If you’ve been wondering whether “AI-native product development” is just hype or an actual competitive advantage, this episode will reset your expectations.
Jeff Francis (Founder & CEO of ENO8) sits down with veteran architect Craig Mertens and senior AI developer Maximus to talk about what it really looks like to build software in an AI-native way—and why the impact shows up less in isolated tasks and more in the entire system of how teams work.
They unpack how generative AI has upended the product lifecycle: cutting down 6-week Innovation Labs to two weeks, spinning up full-stack prototypes in hours instead of months, and collapsing design and development into a unified, iterative flow.
Craig, with 30 years in software architecture, admits he was skeptical at first—until he saw how AI changes the very shape of what’s possible.
Instead of replacing developers, AI has become a “thought amplifier” that multiplies the precision and creativity of expert teams.
Maximus an AI-native developer adds a hands-on view from the trenches: how ENO8 uses AI coding tools like Cursor and Claude Code, not to automate engineering, but to delegate intelligently, enforce tighter guardrails, and deliver production-ready scaffolds at record speed.
But the conversation also keeps it real—touching on hallucinations, “vibe coding,” and why speed means nothing without clarity.
This ENO8 Answers episode is truly honest conversation about what it’s been like rethinking, re-imagining, rebuilding and retooling our tech stack and people processes to go all in on AI, including the following topics:
For CIOs, CTOs, and founders, this episode is a blueprint for how AI-enabled partners like ENO8 are building faster, smarter, and with tighter alignment between business goals and technology execution. It’s not theory. It’s what’s actually happening in the lab where tomorrow’s products are being built today.
As always, if you don’t feel like watching the live version, our blog recap will be live soon.
