Introduction

Over six installments we explored citizen development’s history, the merits and pitfalls of Kami Excel, the light and shadow of no-code/low-code, the jolt from generative AI, and the essence of governance. This final part synthesizes those threads to outline a future where legacy keeps being born, yet we tame it.

Citizen development cannot be reduced to “do it” or “don’t do it.” History shows that every innovation delivers short-term success paired with long-term debt. Our task is to decide how to move forward with that reality in mind.

Context: The heroes who crafted Kami Excel were often ordinary office workers with extraordinary persistence. In Japan, many still work unseen, patching mission-critical workflows late at night. Honoring their contribution means building structures that preserve their insights without trapping the organization in debt.

The full series

Legacy will not disappear—move forward anyway

The fantasy that “some technology will finally eliminate negative legacy” has fueled many failures.

EUC and Kami Excel once saved frontline teams. Lacking management, they calcified into debt. Modern no-code/low-code tools look glamorous yet are already tracing the path toward “Kami Excel 2.0.” Generative AI raised hopes of rescuing past assets, but as Part 4 showed, it struggles with RPA or no-code artifacts that never existed as code.

The conclusion is blunt. Legacy will always be born. And the future where everyone has IT-department-level skills and masters Kami Excel will not arrive.

Therefore the question is not “how do we avoid legacy?” but “how do we tame it and carry it forward?”

Dividing draft and clean copy opens the future

As Part 5 argued, citizen development’s value is as a draft. Frontline teams can prototype solutions that surface requirements and reduce misunderstandings. But drafts fail in production if left as-is.

The future hinges on embedding the culture of draft-and-clean-copy.

  • Citizen development provides quick sketches that capture business needs.
  • IT professionals rebuild them into durable systems.
  • Generative AI accelerates that translation and improves quality.

That is how citizen development survives.

Aligning vantage points—recalibrating the four actors

Part 6 showed that negative legacy proliferates when vantage points diverge.

  • Executives fixate on short-term wins.
  • Frontline teams focus on immediate convenience.
  • IT warns about long-term risk but lacks capacity.
  • Middle management chases quarterly metrics instead of mediating.

Taming the future requires recalibrating these horizons. Governance is not mere rule-making; it is the integration of different time frames.

Executives need metrics that balance short-term wins with long-term stewardship. Frontline teams need systems that protect speed without sacrificing guardrails. IT needs the authority and resourcing to offer solutions, not just warnings. Middle management must embrace its role as coordinator rather than accelerant.

Only when these gears mesh will citizen development evolve from “legacy factory” to “foundation for progress.”

A future vision—DX that coexists with legacy

The goal is not “DX that eliminates legacy.” It is DX that coexists with legacy.

  • Adopt new technology while documenting code so future teams can rescue it.
  • Use citizen development as the draft, with AI and professionals providing the clean copy.
  • Build governance that mitigates misalignment and embeds continuous renewal.

Remember the pioneers of EUC: they were shining heroes who taught themselves skills to keep business running. We must not dismiss their work as mere Kami Excel. Their passion and ingenuity saved organizations and laid the foundation for today’s citizen development and DX.

With that perspective, citizen development can be remembered ten years from now not as a joke but as an evolving co-creation practice woven into organizational culture.