If you run a design or web agency, the last couple of years probably feel uncomfortable. Vibe-coding tools are squeezing the low end of the market, and established agencies already own the high end.
It's tempting to read that as AI closing in from both directions. It's really that the research most projects skip, competitor analysis, positioning, who a client should actually be speaking to, never gets done properly once a client's signed and the clock's running. And it compounds: skip the research on one project, and it becomes the habit on the next, so the blind spots build project after project.
Do that research upstream of the design itself, the homework most designers know matters and almost never have time for.
Imagine every project starting from research that's actually been done properly. The design, the build, the client relationship, all stay entirely yours, just resting on stronger foundations.
There's an example of this here.
See exactly what this looks like in practice.
See the example