Legacy UI is the New Tech Debt
Product thinking14 de março de 2026
An API can handle the whole thing.
Legacy UI is the new tech debt.
OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy put it simply in his response: most businesses still expect people to navigate web pages, click buttons, and follow complex instructions just to enter data. He called this approach "rude" when an API could handle the whole thing.
Perplexity is taking the same logic a step further. CTO Denis Yarats recently revealed the company is ditching MCP internally for raw APIs and CLIs.
We need to start treating the UI as an optional interface, not the primary one. Building robust APIs and CLIs from day one isn't just a technical choice; it's a strategic advantage that allows AI agents and developers to integrate seamlessly with your product.