AI Solutions looking for a problem

Just because you have revolutionary AI, doesn't mean you don't have to focus on users.

Fresh off a US$6.6B funding injection, OpenAI has announced a new feature "Canvas".

I think this release highlights a massive issue for GenAI companies like OpenAI - the solution looking for a problem.

With each injection of funding, the biggest challenge for AI companies is rapid adoption - OpenAI's valuation is built off the assumption they can grow revenue fast and it's clear from the outside that a big part of that revenue is going to have to come from direct users (as opposed to API revenue from builders on their platforms).

Many AI companies (OpenAI especially) are busy building new playgrounds for users to play in rather than focussing on integrating into existing workflows.

As a developer, I don't want to have to forgo all the features of my IDE just to access the AI goodness - it's good, but not *that* good. As it stands, Canvas is a good tech demo, but I'm having to give up too much in return.

I want (side note: user's aren't always right :P) a coding assistant the deeply integrates with my existing IDE, not a new place I need to go to edit code - it's duplication I don't need and raises the bar for feature requirements given I now need the new AI thing to also have all the must-have features of my IDE.

A far more useful tool would be an extension to an existing IDE - like VS code or JetBrains. Even better is if I can have an actual IDE that also includes the AI features eg. Cursor.

Focus on customers a fundamental competitive edge that small startups have over the big players. By having fewer resources available, you no option but to to focus on the customer and their actual needs if you want to grow. Focussing on the customer is what ultimately leads to building the billion dollar businesses.

Don't reinvent the wheel - make a tool that brings the magic of AI into user's existing workflow. This doesn't mean it has to be in their existing toolset, just that users shouldn't be expected to give up a whole raft of functionality in order to get access to your AI features.

I think a lot of AI companies have underestimated how entrenched existing workflows are. Even a tool that magically does everything still needs to overcome the incredible inertia in most customer organisations beyond the early adopters.