I lately wrote about the new Y Combinator call and got a question from a friend. Ok Tom, but what do you think is a good area to focus on today? A year ago it was hard to answer, but now we know more about how AI shapes the market.
Hi, my name is Tom Smykowski. I've spent 19 years building production systems and now focus on AI-assisted development. On this blog I share insights on where technology and business intersect.
So here are my bets for the following years. Ten areas where I think startups can thrive in the AI era.
1. Trust Platforms
AI allows people to fake their work experience, expertise, even make fake videos, books, and podcasts. In a way, you can fake experience too, because you can build a SaaS that looks great from the outside but inside it's worse than the competition.
So what people will look for in this environment is trust. Trust comes in many forms and shapes. Trust between people, trust between companies.
If your project answers to a problem "I want to trust, I need trust", then I think it's worth working on it.
2. People Platforms
If AI can automate everything, it can't fake being human. It can talk like a human, act as a human, even walk like a human with robots. But it's not human. Humans need humans.
So if you build something that is for people, real people, and encourages in any way any aspect of being a human being, I think that will also be something people will turn to.
3. Quality
What is also a conclusion from point 1 is that since everyone can build everything, it doesn't mean it's the same. It means that sometimes it can be better, or sometimes look better but be worse.
We are already drowned in fake posts, fake websites, books, vibe coded applications, AI articles. In this environment everything that AI produces becomes commodity, and sometimes worse commodity with flaws and things that don't work.