The archive
Issue #026
AI & Tech Culture 6 min read· 18 Oct 2026The 1 Percent
A client left because our quote was too high. A week later, he returned ecstatic. He'd built the entire SaaS app using AI. He did 99% of the work. He just needed us to finish the last 1% so it could go online. Here's 100 bucks. The problem? That 1% is the actual software.
CTO takeaway
The lesson, minus the scar tissue.
- AI is great for generating boilerplate. It's terrible for architecture, security, and production readiness.
- The 'last 1%' is always 99% of the actual work. Always.
- If a client asks you to finish an AI-generated app for 100 bucks, run. Run far, far away.
- AI can give you a prototype. It can't give you a product. The gap between the two is called engineering.
- When the AI-generated app breaks in production, the rescue quote will be 10x the original.
Never miss an issue
Get the next Chronicle in your inbox.
A comic, a story and a takeaway every other week. Written for founders who inherited a codebase they didn't choose.
