Bilbao Says the Gap Is Opening Between Leaders Who Direct AI With Criteria and Those Who Delegate. I'm Seeing It in Real Time From Inside ProjectApp.
Bilbao says the gap opening now is between leaders who direct AI with criteria and those who delegate because they don't want to understand it. I'm seeing that gap in real conversations this week.
Project App
Engineering Team
Andres Bilbao published something this week that I've been thinking about since I read it. He said the gap that's opening now isn't between companies that have AI and companies that don't. It's between leaders who direct AI with real criteria - who understand it well enough to make strategic decisions about it - and leaders who delegate that decision completely because they don't want to deal with understanding it. That gap, he said, is already opening. I'm watching it happen from inside ProjectApp right now.
What the Gap Looks Like in Practice
This week a client asked for AI explicitly in the software we're building for them. That's a pull signal - they came to us with the ask. But what made the conversation interesting wasn't just that they asked. It was how they asked. They had thought through what they wanted AI to do, where it would sit in their operation, what outcome they expected. That's a leader directing AI with criteria. I've also had conversations this year where someone asks about AI but the real meaning is 'everyone is talking about AI, we should probably say we have it.' That's delegating the decision.
Leader Directing With Criteria
Specific use case in mind. Knows what outcome they want. Asks how it integrates with their existing operation. Asks about what happens when it makes a mistake. Thinks about it as a tool for a defined job.
Leader Delegating the Decision
Asks generally about AI. Doesn't have a specific problem it would solve. Main motivation is not falling behind. Delegates the specifics to the vendor. Outcome is vague.
What Bilbao Is Doing About It
Bilbao is also running an AI for Executives program starting July 20 and a hackathon at Colsubsidio July 22-26 specifically designed to close this gap. The framing is important: you don't need to become an engineer. You need to understand AI well enough to direct it. There's a massive difference between those two things, and a lot of leaders are avoiding the second because they're confusing it with the first.
"The gap opening now is between the leader who directs AI with criteria and the one who delegates that decision completely because they can't be bothered to understand it."
— Andres Bilbao, 30X CEO
Why This Compounds Faster Than Most People Realize
The client who asked for AI explicitly this week is going to have a meaningful operational advantage in 18 months compared to a similar company that didn't ask. Not because AI is magic - but because they'll have 18 months of learning, iteration, and data that the other company won't. That's the gap compounding.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- 1The AI gap isn't between companies that have AI tools and companies that don't - it's between leaders who direct it with criteria and those who delegate the decision.
- 2You don't need to become an engineer. You need to understand AI well enough to make good strategic decisions about it.
- 3The client who asks for AI with a specific use case in mind is already on the right side of the gap.
- 418 months of learning compounds into an operational advantage that's very hard to close for companies that waited.
The gap Bilbao is describing isn't theoretical. It's in the conversations ProjectApp is having with clients right now. The ones who are directing AI with criteria are showing up differently - they ask better questions, they have clearer problems, they're faster to close. That gap is going to compound. It's already starting.
If you're a company leader trying to understand how to direct AI with real criteria - not just adopt tools - that conversation is one I'm actively learning from too. Write to me.