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35 XP

Lesson 4 · 9 min

Roadmapping when the model keeps moving

Frontier model capability moves every 3-4 months. The roadmap practice that uses the moving capability ceiling instead of fighting it.

The wrong way

Lock the roadmap in January for the year. Spec features against current model capability. By June, the cheap model can do what only the frontier could in January, and your roadmap's order of operations is now wrong.

The right way

Decouple feature intent from feature implementation. A good AI feature spec describes what the user gets and what 'good enough' looks like — not which model produces it. As capability moves, the implementation moves too; the user-facing spec stays stable.

Quarterly capability reviews. Every quarter, walk the catalog of features. For each: did the cheap-tier capability cross the threshold? If yes, route there; bank the cost saving. For features that didn't ship: did the frontier capability cross the threshold? If yes, ship now.