Framework
The Build vs. Buy Audit
Every software contract should now be evaluated against three questions before renewal. The answers will surprise most teams.
How it works
- 1Question 1: Do you still need this at all? AI from major providers has absorbed the functionality of many point solutions. Some software you are paying for is now redundant.
- 2Question 2: Do you need as many seats? If people can access the capability through an AI-native interface, the seat-based pricing model collapses.
- 3Question 3: Can you build it yourself now? IT departments can build things in weeks that used to take years. The bar for 'worth buying' just got much higher.
- 4Alex's caution: enterprise software that survives this audit does so because of depth, compliance, integration, and the operational risk of building incorrectly - not because of basic functionality.
- 5The companies that will lose are those whose products could be vibe-coded in two weeks. The companies that will win are those whose products could not.
Hear it on the podcast
Delightful Procurement: The CFO That Never Sleeps - Alex Yakubovich from LevelpathListen to the episodeMore from this episode
Name the CustomerThe single filter that kills bad experiments before they waste resources. If a product manager cannot name a specific customer who will benefit, kill the feature.The Delight FilterEvery product decision passes through one question: does this reduce cognitive load, or does it add to it? Delight is a feeling, not a feature.Context Over ModelThe AI model you use matters far less than the quality and completeness of the context you feed it. Managing context is the real competitive advantage.
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