The Likely Times

AvoidBrowser-automation wrappers and "AI that clicks buttons for you" startups get absorbed into the platform. If your moat is the automation layer itself, it's a feature by Q4.

Build on itFrontier-grade coding at self-host prices. Compliance-heavy niches (defense, health, banking) that couldn't send code to an API become addressable. Margins on "AI coding for regulated industries" open up.

Build on itVoice becomes a commodity input, like a keyboard. The opportunity moves up-stack: voice-native vertical apps (sales coaching, language tutoring, elder care) where the workflow is the product, not the voice.

Window openUntil this lands, human-in-the-loop orchestration is the product. A 12–18 month window for tools that make agent supervision cheap — and a pivot deadline for when it closes.

Build on itProducts that are unit-economics-negative today (AI on every email, every document, every frame of video) become viable. Plan pricing for where costs will be, not where they are.

Window openAn inverted prediction: the gap that stays open. Memory infrastructure, user-context layers, and personalization stores remain third-party territory — one of the few picks-and-shovels plays the labs keep not filling.