At Tata Consultancy Services, the introduction of CI/CD pipelines significantly streamlined our development process and reduced manual efforts. 

Before implementing CI/CD, we faced challenges such as manually generating APKs, sending them to clients for testing, and uploading them to the Google Play Console for approval and publishing. This process was time-consuming and prone to human error. 

To address these issues, we implemented CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins and GitLab CI. Here’s how it enhanced our workflow:

1. **Automated Builds**: We created scripts within the CI/CD pipeline to automate the build process. By utilizing Gradle commands, the pipeline automatically compiled the code and generated the APK, ensuring consistency in every build and minimizing the risk of human error.

2. **Continuous Testing**: The pipeline included automated tests that ran with each build, allowing us to identify bugs and issues early in the development cycle, which ensured higher code quality and stability.

3. **Artifact Storage**: We configured the pipeline to store generated APKs in a designated location, making it easy for the QA team to download the latest builds for testing without waiting for manual intervention.

4. **Automated Deployment**: One of the most significant improvements was automating the deployment process. The pipeline was designed to upload the generated APK directly to the Google Play Console, eliminating the need for manual uploads and accelerating the release process.

5. **Notifications and Monitoring**: We also integrated notifications into the pipeline, ensuring the team was promptly informed of build statuses, test results, and deployment outcomes. This enabled us to quickly address any issues that arose during the CI/CD process.

By implementing CI/CD pipelines, we achieved a more efficient, reliable, and faster development cycle, allowing us to focus more on coding and less on manual tasks. This ultimately led to increased productivity and higher quality applications.