No fallbacks, thorough versus overkill, and deciding when it's done
October 7, 2026
Sometimes AI plans the way humans used to do the work. I usually don't appreciate that.
On the show I explained why I run with a rule: no fallbacks.
"One of my decrees is no fallbacks. No fallbacks, no workarounds."
It will build a plan around what's fastest to finish, and plan for not getting to the rest, as if I'm not about to do everything in 30 minutes. Then there's the opposite problem. Say "production ready" and it may start checking frame rates on mobile, which is more than the job needs.
My co-host Erin Wiggers named the line: "Thorough and overkill, right?"
So where does the human come in?
"Don't let it decide when we're done."
Own the start and the finish, and let the process and context shape the middle.
Where this came from
What AI Should Never Decide First — AI Readiness, Part 1Watch the full conversation this clip was pulled from.
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