Microsoft Copilot
Glossary
Citizen developer
A citizen developer is a business user without formal software engineering training who builds apps, automations, reports or agents with low-code and no-code tools such as Power Platform and Copilot Studio.
Also known as: maker, low-code developer, power user
Why organizations encourage it
Citizen developers solve problems close to the work, faster than a central IT backlog can. A team that builds its own approval flow or Power App gets what it needs in days, and the organization gets automation it would never have funded as a project.
What it needs to stay safe
The same speed creates risk. Apps and flows connect business data to outside services, credentials end up in plain text, and solutions become business-critical while still owned by one person. When that person leaves, nobody knows how the flow works or who should fix it.
Governance gives citizen developers room to build within limits: environments for different purposes, data loss prevention policies that control which connectors may be combined, named owners, and a review of what is still in use.
Where Rencore fits
Rencore inventories Power Apps, Power Automate flows, environments and connections with their owners, flags Power Apps without an owner or shared with everyone, and can add or remove users on an app or a flow.