In the last 2 weeks I’ve “written” 4 applications with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini or some combination of the 3… including an application to replace Apple Calendar that integrates directly with the Google Calendar API, Claude, and a custom MCP / RAG service enabling an AI in calendar assistant.
Most of these were personal productivity applications that - while I’ve been thinking about them for years in some cases - weren’t worth building at the cost of weeks of by hand code creation. But with Specification Driven AI Development they now make sense to build and maintain because they cost me a few hours and add capability for ME, are uniquely tailored to ME and will make ME more productive.
And that’s the point - I don’t think AI will mean replacing massive SaaS platforms in weekends - I think it means the era of software for workforce productivity gains is over. My hypothesis is we are entering an era of personal productivity software tailored to the individual, focused on individual outcomes and productivity (however that individual wants to describe it).
For me that doesn’t mean writing (I wrote this one keystroke at a time) but it might mean having an AI assistant that looks across all my calendars, finds history with individuals or organizations and can surface that back for me and create “catch-up” meetings for me - or finds and blocks 3 times to meet with someone across all my calendars AND sends the invite. For you it might mean something entirely different.
In this era of personal applications - the future of Software is MORE - way more. Personal applications, not personalized, not configured with my preferences - but personal. Build for me, adapting to me; not a persona, demographic, or role.
It is about software / applications that clear away the clutter and allow you to be productive in the ways you add maximum value… and that sounds kinda awesome.