11 July 2026
Good, fast, cheap: why the triangle no longer holds
Anyone who has ever bought an IT project knows the rule: good, fast, cheap. Pick two. Want quality and speed? You pay for it. Want quality and price? You wait.
This rule comes from a world where every line of code was written by hand, every concept negotiated in workshops, and every change commissioned anew. That world still exists. But it’s no longer the only one.
What has changed
AI-native development means a large part of the work that used to take weeks now happens in hours. Not because the work is less careful, but because the tools are different. People decide, review and take responsibility. The machine handles the routine.
Then there’s the second lever: the platform. Whoever starts every project from zero pays for the foundation every single time. Whoever builds on a proven platform only pays for what makes their company unique.
How to recognize serious providers
Speed alone isn’t a mark of quality. Three questions help:
- Does the provider show running solutions instead of slides? Whoever can deliver, shows software. Whoever can’t, shows roadmaps.
- Is governance built in, or a chapter in the proposal? Data protection, traceability and model choice belong in the foundation, not in the appendix.
- What happens after go-live? AI solutions are never finished. Without operations and ongoing development, they age faster than classic software.
The triangle was never a law of nature. It was the price of a way of working. That way of working has changed.