Artificial intelligence is rapidly compressing product development schedules, and even experienced technology leaders are feeling the changes.
Nikita Via, head of product at X, revealed that using AI tools, they were able to create a fully functional video editor prototype in X in just 15 minutes. Initially, we thought this would require several months of engineering work.
Beer said in a post Sunday that he plans to integrate a native video editor into X, similar to those found in other social media apps, and that he expects the project to take about three months of development time.
Instead, he decided to try building a prototype himself.
“I completed a full shot in the browser editor in 15 minutes,” he writes.
From months to minutes
Bier was surprised at how fast the build was. What traditionally required dedicated teams, design iterations, and long testing cycles is now reduced to a single, quick session with generation tools.
He said he found the experience so transformative that he momentarily wondered if complex, creative software suites would soon become obsolete.
“We felt like we could replace the entire Adobe software suite by Sunday,” Beer said.
His comments reflect how AI-assisted coding and design tools enable rapid experimentation, allowing product managers and non-engineers to ship working prototypes without deep technical knowledge.
Will manual editing survive?
Beyond the technical feat, Beer raised broader questions about the future of creative workflows.
He questioned whether manual video editing itself will become obsolete within months as chatbots and AI systems increasingly automate tasks such as cutting clips, adding transitions and generating effects.
“Then I asked myself: Will I even be able to edit videos manually in three months? Chatbots would be pretty good by now,” he writes.
AI-powered tools already offer automatic captioning, highlight detection, and one-click editing, reducing the need for traditional hands-on timelines.
A new challenge for the product team
beer He argued that the rapid advancement of AI is creating uncertainty for product leaders as well.
Faster tools accelerate development, but they also make long-term planning difficult, as capabilities built today may be rendered irrelevant by tomorrow’s smarter automation.
“Product development has become very difficult when the world is changing so rapidly,” he said.
