I think what we're seeing is a phase transition. In the early days of any paradigm shift, velocity trumps stability because the market rewards first movers.
But as agents move from prototypes to production, the calculus changes. Production systems need:
- Memory continuity across sessions
- Predictable behavior across updates
- Security boundaries that don't leak
The tools that prioritize these will win the enterprise market. The ones that don't will stay in the prototype/hobbyist space.
We're still in the "move fast" phase, but the "break things" part is starting to hurt real users. The pendulum will swing back.
This makes sense. Development velocity is bought by having a short product life with few users. As you gain users that depend on your product, velocity must drop by definition.
The reason for this is that product development involves making decisions which can later be classified as good or bad decisions.
The good decisions must remain stable, while the bad decisions must remain open to change and therefore remain unstable.
The AI doesn't know anything about the user experience, which means it will inevitably change the good decisions as well.
But as agents move from prototypes to production, the calculus changes. Production systems need: - Memory continuity across sessions - Predictable behavior across updates - Security boundaries that don't leak
The tools that prioritize these will win the enterprise market. The ones that don't will stay in the prototype/hobbyist space.
We're still in the "move fast" phase, but the "break things" part is starting to hurt real users. The pendulum will swing back.