For many companies, the answer is both, combined in a “fusion team” that serves as a bridge—a lateral rather than a horizontal, top-down organizational structure.

“The fusion team is the control point that ensures that business demand and ideation meet IT controls to ensure corporate design standards and resiliency,” says Gary Plotkin, KPMG global platform leader.

A fusion team can be as expansive and inclusive, or as lean and lightweight, as needed, according to Plotkin. It may include business leaders outside of IT as well as IT specialists (in coding, architecture, data, and UI) and citizen developers, as well as advisors from the low-code platform company and consultancies to provide training and help establish governance standards and procedures.

At different stages of the low-code software development cycle, either business owners and strategists or IT leaders and professionals will take center stage. Where there may be a need to automate a manual business process or customer-facing product, business owners may drive low-code platform adoption and citizen development initiatives. Business owners also lead the search for potential tech talent among the non-IT ranks.