text
No-Code
Building applications without programming
NGINX
Web server and reverse proxy
Network Security
Network infrastructure protection
Net Revenue Retention
Net Revenue Retention
Net Promoter Score
Customer loyalty index
NLP
Natural Language Processing
No-Code
Building applications without programming
Neural Network Website Builder
Artificial neural network trained to generate websites from text prompts
O
Overfitting
When a model memorizes training data too well
Object Detection
Detecting and localizing objects in images
OCR
Optical Character Recognition
Orchestrator
Central RPA robot management
OAuth 2.0
Authorization standard for APIs
OpenAPI
Specification for describing REST APIs
ORM
Mapping objects to relational databases
OpenTelemetry
Telemetry collection standard
OAuth
Authorization protocol for resource access
OWASP
Web application security standards
OWASP
Web application security standards
Onboarding
New customer adaptation process
Objectives and Key Results
Objectives and Key Results
OLAP
Multidimensional data analysis
OLTP
Real-time transaction processing
P
Predictive Analytics
Forecasting future events based on data
Process Mining
Business process analysis from logs
Payback Period
Time to recover investment
Process Mining
Business process analysis from logs
Pub/Sub
Publish-Subscribe messaging pattern
Pull Request
Request to merge code changes
PWA
Web app with native capabilities
Prometheus
Monitoring and alerting system
Pulumi
IaC with general-purpose programming languages
Prometheus
Monitoring and alerting system
Penetration Testing
Security testing to find vulnerabilities
Phishing
Fraud aimed at stealing credentials
Penetration Testing
Simulating attacks to find vulnerabilities
Patch Management
Security update installation process
Payback Period
Time to recover investment
Product-Led Growth
Growth through the product itself
Product Qualified Lead
Lead qualified through product usage
Predictive Analytics
Forecasting future events based on data
Prescriptive Analytics
Recommendations for optimal actions
Product Analytics
Analyzing user behavior in product
Prompt Engineering
Art of creating effective AI prompts
Q
R
RAG
Retrieval-Augmented Generation — augmenting LLM with external data
Reinforcement Learning
Training an agent through environment interaction and rewards
Recommendation System
Personalized recommendation system based on ML
Recommendation System
Personalized recommendation system based on ML
Reinforcement Learning
Training an agent through environment interaction and rewards
Responsible AI
Ethical and safe AI application
RPA
Robotic Process Automation
ROI
Return on Investment
Robotic Desktop Automation
Desktop task automation
Rate Limiting
Limiting API request rate
Retry Pattern
Retrying on failures
Reverse ETL
Syncing data from warehouse to applications
Redis
In-memory data store
Redis
In-memory data store
Rolling Update
Gradual instance update
Ransomware
Malware that encrypts data for extortion
Role-Based Access Control
Role-based access control
Retention Rate
Customer retention
Runway
Time until money runs out
Real-Time Analytics
Real-time data analysis
ROI
Return on Investment
S
Stable Diffusion
Model for generating images from text descriptions
Semantic Search
Search by meaning, not keywords
Speech Recognition
Converting spoken language to text
Sentiment Analysis
Detecting emotional tone of text
Semantic Search
Search by meaning, not keywords
Speech-to-Text
Converting voice to text
Sentiment Analysis
Detecting emotional tone of text
Synthetic Data
Artificially created training data
SaaS
Software as a Service
Sales Funnel
Customer journey from awareness to purchase
Screen Scraping
Data extraction from application screens
Scheduled Automation
Time-triggered automation
SaaS
Software as a Service
Service Mesh
Infrastructure layer for inter-service communication
Saga Pattern
Distributed transactions through event sequences
Strangler Fig Pattern
Gradual legacy system replacement
SOLID Principles
Five principles of object-oriented design
Semantic Versioning
Version numbering standard MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
Server-Side Rendering
Server-side rendering
Static Site Generation
Generating static pages at build time
Service Worker
Script for background browser work
Serverless
Architecture without server management
SRE
Site Reliability Engineering — system reliability
SRE
Site Reliability Engineering — system reliability
Service Level Objective
Target service quality level
Secrets Management
Secure credentials storage
Service Discovery
Automatic service discovery
SSL/TLS
Protocols for encrypting internet connections
SSO
Single Sign-On — one login for multiple systems
SIEM
Security Information and Event Management
Social Engineering
Manipulating people to gain access
Static Application Security Testing
Static code analysis for vulnerabilities
Software Composition Analysis
Dependency vulnerability analysis
Supply Chain Security
Protecting software components from compromise
Software Bill of Materials
List of software components
Secure Coding
Practices for writing secure code
SSO
Single Sign-On — one login for multiple systems
SIEM
Security Information and Event Management
Security Orchestration, Automation and Response
Incident response automation
Security Architecture
Designing secure systems
Sales Funnel
Model of customer journey from first contact to purchase
Startup
Young company with innovative idea and growth potential
SEO
Search Engine Optimization
SaaS Metrics
Key indicators for SaaS business
SQL
Sales Qualified Lead
Sales Funnel
Customer journey from awareness to purchase
Streaming Analytics
Stream data analysis
Statistical Significance
Test result reliability
Self-Service BI
Analytics without IT involvement
Scrum
Framework for Agile development
T
Transformer
Neural network architecture with attention mechanism
Transfer Learning
Transferring knowledge from one task to another
Text-to-Speech
Converting text to natural speech
Tokenization
Splitting text into tokens for model processing
Text-to-Image
Creating images from text descriptions
Text-to-Speech
Converting text to natural speech
Text Classification
Automatic text categorization
Text Summarization
Automatic summary creation
Time Series Forecasting
Predicting future values based on history
Transfer Learning
Transferring knowledge from one task to another
Telegram Bot
Automated bot in Telegram
Task Mining
Analysis of user desktop actions
Test Automation
Automatic software test execution
Trigger-Based Automation
Condition and trigger-based automation
Test-Driven Development
Test-Driven Development
Trunk-Based Development
Development in single branch
Terraform
Infrastructure as Code tool by HashiCorp
Terraform
Infrastructure as Code tool by HashiCorp
Threat Modeling
Analyzing potential system threats
Time to Value
Time until product value is received
U
V
Vector Database
Database for storing and searching vector embeddings
Vector Database
Database for storing and searching vector embeddings
VPN
Virtual Private Network for secure connection
Vulnerability
Weakness in security system
Vulnerability Management
Process of identifying and fixing vulnerabilities
W
Workflow
Sequence of work processes
Webhook
HTTP callback for event notifications
Workflow Automation
Automation of business action sequences
Webhook
HTTP callback for event notifications
WebSocket
Bidirectional browser-server connection
Web Components
Standard for reusable UI components
Web Application Firewall
Web application attack protection
Workflow
Sequence of work processes