Chapter Summary: Staying Ahead¶
Key Takeaways¶
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Modular architecture absorbs change: Netflix deploys 4,000+ times daily across 200+ microservices. Uber's feature integration dropped from 3 days to 3 hours after modularizing. The three transition signals: scaling divergence, merge conflicts, upgrade friction. When your AI system is modular, model upgrades change one component. When it's monolithic, the same upgrade triggers weeks of regression testing.
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The strangler fig pattern enables evolution without rewrites: Wrap, route, replace, repeat. Salesforce achieved 30% faster deployments and 40% cost savings while preserving backward compatibility. The four patterns that matter: interface contracts, feature flags for AI, versioned APIs with graceful deprecation, and shadow testing (5%→50%→100%) with defined success criteria.
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Track emerging tech strategically, not comprehensively: Linus Torvalds: "90% marketing and 10% reality." Use Thoughtworks' Technology Radar—Adopt, Trial, Assess, Hold. Define kill criteria before exploring. Anthropic killed Claude Explains despite 24 websites linking in one month. Janea's time-boxed exploration (2 hours→few days→2-4 weeks) saves $50-90K per failed experiment. 88% of AI pilots never reach production—structure prevents that fate.
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Ten principles outlast any specific model: Build for agents, humans will thank you. Routing is strategy—60% of enterprises now use multiple models. Give AI superpowers with guardrails, not a blank check. Own your domain, share your foundation. Every developer is now an AI developer. Build to add, not to replace. These principles survived multiple technology shifts from 2023-2025 without architectural rewrites.
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The gap between AI-first and AI-enabled widens with every advancement: Amazon evolved SageMaker→Bedrock→Q as additions, not replacements. Tesla collapsed 300,000 lines of C++ into end-to-end neural networks via OTA update. Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise apps will embed agentic AI by 2026. When new capability emerges, AI-first companies add a module and deploy in weeks. AI-enabled companies evaluate for months. You don't need their resources—you need their architectural decisions.
Build to add. Let the future be addition.