hey everyone, i've been thinking quite a bit lately about how AI is changing agencies, development companies, freelancers, and the wider web/design industry.
it feels like we've already gone through a few stages:
number one is AI as a tool - chatgpt, copilot, image generation, content tools, etc. - helping us do the same work faster.
and then - AI becoming part of the workflow/ai agents - research, design, development, QA, content, automation and even client delivery are becoming increasingly AI-assisted.
and then AI changing the economics, and this is the part i’m most curious about because here we see project budgets, pricing, margins, team sizes, timelines, and ultimately what clients feel they’re actually paying for.
from my side, things are still pretty good. i'm not seeing the "AI is replacing agencies" scenario that people were predicting.
but i do think the shift is happening somewhere else.
workflows are changing. projects are getting faster. client expectations around cost may be changing. in some cases, margins and project sizes might even be going up because teams can do more with the same resources.
and personally, i’m still very much in the humans > bots/ai agents/whatnot camp when it comes to building teams. (still happy to use agents individually)
if i had to guess where this goes, i think we;ll see more agencies selling AI-assisted websites and digital experiences, rather than simply selling "a website".
which brings me to the question i'd really like to hear people’s thoughts on:
is has AI actually changed your business yet? i mean has it changed how you price, hire, deliver work, or communicate value to clients?
and do you think the real disruption will be AI replacing people, or AI simply changing where the value sits in the process?
i’d genuinely love to hear different perspectives - especially from agency owners, developers, designers and freelancers.
i also think there’s a huge opportunity for people who can combine AI with strong strategy, design, development and execution. AI can make the work faster, but someone still needs to know WHAT TO BUILD, WHY TO BUILD IT, and HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR THE BUSINESS.
