A customer asks, “What should my family watch tonight?” In the first part of this animation, that question travels through research, product, design, engineering, testing, and a lot of handoffs before an app reaches the customer.
Then frontier tools move into the middle of the team. People use AI to develop the idea, shape the experience, build it, and evaluate it. The PM still delivers a working app, and the AI operates it for the customer.
The last scene explores what could come next. The customer asks the AI directly. It creates or operates whatever tools it needs and returns an answer. The customer wanted something to watch with their family. How much of the software we build will people still need to interact with?
The elapsed times are illustrative. The final scene imagines a possible future.
Story overview
Before frontier tools. The customer’s question moves through research, product decisions, prototypes, engineering, testing, and repeated handoffs. The PM delivers the finished app.
With frontier tools. The PM, designer, and engineer develop the idea through AI. The PM evaluates the app and hands it to the customer. The AI operates it on the customer’s behalf and returns the answer.
What could come next. The customer asks the AI directly. It creates a watch picker, uses it, and returns Lanterns.
Sources and assumptions
Lanterns on HBO Max and Supacell on Netflix are example choices. Both are rated TV-MA. The film illustrates a changing workflow; it does not measure delivery speed.
Suggested tweet
“What should my family watch tonight?”
We can build a research plan, a design, a backlog, and an app around that question.
If AI can create or operate the tools needed to answer directly, what does the product team own?
