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Productivity apps won't disappear, just the need to open them will

4•haniehz•1d ago
There’s a quiet but profound shift happening in how we interact with software. Agent frameworks like mcp-agent, Superblocks, and Lovable are starting to erode the need for traditional UI-based productivity tools—not by replacing them, but by automating around them.

Instead of opening Notion, Figma, or Asana to perform a task, developers are chaining agent workflows that handle it directly:

• Need a sprint plan? The agent assembles it using past tasks and meeting notes. • Need a report? The agent pulls data from Airtable and emails a summary. • Need a brainstorm canvas? The agent generates one from context.

These aren’t generic assistants. They’re agents that call tools directly (via APIs or Model Context Protocol), apply org-specific logic, and return structured outputs. No GUI. No tabs. Just outcome.

The architecture shift looks like this:

• Apps → backends • Agents → interface layer • Human input → intent, not navigation

In this model, tools like Notion become data stores. Figma becomes a renderer. Jira becomes a structured event log. The real “productivity platform” is an orchestrated mesh of tool calls, policies, and workflows—interfaced through a single prompt.

We’ve been here before. CLI > GUI > SaaS > API-first tooling. Now: API + LLM = agents. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s real—and accelerating.

The exciting part isn’t speed or efficiency (though both are improving). It’s that the cognitive load of learning and navigating software disappears. You no longer need to know how to use 10 tools, you just need to know what you want.

Feels like the early days of cloud. Invisible infrastructure, powered by intent.

Would be curious how others are using agents in production or where this abstraction breaks down.

https://x.com/zahiremami/status/1928527937705226368

Comments

nialse•1d ago
Have a listen to Azeem Azhar’s latest episode of the Exponential view podcast with Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub. It is tangential to this thinking. Maybe the future is instant personal apps on your phone, constantly adapted and changing according to your intent (and whim). Who needs an App Store when you can just conjure up any app or agent you need by saying the word. Apps are just holding us back. This is the next trillion dollar business. Abracadabra.
haniehz•1d ago
Thanks, I'll go check it out! But, totally agree. The idea of spinning up personal apps on demand is a huge shift. Why download, install, and learn a tool when you can just ask for what you need and get it instantly?
msamadi•1d ago
This abstraction layer reminds me of how cloud computing decoupled infrastructure management from developers. Now, agents are doing the same for UI. The shift from "how to do it" to just "what needs to be done" is profound—and could redefine what productivity even means. Curious how this evolves in orgs where tool sprawl has historically been a bottleneck.
haniehz•1d ago
I think big orgs are just going to start building their tools in house!

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