I heard it repeatedly at API Days in NYC last week-—apologies from people doing AI, and positioning their marketing and storytelling to speak to AI. People know me, know my brand, and know that API Evangelist is about pushing back on the fabulism that is ubiquitous in the world of technology. So, it is interesting to hear folks make their plea to me that they have to speak to AI In this moment, and there is no operating outside the AI bubble when it comes to their investors and customers—I disagree with the customers bit, but the investor demands makes a lot of sense to me. It is a reality I get and empathize with, even though I disagree with it with every bit of my existence. It is untenable for me to live with all the other myths that get told about startups and technology, but somehow I am supposed to just accept the shapeshifting that is occurring in the name of AI.
The pressures of doing business, receiving investment, and operating in the market are something I am well aware of. It isn’t easy to speak truth to power and operating in a way that stays true to your vision as a business owner. When doing business, there is always some way to convince you to relinquish control and sell your soul around every corner. I love all the showcasing and highlighting of the leadership and ingenuity of startup founders that occurs, when in reality you realize what a bunch of sheeple they are and how they are always staying on message at all costs. Every startup founder I meet likes to convince me of how they’ll speak truth to power when the time comes, stay true to their principles, but in my experience they always, always, always fall in line with whatever the narrative that is handed to them. Granted there are a handful who get chewed up and end up going away, but those who are successful and stay in the game seem to gladly fall in line and do as they are told.
The narrative coming out of Silicon Valley is a powerful one right now. When you operate a business within the world of technology you MUST dance to a single beat in this moment, and that is AI. I am witnessing many people with a moderate amount of power and history of speaking truth to power acquiescing to what is happening with AI. I can tell they are because they talk about AI and MCP in absolutes, discrediting everyone who speaks from a position outside of AI, with all roads leading to MCP and AI discussions. You can’t talk about traceability and the merits of AI or non-AI approaches—you can only talk about AI. You can’t talk about the semantics of API design—you can only talk about AI. You can’t talk about why OpenAPI matters—you can only talk about MCP. You can’t talk about API automation, you can only talk about agents. The absolutes in the narrative, and the omission of realities on the ground is why people love AI. You can’t talk about the craft of writing and telling stories, you can only talk about are you using ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to do your writing.
It all leaves me pretty saddened. I would be very happy to give me friends and colleagues a pass on the narrative shapeshifting for any technological trend to come along, but when you pick up your head right now and see how Trump, Musk, and others are wielding AI, and even API, it makes it hard for me to do so this time. When you look at the demands that we talk MCP, when the consumption and client access to the digital resources connected via MCP lies in less than five hands—it leaves it impossible for me to give a pass. I am sorry, I am the API Evangelist. APIs are about opening up access to digital resources and capabilities. Consolidating all this access into the hands of a few is now what I got into the distributed game of APIs. I genuinely feel bad for my friends who find themselves having to shape shift in this moment, as I don’t think it will ever truly allow you to be who you really are, and speak freely as a person, but I also suspect that most don’t actually know who they are in the first place. It is something that makes for a rich environment for the AI spell to take hold, making the wider AI narrative seem harmless despite the realities of how it is being used by those with power.