[crabmusket]

This has been my experience even before AI. We are a small bootstrapped company, and we have major competitors with free offerings and much more resources than we have (due to VC funding or other backing). While they've achieved some success, they've come nowhere near close to out-competing us.

Paying for AI is much more accessible than getting venture funding, so it's less of a differentiator. They could pay for more AI than we could, but that's already been true with humans, and it hasn't necessarily helped.

Knowing what to build is still the game. As well as the actual business side of business - building a trusted brand, relationships with customers, smart marketing etc.