# Is AI really the problem in your product development? **URL:** \ **Category:** Using AI\ **Tags:** ai, product, ai-product-developme\ **Created:** [November 22, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394 "2025-11-22T23:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/1 "2025-11-22T23:06:17Z")
After diving deeper into our own AI projects, I’ve seen some patterns that are also confirmed by my customer outreach. So I wrote a post on it. > **[AI is not what breaks your product development. It just exposes the cracks...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanzmijewski_ai-is-not-what-breaks-your-product-development-activity-7397819586487906304-FAU6)** > > AI is not what breaks your product development. > > It just exposes the cracks that were already there. That is why continuous user focus is not optional. It is the only thing that keeps an AI product grounded in reality. > > After talking with dozens of... Going a bit deeper into research, [seems there are quite a few reasons why they fail](https://thedataexperts.us/insights/enterprise-ai-failure-crisis-95-percent-failure-rate) (at a 95% clip). So what are the characteristics of the companies that figure it out? Here’s what I can pull: - Pick one **well-scoped problem** (often operational rather than purely customer-facing). - Focus on **deep workflow fit** (how the AI tool fits into actual user behaviour, tools, and processes). - Build in **metrics from day one**. Track business outcomes, not just model performance. - Engage **partners with specialists** who understand the domain and implementation challenge, rather than treating it as a generic tech project. - Plan for **scale and adaptation** , with feedback loops, data-governance and getting the operation ready. It seems to me that these problems can be addressed with a design and internal service oriented approach. ---
**Author:** ![MoData](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/modata/32/1182_2.png) [@MoData](https://forum.zurb.com/u/MoData)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/2 "2025-11-24T16:38:46Z")
@Kevin_Schumacher and I were just discussing what makes an AI product stick or fail! And @ben this is a good reminder that we need to tackle “Build in metrics from day one” on our own tool, which we realized last week too. ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/3 "2025-11-24T16:43:30Z")
> [@Bryan](#): > > Build in **metrics from day one**. Track business outcomes, not just model performance. Thissssss one 🔥 ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ben/32/442_2.png) [@ben](https://forum.zurb.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/4 "2025-11-24T19:43:24Z")
We should definitely map this out more! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/5 "2025-11-30T00:28:41Z")
I think we can align our business outcomes with the specific user needs. Our traditional UX metric stack still serves as a leading indicator- but intelligence metrics are needed for more understanding. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/helio/original/1X/c1cc6b384293af39547c2f9a522aa27f30f78bd6.png) ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ben/32/442_2.png) [@ben](https://forum.zurb.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/6 "2025-12-03T17:05:07Z")
Ah- we should do a better job at connecting the pieces together. Knowing how to measure AI tools is cool, but knowing how to use the right measurements that align to business goals? That’s what we want. ---
**Author:** ![EricZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ericz/32/692_2.png) [@EricZ](https://forum.zurb.com/u/EricZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/7 "2025-12-03T18:10:06Z")
@ben let’s put together a way to think about this for a post! ---
**Author:** ![EricZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ericz/32/692_2.png) [@EricZ](https://forum.zurb.com/u/EricZ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/8 "2025-12-04T18:48:08Z")
@ben and I had a great convo about Intelligence metrics yesterday! I’ve articulated that thinking in our post here: > [@Intelligence Metrics: The User vs. Product Framework](https://forum.zurb.com/t/intelligence-metrics-the-user-vs-product-framework/417): > > Last week, @Bryan had [posted a framework of UX Metrics](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/5), revealing the need for Intelligence metrics to address user interactions in AI product space. So we took a stab at how we’re thinking about Intelligence metrics broadly. When developing intelligence metrics, we must address the multifaceted ways users engage with LLMs. By mapping the lifecycle of a prompt (Input and Output) against two distinct perspectives (User and Product), we identify four necessary quadrants for measurement… ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Curtis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Doug\_Curtis](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Doug_Curtis)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/9 "2025-12-06T00:48:51Z")
love this thread! I 1000% agree that AI is an amplifier to a person’s abilities. So therefore it will accelerate and expose problems way faster than in the olden days. Before AI it could take a team an entire quarter or more to ship a feature. Now you start hitting “problems” even faster which is great, it may feel like AI broke the process but you’re totally right Bryan that it is just exposing existing problems that would go unnoticed before. There was so much slack in the “product building system” that you can no longer establish causal relationships, you’re only left with trying to correlate things to understand what went wrong. Overall AI has a real opportunity to make teams work way more efficiently. Ben, Eric, you guys are on to something about how business metrics and user outcomes are now more important than ever. I think that’s definitely a byproduct of the acceleration that AI provides to learn fast, all stakeholders now should have business goals in mind as their North Star. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/10 "2025-12-07T14:14:53Z")
> [@Doug\_Curtis](#): > > There was so much slack in the “product building system” that you can no longer establish causal relationships, you’re only left with trying to correlate things to understand what went wrong. I think that’s the biggest problem, because without user feedback and data, you’re left spinning in circles trying to figure out what is working. Even the larger LLMs are facing this problem with each new point release. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/11 "2025-12-31T22:16:20Z")
Jumped back into this topic… When AI product development can ship faster than trust can be built, frustration can build. 2026 is going to be more challenging for builders than any previous year, as @schuboxaz can attest from his research. [Trust is built on truth](https://forum.zurb.com/t/intelligence-metrics-the-user-vs-product-framework/417/34). > **[People decide whether to trust AI results almost instantly. Trust starts...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanzmijewski_people-decide-whether-to-trust-ai-results-activity-7412551835288264704-Rv5B)** > > People decide whether to trust AI results almost instantly. > > Trust starts with fast, automatic judgment, not slow reasoning. We form first impressions in a fraction of a second, often before we can put words to what feels right or wrong. Humans form... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/is-ai-really-the-problem-in-your-product-development/394/12 "2026-01-02T22:59:16Z")
What AI has done is make production cheap and fast. Flows, screens, copy, research summaries, and even strategy artifacts now appear instantly. In product and design, most teams optimize what’s easiest to see. I don’t see that inherently as a problem in product development. The issue is whether design decides to take an active role in shaping the evolution of a product. > **[The top design skill now is calling out BS. AI has made production cheap and...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanzmijewski_the-top-design-skill-now-is-calling-out-bs-activity-7412956962293903360-CBrM)** > > The top design skill now is calling out BS. > > AI has made production cheap and fast. Flows, screens, copy, research summaries, and even strategy artifacts now appear instantly. In product and design, most teams are optimizing whatever is easiest to... Glare should help teams take ownership of these challenges.