We are still early. The technology is rough around the edges. There is a lot of infrastructure to build around reliability, security, observability, and how you actually measure value when an agent ships work. Most of that work has not been done yet. The early adopters are flying without instruments and pretending the cockpit is fine.
But the trajectory is clear, and that is the part that matters. We are moving from AI-assisted development — humans typing with smarter autocomplete — to truly autonomous software engineering, where agents fire on events and humans review the output. The intermediate stages are real and useful, but they are not the destination. The destination is where the loop closes without a human in the seat.
The companies that figure out how to harness this transition — not just as users of someone else's tools, but as platforms that make the new capability accessible to everyone — will be the ones that define the next decade of software development. Tool users get faster. Platform builders capture the value. That is the gap that always exists in infrastructure transitions, and it is open right now in AI coding.
That is exactly the bet behind the Tembo manifesto. Not "let's ship a slightly better Cursor." Build the platform that runs the agents, routes the work, measures the outcomes, and serves the customer rather than any single model. That is the durable position.
I have argued elsewhere that AI coding is having its middleware moment and that the multi-agent platform play is the structural opportunity. This is the synthesis. The question is not whether AI will transform how we build software. It is whether you will be ready when it does — and which side of the platform line you end up on.
— Ry
Sources
Related Essays
The Multi-Agent Platform Play
Nobody knows which AI coding agent actually works best because no platform runs them side-by-side. That is the opening for a horizontal layer that serves the customer, not the model.
The AI Coding Middleware Moment
AI coding is purely ephemeral — zero switching costs, no persistent IPs, no DNS lock-in. That is the rare condition that lets a horizontal middleware layer win.
The Three Tiers of AI Coding Adoption
AI coding adoption is happening in three distinct tiers — assisted, guided, and fully autonomous. Most teams are stuck in tier one and do not realize the gap.
Key takeaways
- The technology is rough at the edges, but the direction is unambiguous.
- The platform builders will define the next decade — not the tool users, and not the model labs alone.
- The question is not whether AI will transform how we build software. It is whether you will be ready when it does.
FAQ
How early is "still early"?
Reliability, security, observability, and value measurement around AI coding are all under-built. The tools work for the early adopter willing to babysit them. They do not yet work for the median enterprise. That gap is the next several years of infrastructure work.
Why platforms instead of tools?
Tools win the productivity argument for a single developer. Platforms win the leverage argument for a whole organization — and leverage is what compounds. The companies that figure out the platform layer capture the value the tool builders do not.