Ability to access smart value variables as their underlying type

Problem Definition

Currently, smart value variables created using Create Variable are stored as strings. This limits a lot of the functionality of the component.

In this community thread is some customer feedback and thoughts on usability, and some UX concerns around how exactly the component will work and the rule behaviour when dealing with complex/nested object types:
Automation for Jira - Create variable (New component)

Suggested Solution

We should allow the variables to store and access the actual object types instead of just a string/text.

Workaround

Use the appropriate smart value instead of the variable created from the smart value.