Clouded Judgement: Managing AI as Living Systems vs. Static Software

The article argues that AI products require fundamentally different operational and architectural approaches than traditional deterministic software, treating them as living systems with continuous evolution rather than stable releases. The author emphasizes that successful AI product companies must build infrastructure for observability, continuous evaluation, controlled rollouts, and customer communication to manage model drift and probabilistic behavior. A secondary section provides SaaS valuation multiples analysis and M&A landscape observations across the software industry.