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Article
The shape of an AI architect
April 22, 2026·5 min read
What separates AI-native builders from prompt tinkerers — and why the next decade of software needs more of the former.
An AI architect doesn't just write prompts.
They model the whole stack: where the data lives, how retrieval happens, what the model decides, and how humans stay in the loop. That's the difference between a demo and a system.
This piece walks through the seven decisions every AI architect makes on day one of a project, and how I think about each.