Artificial intelligence is democratizing technology development across organizations and… [+] Employees ranging from nurses to accountants can build their own solutions.
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Something remarkable is happening in organizations around the world. IT departments, the traditional gatekeepers of technology, are witnessing a revolution where employees across all departments are leveraging AI and user-friendly tools to become technology creators themselves. Marketing managers are building AI models, nurses are developing healthcare apps, and finance teams are creating their own automation solutions.
“This has crept up on us over time,” explains Tom Davenport, Babson College Distinguished Professor and co-author of “All Hands on Tech: The AI-Powered Citizen Revolution.” I will. “Technology has become so easy to use that we all carry very powerful devices in our pockets. We need to get used to these devices to survive modern life.”
3 types of people
The citizen revolution includes three main categories of technology creators. The first is citizen developers, who use low-code/no-code platforms to build applications. The second is Citizen Autometer, which creates workflows and automated processes. Finally, there are citizen data scientists who leverage AI and analytical tools to derive insights from data.
“The notion that humans are becoming more technologically savvy and comfortable with technology is converging with the notion that technology is becoming increasingly human- and human-friendly.” All Hands on Tech says co-author Ian Birkin. “So much attention is paid to creating prompts and effectively talking to the computer and saying, ‘This is what I want you to make for me.'”
From valve turner to technology pioneer
One of the most exciting examples of this revolution comes from Shell. There, Stevie Sims transformed from a job literally “turning valves” at a refinery to a champion of citizen development. Barkin explains: “We saw domain expertise being leveraged: knowing the business well, understanding the challenges in that environment, putting those ideas into action, creating automation, and seeing that it spark a movement.” I saw an intelligent person who could do it.”
IT tension
This democratization of technology is not without its challenges. Many IT departments initially resisted civic development, viewing it as dangerous “shadow IT.” Davenport shares the story of “Mr. Citizen,” a supply chain expert who used data analytics tools to dramatically improve productivity. However, they faced pushback from IT departments who insisted that they should use their preferred programming language instead.
But progressive organizations are learning how to embrace and make it happen while maintaining appropriate controls. “If you think you can defeat the ingenuity and problem-solving of a team of people who have an idea and have the tenacity to pursue it to solve the problems they face every day, then good luck. ” says Birkin. The solution, he suggests, is to create better structures that harness people’s desire to creatively solve problems while maintaining necessary safety measures.
Manage risk while innovating
The key to successful civic development is not to replace IT, but to change the role of IT from gatekeeper to enabler. Organizations need what Barkin calls “two ITs.” One focuses on maintaining enterprise systems and security, and the other is dedicated to developing citizen developers through training, mentoring, and maintaining a secure development environment.
The most successful organizations implement what Shell calls the “Red, Amber, Green” system. Green projects can be freely developed by citizens, red projects must be handled by the IT department, and amber projects require cooperation between citizens and IT experts.
The future of work and innovation
This citizen revolution will not only change the way technology is created, but the very nature of work and innovation. Organizations embracing this movement are realizing that they can innovate faster and more effectively by leveraging the subject matter expertise of their employees.
“This is a great resource,” Davenport emphasizes. “Every organization today feels the need to digitize. It takes too long, it costs too much. We don’t have enough experts to do it. There are very powerful resources that can be used to learn and digitize skills that they don’t have yet.”
embrace the revolution
The future belongs to organizations that can effectively leverage this citizen movement while maintaining good governance. Barkin said, “The future is going to be a very smart orchestration of the best AI for the job and well-informed, capable humans.”
The message is clear. Citizen revolution cannot and should not be stopped. Instead, organizations need to embrace it, make it happen, and provide the right tools, training, and guardrails to help employees become effective technology creators. In doing so, we enable unprecedented levels of innovation and productivity while empowering our employees to solve the problems they understand best.
