“Infrastructure works quietly” is the key line here. The moment AI becomes the headline, the leverage disappears.
What I propose instead is focusing on improving the system underneath — so the work gets faster, simpler, and more resilient without the client ever needing to care about the tool.
I love this thought / question and I spend a lot of time thinking about this specific issue (esp when I was writing this article). I think in the near term (now through next 5ish years), this structure will do exceedingly well. People will still be more than willing to pay for bespoke SaaS that solves their problems really well. As people become more versed in AI over time, I think there will be a shift toward more people creating their own highly custom tools to solve the same problems that AI SaaS solves now. But there will always be people who would rather buy an 8/10 "pretty good pre-made cookie" instead of putting forth the work toward making a "10/10 perfect homemade cookie."
I think you're right - I love these points. And I think we will start to see more and more of a third category: third party AI saas tools that can integrate with a user's custom ai brain or ai tool to make the third party AI saas more custom / bespoke to the user's specific needs.
Yes — this is exactly how I see it. Once AI is restructuring workflows instead of producing outputs, it becomes infrastructure, not a product. That’s the mindset I teach: sell systems and outcomes, not “AI.” When it works, it disappears — and that’s the win.
Thank you! I hope so to. I see a clear path for many non-techies to utilize AI to build a small biz for themselves. I guess continued education around that, as this post provided, is the key to showing the posiblities.
“Infrastructure works quietly” is the key line here. The moment AI becomes the headline, the leverage disappears.
What I propose instead is focusing on improving the system underneath — so the work gets faster, simpler, and more resilient without the client ever needing to care about the tool.
Exactly - the leverage disappears
I love this thought / question and I spend a lot of time thinking about this specific issue (esp when I was writing this article). I think in the near term (now through next 5ish years), this structure will do exceedingly well. People will still be more than willing to pay for bespoke SaaS that solves their problems really well. As people become more versed in AI over time, I think there will be a shift toward more people creating their own highly custom tools to solve the same problems that AI SaaS solves now. But there will always be people who would rather buy an 8/10 "pretty good pre-made cookie" instead of putting forth the work toward making a "10/10 perfect homemade cookie."
I think you're right - I love these points. And I think we will start to see more and more of a third category: third party AI saas tools that can integrate with a user's custom ai brain or ai tool to make the third party AI saas more custom / bespoke to the user's specific needs.
this stuff is just so fun
Yes — this is exactly how I see it. Once AI is restructuring workflows instead of producing outputs, it becomes infrastructure, not a product. That’s the mindset I teach: sell systems and outcomes, not “AI.” When it works, it disappears — and that’s the win.
Yes, exactly!
Thank you! I hope so to. I see a clear path for many non-techies to utilize AI to build a small biz for themselves. I guess continued education around that, as this post provided, is the key to showing the posiblities.