The cost and time of building custom software has collapsed. New API endpoints let AI interact with the internet in ways that weren't possible two years ago. Things that weren't worth building are now the obvious thing to build. We build them.
For years, the calculus was simple: if a SaaS tool exists that roughly does the job, it's cheaper to subscribe than to build. That calculus has flipped.
AI-assisted development has compressed build time by 60–80% on well-scoped projects. What once required six months and a team of four now takes six weeks and one senior engineer working with the right AI harness. The economics of custom software are fundamentally different.
At the same time, new API endpoints — browser control, computer use, real-time web access, multimodal understanding — have created a class of software that simply couldn't be built before. Apps that read, see, and act on the world in real time. Systems that integrate with anything, not just the tools that have documented APIs.
We build in this new landscape every day. We know what's possible, how long it takes, and — just as importantly — when it's not the right answer.
These aren't theoretical. They're features we've shipped in the last 12 months using API endpoints that didn't exist — or weren't stable enough to build on — two years ago.
"The tools that were too expensive to build two years ago
are now the obvious thing to build today."