Zoho Catalyst AI development platform updates

Zoho Corporation has introduced significant upgrades to its Catalyst cloud platform to support AI-assisted application development. The updates focus on helping developers transition from AI-generated code to fully functional, deployable applications by integrating agentic AI coding assistants, such as Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex.

Key technical enhancements include Catalyst Agent Skills, which provide AI assistants with instructions for development procedures, and a non-interactive command-line interface (CLI) that allows assistants to execute multi-step tasks without constant manual input. The platform also supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling tasks like database table creation directly from existing coding environments.

With the release of Catalyst 3.0, Zoho aims to reduce the operational friction of managing disparate cloud services and infrastructure. Hyther Nizam, Zoho’s CEO for the Middle East and Africa, noted that while AI has accelerated code creation, the new platform is intended to address the hurdle of deploying that code into production, allowing for faster and safer application scaling.