Bilbao Asks If You Can Afford to Ignore AI. My Honest Answer From ProjectApp: I See the Opportunity But Don't Know Exactly How to Position It Yet.
The AI window closes every quarter according to Bilbao. At ProjectApp we see it. We use it internally. But the exact position in our offer isn't clear yet. That honesty, I'm learning, is the right starting point.
Project App
Engineering Team
Andrés Bilbao published something this week that kept spinning in my head. He talked about Apple's WWDC case — they rebuilt Siri from scratch using Google's Gemini. Tim Cook's last act as CEO was writing a check to his biggest competitor to not fall behind in the AI race. And he asked the most uncomfortable question: if the world's most valuable company needed help, can your 50 or 500-person company afford to 'deal with it later'? The short answer is no. The honest answer from ProjectApp is more nuanced. And I think it's worth sharing.
What Bilbao Is Seeing Correctly
The window is open. But every quarter that passes it closes a little more. That's not exaggeration — that's what happens when technology moves from experimentation to operational infrastructure. Companies that already have AI in critical processes make decisions faster, serve clients better, and reduce costs that those without it can't match. That gap compounds month by month.
The 'Deal With It Later' Trap
It's not that companies don't want to integrate AI. It's that they lack clarity on how to do it without disrupting their current operation. That lack of clarity becomes postponement. And postponement becomes advantage for those who moved.
The Honest Reality of ProjectApp With AI
At ProjectApp we see the opportunity clearly. We use it every day internally to accelerate development — flows that used to take two days now take half a day. But there's something we don't have clear yet: how to position AI in our offer to the client.
"I see the AI opportunity at ProjectApp. We use it internally. But the exact position in our offer isn't clear yet. That uncertainty, I'm learning, is the honest starting point."
— What I think right now
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- 1The AI window is closing. Bilbao is right that there's no time to 'deal with it later'.
- 2Using AI internally and positioning it commercially are two different things — both matter.
- 3Honesty about where you are with AI generates more trust than pretending it's figured out.
- 4The next step isn't declaring 'we're an AI company' — it's identifying where AI generates the most specific impact for your clients.
Bilbao is right. The window is open and it doesn't stay that way forever. What he doesn't say — and what I think is worth saying — is that the honest starting point about where you are with AI is more valuable than a premature commercial position. At ProjectApp we're in that process. And we're doing it with the same honesty we've applied to everything else.
If you're at a software company navigating the same question — how to position AI in your offer without it being smoke — that conversation interests me a lot. Write to me.