Everyone knew AI would alter the economics of software development. It’s happening now, but there’s still a bit of a plot twist: AI isn’t shaking things up in quite the way most people expected.
Generative tools certainly speed up coding and testing, but the real breakthrough isn’t in spitting out workable code. It’s in the decreased time of each development cycle.
Where refining a product once took months, today’s teams can prototype in days. That change influences every plan and every dollar. Budgets and timelines won’t look anything like they once did.
People will see that they’re saving time and money. When they do, they should move both to the areas where they create the most value.
Expect companies to spend fewer resources on repeat build work and more on checking tools. They’ll also get more time to decide what to build and to make the system solid, focusing attention on the choices that will most impact the product.
As for timelines, plan for them to compress up front, then widen around integration and compliance. Early steps may get faster, but later steps still need care. Plan for fast spikes of iteration interspersed with calm moments that allow time to check stability.
Leaders will also need to plan for team makeups to change. Pair seasoned architects with AI-augmented developers, and train everyone to use the new tools well. Skill beats speed when choices get complicated.
Leaders should not be surprised when new costs pop up, such as subscription fees for new tools and the bill for computing in the cloud. The good news is that these costs can more than pay off by increasing learning speed and product quality.
For the best results, planning needs to be different. Fund outcome-based milestones over big-bang releases to save capacity for ongoing discovery with an architecture runway that will absorb faster delivery.
Now is the time to change the playbook. Recalibrate expectations and budgets around iterative AI-assisted development to see dramatic efficiency gains and ship scalable products far faster.
Grzegorz Młynarczyk is a technology entrepreneur and investor who has successfully built and scaled multiple global software companies from the ground up. As CEO and co-founder of Software Mind, he led the company’s growth into a multi-thousand-person organization with R&D hubs across Europe, the Americas and Asia, serving scale-ups, unicorns and enterprise clients worldwide. He has also co-founded and held senior executive roles at Ailleron, delivering award-winning technology solutions recognized internationally. Across his career, Mlynarczyk has advised and invested in high-growth technology businesses, guiding founders through global expansion and successful exits.
