For as long as software has existed, changing a user's workflow meant changing the interface. New feature? New button. New process? New screen. The UI was the workflow.
AI breaks that dependency.
What's Different Now
The user interface stays constant, a chat input, a trigger button, but behind that static surface, you can completely transform what happens.
Update the prompt? The workflow changes. Add a new tool? New capabilities appear. Swap in a better model? Everything gets smarter.
Same interface. Completely different system.
Why It Matters
You can now iterate on your product's intelligence without disrupting the user experience. Ship improvements daily. Test new approaches. Roll back if something breaks. User muscle memory stays intact.
This connects to the Bitter Lesson: AI systems built on general methods outperform those encoding human knowledge. When your interface isn't hardcoded to specific workflows, you can swap in better models and let AI do more, without touching the frontend.
The Opportunity
You can't build the perfect AI system today. Models improve too fast. But you can build a system that adapts quickly.
Traditional software companies have interfaces tightly coupled to their workflows. They can't iterate at this speed.
If you're building something new, architect it differently. AI-first means the AI does the work and the interface is just a window into that intelligence. As the AI improves, so does your product, automatically.
Same UI, completely different capabilities. Iterate without disrupting users.
Small insight. Big implications.