The New Tech Stack Essential That’s Powering AI Agents and ROI: Modern Integration

AI has become the centerpiece of many companies’ transformation agendas. But for enterprises with complex tech stacks and sprawling data, realizing any return on AI or analytics is still elusive.

What’s often missing isn’t more data, or more AI. It’s modern integration.

Enter integration platforms and APIs—foundational platforms that are crucial for the successful implementation and scaling of AI solutions, serving as the connective tissue between disparate data sources, systems and applications.  Integration platforms and APIs are essential for successful AI adoption, especially AI agents, because they provide the crucial link between AI models and the data and applications that feed them. They also make it possible to connect AI to the technologies people use every day. 

How it works: Event-driven architectures, APIs, and interfaces like the Model Context Protocol (MCP) allow AI agents and large language models (LLMs) to interact with other systems, trigger workflows, and generate insights in real time. Unlike brittle, point-to-point integrations of the past, today’s iPaaS solutions (like MuleSoft or Boomi) and cloud-native platforms (like Azure or AWS) offer a robust, flexible foundation. More than technical infrastructure, they’re a strategic enabler of growth.

Technology Integration is a Business Problem Now

Integration used to be something IT handled quietly in the background. That’s changed.

Today, C-level leaders are recognizing that disjointed systems and siloed data are slowing down the very initiatives they’re investing millions to accelerate—like AI, automation, and real-time customer experiences.

Do any of the following issues sound familiar?

• Data that powers AI models is delayed, incomplete, or inconsistent.
• Manual processes persist because core systems don’t talk to each other.
• Lack of APIs limit the capabilities and effectiveness of AI agents
• Decision-makers lack real-time visibility, even after deploying modern dashboards.
• M&A integrations take longer—and cost more—than forecasted.
• Legacy tools keep dragging down innovation speed.

These aren’t just technical glitches. They’re blockers to ROI. Lack of integration is poised to make AI adoption a challenge to many organizations, as AI agents need a highly integrated and connected foundation to deliver their full potential. Disconnected applications, systems and data sources limit AI’s potential. 

A recent Forrester study showed companies using an iPaaS platform achieved 383% ROI over three years, driven by faster implementation and fewer integration-related costs. In another report, 89% of companies said integration complexity was the top barrier to digital transformation.

It’s clear: integration isn’t just plumbing. It’s a performance driver.

iPaaS vs. Cloud Platforms: Understanding Integration Approaches & Tools

West Monroe works across the leading integration platforms—both iPaaS and cloud-native options—to help clients match tools to their business needs. While every organization’s needs are different, here’s our perspective on how today’s most common integration approaches compare.

Why Integration is the Missing Link to AI and Data ROI

Data without integration is just disconnected potential. AI without integration is just expensive code.

Modern integration platforms:

• Unlock real-time access to data from across the business
• Reduce duplication and latency, making insights more reliable
• Power automation and AI workflows with clean, connected data
• Enable scalability, so today’s solutions aren’t tomorrow’s tech debt
• Accelerate innovation, so products are launched faster

Without this foundation, every digital initiative—no matter how well-funded—is built on shaky ground.

Get Started: 3 Steps to Jumpstart Modern Integration

1. Take Inventory: Where can your data sources, systems, and applications be better connected?
   Map your systems and where data bottlenecks are holding back business value. Look especially at areas impacting customers, decisions, or operational efficiency.
2. Define Success: What business outcomes need to improve?
   Align IT and business teams around specific outcomes—like delivering more personalized interactions across channels, launching products X% faster or strengthening security and governance. Let these goals shape your integration roadmap.
3. Pick a Platform: Do you need better results or a replacement?
   Choose an integration platform that fits your scale, talent, and goals. iPaaS and cloud platforms can accelerate results—but only when matched with the right architecture and governance.

Integration platforms do more than connect systems—they orchestrate complex workflows and support standards like the Model Context Protocol to drive both modernization and future-readiness. But the real value comes from aligning IT and business priorities, executing with the right skills, and tackling challenges like siloed data and talent gaps head-on.

Authors: Kaumil Dalal and Sean Teska