This post is part of the AI design patterns series – I’m sharing new design patterns I’m seeing as AI enables solutions that weren’t possible before.
This visual sameness invites accusations of commoditization, but critics are looking in the wrong place. While traditional software broadcasts differentiation through interfaces (Salesforce’s fields, Slack’s channels), AI’s value lies elsewhere: not in what you see, but what you don’t.
The critical layer is invisible: logical scaffolding around the foundation model that determines what context to pull, which tools to invoke, and how to sequence operations. This middle layer—once dismissed as “middleware” binding interfaces to data—is now the product itself. It’s what separates Cursor from Lovable from Claude Code, and demo toys from production tools.
[…]In the era of systems of work, interfaces no longer carry the burden of differentiation. The prompt box so ubiquitous among today’s AI apps isn’t a sign of commoditization, but rather a recognition that value has shifted elsewhere—from visible UI states to hidden orchestration logic.
Over the next decade, this shift will redefine how applications are built, how businesses choose them, and how value accrues in software. The winners of this new era will not be defined by their UIs, but by the intelligence and effectiveness of their systems of work.
This post is part of the AI design patterns series – I’m sharing new design patterns I’m seeing as AI enables solutions that weren’t possible before.
Shankar is thinking 