How every employee becomes a technology creator

Something remarkable is happening in organizations around the world. The traditional custodians of technology—IT departments—are witnessing a revolution as employees across all departments use artificial intelligence and user-friendly tools to become technology creators themselves. Marketing managers create artificial intelligence models, nurses develop healthcare applications, and finance teams create their own automation solutions.

“It’s been creeping up on us over time,” explains Tom Davenport, distinguished professor at Babson College and co-author of All Hands on Technology: A Civil Revolution Powered by Artificial Intelligence. “Technology has become much easier to use, and we all carry very powerful devices in our pockets that we need to become familiar with if we are going to live in modern life.”

Three types of citizens

The Civil Revolution covers three main categories of technology creators. First, there are citizen developers who use low-code and no-code platforms to create applications. Secondly, there are citizen automation engineers who create workflows and automated processes. Finally, there are citizen data scientists who use artificial intelligence and analytics tools to extract valuable insights from data.

“The idea that people are becoming more tech-savvy and more comfortable with technology is consistent with the idea that technology is becoming more human and people-friendly,” says Ian Barkin, co-author of All Hands on Technology. “To the point where there’s so much emphasis on prompts and just effectively talking to the computer and saying, ‘I’d like you to build me this.’

From valve turner to technology pioneer

One of the most inspiring examples of this revolution is at Shell, where Stevie Sims transformed himself from a literal oil refinery “turner” into a champion citizen developer. As Barkin explains, “You saw domain expertise being used, you saw a smart person who knew the business and understood the problems in that environment, who was then able to turn those ideas into actions and create automation tools that then inspired a movement.”

IT Tensions

This democratization of technology has not been without its challenges. Many IT departments were initially reluctant, viewing citizen development as dangerous “shadow IT.” Davenport shares the story of “Mr. Citizen,” a supply chain specialist who significantly improved his productivity using data analytics tools, but encountered resistance from IT professionals who insisted that he use their preferred programming language instead.

However, progressive organizations are learning to accept and use this while maintaining appropriate control. “If you think you can stop the ingenuity and problem solving of your teams of people who have ideas and then persistence in implementing them to solve the problems they face every day – if you think you can suppress it, good luck.” – says Barkin. The solution, he believes, is to create better structures that harness people’s desire to solve problems creatively while maintaining the necessary safeguards.

Managing risk while driving innovation

The key to successful citizen development lies not in replacing IT, but in transforming the role of IT from gatekeeper to facilitator. Organizations need what Barkin calls “two IT departments”: one focused on maintaining enterprise systems and security, and the other focused on nurturing citizen developers through training, guidance, and maintaining a secure development environment.

The most successful organizations implement what Shell calls a “red, yellow, green” system: where citizens are free to develop green projects, red projects must be managed by IT, and yellow projects require collaboration between citizens and IT.

The future of work and innovation

This civic revolution isn’t just changing the way technology is created—it’s changing the very nature of work and innovation. Organizations that embrace this movement are finding that they can innovate faster and more efficiently by leveraging the domain expertise of their employees.

“This is an incredible resource,” Davenport emphasizes. “Today, every organization feels the need to switch to digital technologies. It takes too long. It costs too much. There are not enough professionals for this. And you have a very powerful resource within your company of people who have domain expertise and can learn skills they don’t already have.”

Embracing the revolution

The future belongs to organizations that can effectively harness this civic movement while maintaining good governance. As Barkin notes, “The future will be a really smart combination of the best AI for the job and really well-informed and capable people.”

The message is clear: the civil revolution cannot be stopped and should not be stopped. Instead, organizations need to embrace and leverage this by providing the right tools, training, and protective measures to help their employees become effective technology creators. In doing so, they will unlock unprecedented levels of innovation and productivity while empowering their people to solve the problems they understand best.