E.L.L.A
Episode 294:00

AI Tools of 2026: What Survives

The thesis behind the Resources drop: which AI tools outlive the hype cycle, and the test each KAIRO engine had to pass.

EP. 29 — Listen Now

Show Notes

Segments

  • 00:00 — The graveyard: three waves of AI tools that demoed brilliantly and died quietly.
  • 13:00 — The survival test: does it remove a decision, or just generate more material to review?
  • 27:30 — Applying the test to KAIRO''s ten engines — what passed, what got rebuilt, what got killed.
  • 39:40 — The 2026 picture: fewer tools, deeper wiring, outcomes over outputs.

Key takeaways

  • Tools that create work for the user are demos; tools that remove work are products.
  • Survival correlates with integration depth, not model quality.
  • The ten engines in Resources each had to answer: whose Tuesday does this shorten?