Unlike traditional software development, AI-native founders avoid long-term, deterministic roadmaps. They recognize that AI capabilities change so rapidly that the most effective strategy is to maximize what's possible *now* with fast iteration cycles, rather than planning for a speculative future.

CMO Laura Kneebush argues that trying to "get good at AI" is futile because it evolves too quickly. Instead, leaders should focus on building organizations that are "good in a world that's going to constantly change," treating AI as one part of a continuous learning culture.

Avoid overly detailed, multi-year roadmaps. Instead, define broad strategic 'horizons.' The shift from one horizon to the next isn't time-based but is triggered by achieving specific metrics like ARR or customer count. This allows for an agile response to market opportunities while maintaining strategic focus.

The rapid pace of AI makes traditional, static marketing playbooks obsolete. Leaders should instead foster a culture of agile testing and iteration. This requires shifting budget from a 70-20-10 model (core-emerging-experimental) to something like 60-20-20 to fund a higher velocity of experimentation.

OpenAI operates with a "truly bottoms-up" structure because it's impossible to create rigid long-term plans when model capabilities are advancing unpredictably. They aim fuzzily at a 1-year+ horizon but rely on empirical, rapid experimentation for short-term product development, embracing the uncertainty.

In the fast-moving AI sector, quarterly planning is obsolete. Leaders should adopt a weekly reassessment cadence and define "boundaries for experimentation" rather than rigid goals. This fosters unexpected discoveries that are essential for staying ahead of competitors who can leapfrog you in weeks.

In a rapidly evolving field like AI, long-term planning is futile as "what you knew three months ago isn't true right now." Maintain agility by focusing on short-term, customer-driven milestones and avoid roadmaps that extend beyond a single quarter.

The rapid pace of AI innovation means today's cutting-edge research is irrelevant in three months. This creates a core challenge for founders: establishing a stable, long-term company vision when the underlying technology is in constant, rapid flux. The solution is to anchor on the macro trend, not the specific implementation.

Large labs often suffer from organizational friction between product and research. A small, focused startup like Cursor can co-design its product and model in a tight loop, enabling rapid innovations like near-real-time policy updates that are organizationally difficult for incumbents.