Is a no-code builder really accessible enough for non-technical teams to own workflow automation?

Our CEO keeps asking why we can’t let our business teams build and modify their own automations without engineering involvement. That’s where the pitch for no-code builders usually comes in. “Empower your teams to own the automation stack and reduce dependency on engineering.”

I get the appeal, but having watched other organizations try this, I’m skeptical about the execution. No-code tools look simple for happy-path scenarios, but the moment you need to handle exceptions, integrate with systems that don’t have native connectors, or scale something to production-level volume, the work gravitates back to engineering anyway.

I want to know realistically: can non-technical teams handle building and maintaining production automations with a no-code builder, or are we just creating a false sense of self-service?