Composition Is the Way

Building systems composed of modular and loosely coupled components has been my creed for everything I make, from physical objects to digital products, and from design to business logic and, of course, the code itself. And I have become deeply convinced that this is the way.

In the era of agentic AI powerhouses, what if we ignore this and let AI build a good product fast? That is not entirely true. Our product needs to adapt, and a rigid, tangled system makes quick changes impossible. Fixing a messy system with AI only stacks more mess on top. It sets the wrong direction and becomes a flawed guide for the entire product lifecycle.

Here is the catch. A composable product is more crucial than ever. Bounded and independently deployable systems allow parallel development, which is the true nature of agentic advantages. They also provide better risk mitigation by containing issues, such as those from vibe coding (#fingercrossed), making them easier to fix, or even replace. Also, in digital products, they allow for better reusability.

It’s true that designing a composable system takes time. It’s not just breaking a whole system into pieces, or building and assembling parts. Both approaches take time. Designing modular system can seem to slow down the project at first, and overcomplicate the kickoff. However, a lean start is not careless building or a blind leap of faith that AI can handle everything. We need to structure and design our product for incremental building, while always staying ready to adapt.

Since we no longer spending too much time on write the code or draw the UI components ourselves, our focus shifts to maintaining these generated parts. This is why visualization tools and frameworks like the C4 model enter the picture. They help us break down complex contexts and ensure we stay in control of the entire solution.

So the creed is still the same, as the need is higher than ever. But complexity shouldn’t stop us, because there are tools and frameworks that still allow us to get the best of it. There is nothing to trade off.