You can set cdbi autoupdate on an object to enable immediate database updates

$rs->autoupdate(1);
$rs->set(field1 => 55, field2 => 'field2+1');
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Update: You'll also need to enable the cdbi auto-update facility in your class set-up:

package MyClass;

use base qw(DBIx::Class)
__PACKAGE__->load_components(qw/CDBICompat::AutoUpdate/);

#....
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