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AI & Automation

Power Platform and the Quiet Rise of the Citizen Developer

The interesting workflow automation in our client base isn't being built by engineers anymore. It's being built by the operations lead who got Copilot last quarter. We watched it happen — and changed how we deliver projects.

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Hodan Mohamed
Product Manager
30 April 2026 6 min read

A year ago, when a client asked for a workflow tool, we'd quote a custom build. Today, half the time, the right answer is to teach them to build it themselves in Power Apps. The economics have shifted.

What changed

Copilot in Power Apps means non-developers can describe what they want in plain English and get a working prototype in minutes. The output isn't always production-ready, but it's a vastly better starting point than a blank Figma file or a Jira ticket.

Where the engineering still matters

Governance. Data classification. Connecting to systems of record without bypassing security. Citizen development scales beautifully until something private accidentally lands in a public flow — and that's where teams like ours now spend most of our time.

Tagged
#Power Platform #Automation #Microsoft #Low-code
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Written by
Hodan Mohamed
Product Manager · Impetik
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