The consulting pitch crystallizes: "What if I could give you 3 times as much for your money? Shouldn't you at least consider it?"
This is the build-over-buy argument distilled to its business essence.
Traditional custom software was expensive. When you could buy an off-the-shelf package that covered 70% of your needs for a third of the price, the math was obvious. You bought.
But AI-assisted development changes that equation. If I can build three custom features in the time and budget that one off-the-shelf feature used to cost, the ROI calculation flips.
The big standard software packages — ERPs, CRMs, project management tools — were built for a world where custom software was painful and slow. Buying was rational because building was painful.
We're not in that world anymore. Building is fast. Building is cheap. Building is flexible.
Not every client is ready to hear this. The risk aversion in enterprise IT is real. The comfort of "it's not my decision, I bought a standard package" is real. The inertia is real.
But the conversation is starting. And with each project that proves the thesis, more clients are willing to listen.
The question isn't whether custom software makes sense anymore. It's how quickly enterprises can overcome the institutional resistance to trying something different.
Part of the #100DaysToOffload documenting agentic development in 2026