Wilkinson argues that the traditional moat for software—the high cost and difficulty of hiring programmers—has vanished. He compares it to a machine that makes perfect pizza cheaply: consumer quality rises, but business margins plummet. Lasting value must now come from other sources like brand or distribution.

As AI models democratize access to information and analysis, traditional data advantages will disappear. The only durable competitive advantage will be an organization's ability to learn and adapt. The speed of the "breakthrough -> implementation -> behavior change" loop will separate winners from losers.

As AI and better tools commoditize software creation, traditional technology moats are shrinking. The new defensible advantages are forms of liquidity: aggregated data, marketplace activity, or social interactions. These network effects are harder for competitors to replicate than code or features.

The long-held belief that a complex codebase provides a durable competitive advantage is becoming obsolete due to AI. As software becomes easier to replicate, defensibility shifts away from the technology itself and back toward classic business moats like network effects, brand reputation, and deep industry integration.

The term "unsloppable" describes companies whose competitive advantage isn't their codebase, which AI can replicate. Instead, their strength comes from durable moats like hardware, strong network effects (Uber), exclusive IP (Disney), or physical infrastructure, which are difficult for AI-powered startups to clone.

As AI makes software development nearly free, traditional engineering moats are disappearing. Businesses must now rely on durable advantages like network effects, economies of scale, brand trust, and defensible IP to survive, becoming "unsloppable."

AI doesn't kill all software; it bifurcates the market. Companies with strong moats like distribution, proprietary data, and enterprise lock-in will thrive by integrating AI. However, companies whose only advantage was their software code will be wiped out as AI makes the code itself a commodity. The moat is no longer the software.

Simply using AI provides no competitive advantage, as it's a widely available tool. A true, defensible moat is created by combining AI's capabilities with your unique domain expertise, proprietary processes, and established relationships. AI should augment your existing strengths, not replace them.

Even if AI accelerates parts of a workflow like coding, overall progress might stall due to Amdahl's Law. The system's speed is limited by its slowest component, meaning human-dependent tasks like strategic thinking could become the new rate-limiting step.