Who actually wants to build their own software?

We COULD all bake our own bread, but most of us buy it. Convenience and efficiency often win out.

Now that AI makes it easier to build our own software and tools, will we “bake” our own? Will we invest time building things to create convenience and efficiencies in other aspects of our life or work?

Joe Rinaldi and I got into this on Escape Velocity. He pointed out how much time people in our industry spend talking to other people in our industry. Someone is experimenting with this, someone else is trying that, and we’re all comparing what we can make now. Step outside that circle and the interest varies considerably.

His example was a custom running app. Being able to build one might sound fantastic to someone who enjoys making software. Someone else might be perfectly happy with the app they already have. They want to go for a run.

That’s where the bread came in.

As we try to make sense of how work is changing with AI, we have to remember that our own excitement, habits, and frustrations aren’t shared by everyone else. This matters even more when we use our own behavior to predict what happens to an entire industry.

People who enjoy building things get something out of the building itself. There’s the satisfaction of figuring it out, the freedom to make it work your way, the curiosity about what else might be possible. If that’s you, the time spent experimenting can be part of the reward.

But we’re also talking about people who have a job to finish, a problem to solve, and limited time to spend learning another thing. Their calculation may look very different. What feels like freedom to one person can feel like another responsibility to someone else.

I’m excited about building our own tools. Later in the conversation, I encouraged people to make something they actually need in their work. It gives you something concrete to respond to. You can tell whether it helps, where it falls short, and what you want to change. That’s a useful way to learn.

When does the effort of making something pay off for the person making it?

If you repeat a frustrating task every day, spending an afternoon building a better way to do it could be a very good trade. If the thing you need already works well enough, the same afternoon might feel like a waste. Before declaring that everyone will become their own software developer, we should understand what would make it worth their time.

There’s also the work that comes after making the first version. Will you know whether it’s working correctly? Who will fix it if it breaks? Are you willing to keep paying attention to it? Those questions belong in the conversation about convenience too.

The answers can change. A person who has no interest today might encounter a problem tomorrow that makes experimenting worthwhile. Easier tools can change the calculation. So can a clearer example, a little help, or a need that existing products haven’t addressed.

That’s why I want us to stay curious about the people making these choices. When we’re evaluating a new tool, planning a service, or predicting what clients will need, whose experience are we using? Have we actually asked the people we expect to use it? What are they willing to take on, and what would they happily pay someone else to handle?

We could all bake our own bread. Some of us will love doing it. Some will try it for a while. Some will be grateful there’s a bakery down the street.

I’m curious about where you’re drawing that line with AI. What are you building for yourself, and what are you still very happy to have someone else do?

▸ Listen to episode 34