The Rise of Disposable Software in the Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence has made it easier than ever to generate functional software in minutes. This speed and affordability have shifted the software landscape, making many apps and tools effectively disposable. Need a calculator tailored for your niche workflow? AI can spin it up in seconds. Want a customer feedback tool with specific branding? Done by lunch.

The result is a shift in the value proposition of software. Instead of investing heavily in monolithic systems, teams can iterate rapidly, discard what doesn’t work, and spin up alternatives with minimal cost. The anchoring value of software—how essential or long-lasting it feels—has dropped. We now build for the moment, not the decade.

This disposability isn't about waste; it's about agility. Software is becoming less of a product and more of a transient solution. For developers and businesses, the challenge is no longer just writing code, but making the right code at the right time, then knowing when to let it go.