I have been thinking about how the AI revolution will change how products are going to be built in future. That led me first post this
Then when i read this article
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-private-banking-innovation-longer-enough-responsibility-ujo1f/
I became more assured that what i was thinking was right and posted this
But then, for a while, I tried to structure a set of ideas into a clear list of principles.
But the more I tried to force order onto them, the more disjointed they became.
And then, somewhere in that mess, I landed on an unexpected conclusion:
Maybe the future isn’t about apps at all.
Maybe it’s about frameworks.
Why I’m Rethinking Everything
We often talk about “building products” as if the product is the app.
But when you zoom out, the pattern looks different.
Some of the biggest transformations in the last decade didn’t come from a single breakout application — they came from a framework that thousands of apps aligned with.
Consider a few examples:
- ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) — pushing e-commerce toward openness and democratization
- UPI — a framework that fundamentally changed how digital payments work
- Open APIs — quietly enabling interoperability across systems everywhere
In each case, the real value wasn’t in the individual apps.
It was in the framework that made whole ecosystems possible.
The Shift: Products Will Be Built Inside Frameworks
Once you see this, you can’t unsee it:
The future of products will increasingly be constrained and empowered by the frameworks they operate within.
Frameworks will shape what is possible, what is compliant, what is scalable, and what becomes adopted.
They become:
- the guiding principles
- the rules of engagement
- the shared language
- the infrastructure for innovation
And this won’t be limited to payments or commerce.
Every industry will develop its own frameworks.
In many ways, they already are.
Which means the future won’t give us one dominant framework.
It will give us many.
A New Question I’m Asking
This brings me back to the thing I started with.
I originally thought I was writing about 14 principles.
But now, that feels… unnecessary.
Or at least, less interesting.
The more compelling question I’m asking myself now is:
- Can the 14 principle be transformed into frameworks?
- If every application has to follow a framework then what would be the differentiating factor?
I don’t yet know the answers to these questions yet.
I will publish when I find out.
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