Does anyone else feel like the AI + automation ecosystem is exploding right now? 😅 Between platforms like Zapier, Make, n8n, Peltarion, Retool, Airbyte, LangChain, AutoGen, CrewAI, Clay... (the list goes on haha) - t’s starting to feel less about which tool and more about how you design the system. I’m finding that the real differentiator isn’t the platform anymore, but:
How well data flows between tools
Where AI actually adds judgment vs. noise
And how maintainable the workflows are over time
Curious how others are thinking about this??
Hi Rida, in my case and with my team. We think for companies this is a major issue, because it keeps businesses depending on renting AI, which makes them hard to control several factors such as: Costs (some of the ones you mentioned have subscription models and others tokens costs), data security and intellectual property. On a recent article from Gartner they show how operational costs with AI keep increasing on about 35% year after year for companies, which are making them get into a point to; continue with that model and start getting rid of some jobs or change to something new that gives them a clear ROI. So for us, the best solution is build the Private AI for the companies and start integrating everything to their main source, and if they see a truly need of an external tool, add it. So with this approach, the ops costs are fully control, and the best part it will compound intelligence, because this type of AI will grow for you. plus the costs will keep going down after time with the optimizations of the AI. So with this is no longer - Oh Sh*t which tools do I use, or how many people I need to fired this mont. And more - Co-Create with AI I have some articles that will give you more details, let me know if you want them and I shared the link 🤗
Hi Rida, I agree. Everyone is chasing the "AI Agent" hype right now, but the real win is often just better system architecture. I see many business owners trying to build complex AI workflows for tasks that do not even need judgment. They just need a solid process. I recently automated a manual WordPress publishing task that took 2 hours. I used zero AI. I just built a clean logic path in n8n that cut the time to 1 minute. That is a 119x efficiency gain. The tool choice is actually critical. I use n8n and Make because they are visual and accessible. While a client could manage these systems themselves, most choose not to. Once they see the massive ROI and how much it eases their daily operations, they prefer to have an expert handle the maintenance.
Jonathan D. Hey Jonathan — really solid take, and I agree with a lot of this. The “renting AI” model is convenient early on, but at scale it absolutely introduces cost volatility, governance risk, and IP concerns. I’m seeing the same tension where teams hit a ceiling and are forced to choose between rising AI ops costs or headcount reductions. I like how you frame Private AI as a compounding asset rather than a recurring expense. Owning the core intelligence, grounding it in internal systems, and only layering external tools where they clearly add ROI feels like the most sustainable path long-term. Especially for companies with repeatable workflows, the intelligence really should grow with the business, not reset every month with a new tool. Curious to dig into this more — would love to read the articles you mentioned. Thanks for sharing your perspective 👊
Rida K. Here are 2 articles that I think have a very valuable information about it
The AI tool Crisis - https://theaimanagement.com/resources-html/ai-tool-management-problems.html
How Mid size companies are getting ROI with AI - https://theaimanagement.com/resources-html/mid-size-companies-ai-roi-2026.html
It is not about using more platforms unless you can't solve a problem. If you can solve a problem with any of these even one tool, you have a value
Yes and no Abdullah R. because with AI you have different paths to choose to solve a problem. All of them can help you solve it, and in your words, that show that is giving value, but if you're not strategic, in a business perspective you might solve a problem today but encountered a bigger one later, just by how you decide how to solve it.
