Part 2: Two Futures: Why Agencies Who Build IP Will Win the AI Era
There's a narrative going around that AI will democratise everything. Soon, everyone will be able to build their own websites, apps, and solutions. Agencies will become obsolete.
I think that's backwards. AI won't replace agencies - but it will split them into two groups: those who use AI to work faster, and those who use AI to build IP. Only one of those groups has a future.
The Two Futures Emerging
Future 1: DIY Everything
- The promise: everyone becomes a builder
- Just prompt AI and get what you need
- No need for agencies, developers, or experts
Sounds empowering. But here's the problem:
- Businesses become experts in building instead of their domain
- Time spent wrestling with AI instead of serving customers
- No compounding expertise - every solution starts from scratch
- The "democratisation" is actually a distraction
Future 2: Agencies as AI-Powered Experts
- Agencies build IP and solutions
- Customers use these tools without becoming builders
- The fundamental value exchange hasn't changed
- Businesses still buy expertise so they can focus on what they're experts in
The difference: AI facilitates and speeds up the output. It doesn't change why businesses hire agencies.
Where Most Agencies Are Now (The Gap)
Let me be honest about what I'm seeing in the market right now:
Most agencies are using AI internally:
- Learning ChatGPT, Cursor, v0, Copilot
- Using them to win jobs and deliver faster
- Pocketing the efficiency gains
- The customer doesn't know or care AI is involved
This is short-term thinking. Why? Because you're just doing cost reduction, not value creation.
- You work faster, but the customer doesn't benefit
- You're still trading time for money, just more efficiently
- No recurring revenue, no compounding value
- When AI gets better, your advantage disappears
The strategic mistake: treating AI as a way to work faster instead of a way to build differently.
The Opportunity: From Efficiency to IP
Here's the shift smart agencies are making:
Stop using AI to work faster internally. Start using AI to build solutions you can sell to customers.
Two paths forward:
Path 1: Consultancy (good, but limited)
- Advise customers on AI integration
- Help them understand possibilities
- Guide implementation
But: Still project-based, time-for-money, doesn't scale
Path 2: IP/Product-Based Solutions (the winning move)
- Build a solution/tool that solves a specific customer need
- Customise it to their business
- Support them in getting the most from it
- Recurring revenue, compounding value, true partnership
This is the future: Agencies who build IP that customers can use without becoming builders themselves.
What This Actually Looks Like
Let me make this concrete with examples:
Old model (efficiency):
- Agency uses AI to build client websites faster
- Client gets a website
- Project ends, relationship ends
- Next client? Start from scratch
New model (IP):
- Agency builds a customer portal solution for a specific industry
- Trains AI on that industry's patterns and needs
- Deploys it to multiple clients with customisation
- Supports and evolves it over time
- Each deployment makes the solution smarter
The difference:
- Build once, deploy many times
- Recurring revenue from support and evolution
- Solution gets better with each customer
- You're selling expertise, not hours
Why the Fundamental Value Exchange Hasn't Changed
Here's what people miss about AI:
Businesses don't want to become builders. They want solutions.
This has always been true:
- Businesses hire accountants so they don't have to become accounting experts
- They hire lawyers so they don't have to become legal experts
- They hire agencies so they don't have to become building experts
AI doesn't change this. It amplifies it.
With AI, agencies can:
- Create more value, faster
- Build solutions that were previously too expensive
- Support customers at scale
- Share the benefits of AI without requiring customers to learn it
The winning agencies will be the ones who use AI to deliver more value to customers, not just pocket efficiency gains.
The Siteglide Enabler
This is where architecture matters. To build IP/product-based solutions, you need infrastructure that supports:
- Build once, deploy many - with customisation per client
- Train AI on customer-specific patterns - not generic prompts
- Deliver tools customers can use - without being builders
- Support and evolve over time - not one-and-done projects
Siteglide's AI-native architecture enables this:
Example workflow:
- Build a solution (e.g., membership portal for fitness studios)
- Train AI on the patterns and requirements
- Deploy to Client A with their branding and customisation
- Learn from Client A's usage
- Deploy to Client B, now smarter and faster
- Each deployment compounds your IP
The key: API-first, open architecture, direct data access means you can build proprietary processes that improve over time.
From Cost Reduction to Value Creation
Here's the strategic shift:
Don't ask: "How can AI help me deliver this project faster?"
Ask: "What solution can I build with AI that I can sell to multiple customers?"
The difference:
- First question = efficiency gains you pocket
- Second question = value creation you share
The agencies building IP will:
- Have recurring revenue
- Compound their expertise
- Create defensible advantages
- Scale without linear growth in headcount
The agencies chasing efficiency will:
- Race to the bottom on price
- Compete on speed alone
- Have no moat when AI gets better
- Stay stuck in time-for-money
The Hard Truth
Building IP is harder than using AI to work faster. It requires:
- Thinking in systems, not projects
- Investing upfront before seeing returns
- Choosing a niche and going deep
- Building processes, not just delivering work
But it's the only sustainable path forward.
AI won't replace agencies. But agencies who don't evolve from efficiency to IP will be replaced by agencies who do.
The question isn't whether to use AI. It's whether you're using it to work faster or build differently.
Next in this series: How to future-proof your agency when AI capabilities are doubling every 6 months (and why building for 1000x matters more than keeping up)
