Build vs Buy in the AI Era: What’s a Real Moat Now?

Unfiltered with Matt & Nige is back with a new episode, same unfiltered energy 🎙️There’s sunshine, training chat, and once they settle in, the real thread is bigger than fitness.AI isn’t just changing what we do. It’s changing what software is.TLDR: empty SaaS is getting disposable, the new UX is conversational, and curiosity is starting to look like a competitive advantage.This week on Unfiltered, they talk all things:* why “vibe coding” is suddenly everywhere, and why it’s not just developers doing it* what counts as a moat now: data, distribution, connectivity, guardrails, or just speed* whether the app store still matters, or if people will just build their own tools* why the next user experience is AI: chat, agents, voice, conversational everything* and the bigger human question underneath it all: what should we teach our kids when the floor is rising for everyoneVibe coding: the “normal people” momentMatt’s building a Hyrox-specific platform that pulls together training and race data, predicts performance, and highlights where to focus next. Nigel’s doing a similar pattern for personal finance, basically building an “AI IFA for myself” around pensions, savings and strategy.But the moment that really lands is when Matt mentions a mate, an actor and not a “tech guy”, who just built a tool to manage his property portfolio.That’s the shift. These tools are moving from “specialists only” to “anyone curious enough to try”.Empty SaaS vs real platformsThey’re pretty aligned here.Empty SaaS, a container with a login and no real moat, is replicable and therefore disposable. But core enterprise systems aren’t getting ripped out overnight, ServiceNow, Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, and the rest.The more realistic future is this.Core platforms stay, and smarter tools get bolted around the edges, especially the ones that integrate into where people already live. Guidewire gets a mention for a reason.The new UX is AI, and voice is comingNigel’s point is simple. The next UX isn’t another app. It’s conversational. Matt connects it to robotics and voice, because once everything becomes an agent, voice starts to feel like the default interface.Then comes the grown up reality check, especially in regulated worlds.If voice mishears you and sends money to the wrong person, now what.Guardrails still matter.Distribution is the moat, and venture might be changingThen the episode takes a sharp left into attention, Jake Paul, MrBeast, and “distribution as value”.And it’s a smart point. If someone has the audience, the black book, and the ability to move attention, that starts to look like a new kind of venture model.The human bit that mattersThey finish where these conversations usually end up. Curiosity, experimentation, and what it means to stay human when the tools are doing more and more.Imagination. Taste. Grit.And the idea that humans are getting better at everything, so we need to get better at being human.The big takeawayAI is pushing software toward personalisation, conversation and speed.Some SaaS becomes disposable. Core platforms stay.And the people who win will be the ones who keep learning, keep experimenting, and build with guardrails, not just vibes.Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com