The most successful AI applications like ChatGPT are built ground-up. Incumbents trying to retrofit AI into existing products (e.g., Alexa Plus) are handicapped by their legacy architecture and success, a classic innovator's dilemma. True disruption requires a native approach.

Born from 20 years of agency work, Rive aims to solve the inefficient, error-prone process of translating static designs into code. It does this by providing a single graphics format that designers create with and that ships directly in the final product, removing the translation step entirely.

Instead of building on existing web standards, Rive created its own specification and renderer. This freedom from legacy constraints allowed them to build a format optimized for real-time, interactive performance, which existing standards could not support.

A truly "AI-native" product isn't one with AI features tacked on. Its core user experience originates from an AI interaction, like a natural language prompt that generates a structured output. The product is fundamentally built around the capabilities of the underlying models, making AI the primary value driver.

A new software paradigm, "agent-native architecture," treats AI as a core component, not an add-on. This progresses in levels: the agent can do any UI action, trigger any backend code, and finally, perform any developer task like writing and deploying new code, enabling user-driven app customization.

Using a composable, 'plug and play' architecture allows teams to build specialized AI agents faster and with less overhead than integrating a monolithic third-party tool. This approach enables the creation of lightweight, tailored solutions for niche use cases without the complexity of external API integrations, containing the entire workflow within one platform.

The visually complex "artist race" in Spotify Wrapped isn't pre-rendered. It's a single Rive animation where properties like image source, position, and scale are bound to each user's unique listening data, creating a highly personalized, dynamic experience for millions.

Rive deliberately uses correct engineering terminology like "view models" instead of simplified alternatives like "variables." This opinionated choice forces a common language, leveling up designers' technical understanding and improving collaboration by ensuring everyone works with the same concepts and constraints.

Rive intentionally doesn't support importing from other design tools. Its high-performance rendering features (like vector feathering) differ from standard effects. Forcing creation within Rive's editor guarantees the design-time preview perfectly matches the final runtime output, eliminating mismatches.