Feature, Capability, or Native: How Software Teams Define AI (opens in new tab)

There are three distinct ways AI shows up in a software product, and engineers tend to be able to tell them apart faster than marketing copy can. A feature is AI added to a workflow that already worked without it. A core capability is AI used consistently across an organization's existing systems. An AI-native product is one whose architecture assumes AI from the start, meaning it genuinely can't function without it, not just function a little worse. The difference isn't cosmetic. It changes ...