'Citizen AI' Can Help IT Leaders Spark Business Solutions, If Done Right
CIO, Tuesday, October 27th, 2026
Hexion, eSky and Harvey Nash show how citizen AI lets business users build agents and apps, if CIOs pair freedom with guardrails.
Enterprises are giving employees outside IT AI tools to build their own solutions, treating them as low-cost experiments that prove value before IT commits resources. eSky opened multiple AI providers to all staff and now runs more than 30 agents, each with its own identity, credentials and owning team.
Hexion uses a centralized IT-owned platform with tiered access, offering Power Apps Vibe to everyone but restricting Replit, and uses Microsoft Agent 365 as a single-pane governance layer.
Examples include a factory safety app, a marketing ad-content agent and a social posting agent for recruiters.
CIOs are advised to test whether each use case adds real value and to discuss security alongside innovation.