AI Coding Tools Disrupt Buy‑Vs‑Build Dynamics

A quiet revolution is happening in software development, and it’s flipping the traditional buy-vs-build dilemma on its head. Thanks to AI-powered coding tools like Bolt, Replit, and Cursor, companies are increasingly choosing to build their internal tools, often in a fraction of the time and at a much lower cost.

In the past, when a business needed a new CRM feature, analytics dashboard, or workflow tool, the easiest route was to buy software off the shelf from SaaS providers. That approach saved time but often led to paying for bloated platforms loaded with features companies didn’t need. Custom solutions were expensive and required full-stack development teams, until now.

With AI coding assistants, non-traditional developers, including product managers, analysts, and even operations staff, can create functional software simply by describing what they need in plain language. Want a dashboard that integrates with Slack and tracks KPIs? Just ask the AI. Do you need a custom internal tool for approvals or task automation? A few prompts can generate the code.

This trend is shaking up the SaaS market. Instead of licensing software from prominent vendors, more businesses are building tailored apps in-house, making workflows more efficient and adaptable. It also reduces vendor lock-in, giving companies more control over their tools.

However, there’s a catch, because while AI can accelerate development, human oversight remains essential to ensure the resulting tools are secure, scalable, and adequately maintained.
The same question keeps coming up in the AI era: “Should we buy this software or just build it ourselves?”