Research Spikes: Starting Simple to Drive Success (E.39)

Most AI systems fail before they scale because teams build the “final architecture” too early. Research spikes exist to expose what you don’t understand, not to prove you’re right. The fastest path to a working system is starting with something intentionally simple, validating invariants, and throwing away what doesn’t hold.00:00 What a research spike actually is04:15 The real problem: context overload13:29 Why you should not build the “final system” first21:42 The cathedral vs farmhouse mistake33:42 When NOT to use advanced tech like graph RAG39:04 The unsexy work that actually mattersIf your first version feels impressive, you probably built the wrong thing.