Executive Briefing: Which of the 5 Levels of AI Builder Are You, and What It Costs You

A five-level map for figuring out whether you have an idea, a business, or an advantage that can survive the next model launch.

TL;DR

  • Rapid AI model advancements by labs like OpenAI and Anthropic can threaten individual builders' work.
  • A five-level framework is proposed to help builders understand their position and potential for survival.
  • These levels are based on evidence and operating maturity, not intelligence or worth.
  • Each level has specific evidence a builder can show, from prototypes to forecasts.
  • The framework addresses what AI launches threaten at different levels and the specific moves needed to advance.
  • Twenty years of domain expertise offers an advantage that frontier training runs do not.