How the Great Flood of Software Will Reinvent Infrastructure

More Acceleration Means More Software, Everywhere

We recently announced our latest funds. With them, we plan to significantly expand our investments to back founders reinventing enterprise infrastructure.

Why? Because in the future, there will be a lot more software.

AI is already taking over software development and delivery, with 75% of enterprise teams either using it or planning to by 2028. We’re already entering a future where software is easier and faster to create, and more pervasive, fluid, and built for smaller-scale use. It will become easier and cheaper than ever to design, build, and manage applications everywhere.

What is Software Maximalism?

At Heavybit, we see a future of software maximalism. Beyond more lines of code being written (which is already happening), we see every possible dimension of designing, delivering and operating software changing dramatically. Availability, affordability, development speed, personalization, number of consumers...all green arrows, pointed up.

Creating software will change. Previously delivered as an artifact, the culmination of many hours by a dedicated team of specialists, software is becoming an ongoing stream. We’ll see endless version updates: Tweaked, personalized, consumerized, even humanized. Parasocial relationships with online celebrities will give way to metasocial relationships across ecosystems of customers, builders, and AI agents.

Consuming software will also change as the ways we interact with technology evolve. We’ve spent decades typing in terminals, but beyond phones, laptops, or wearables, we’ll see the culmination of what Siri and Alexa hinted at: Using natural language to manipulate technical tools. As models and hardware improve, we’ll have smart devices that are genuinely “smart” and let more people use software in more ways and more places than ever.

Builders will change. Some projects will be hyper-polished evolutions of existing product lines, but others will be wildly imaginative, never-before-seen stuff created by non-technical users. We’ll see products built by doctors, artists, teachers...new voices with unique perspectives that reimagine how we think about and interact with technology.

We’re at the cusp of a revolution that will dwarf the miniaturization of the supercomputer into the smartphone. We’re also at a crucial inflection point for anyone with any interest in the creation, shipping, or use of software (which will be almost everyone on the planet).

The Challenge Ahead

It’s exciting to consider how much change we’ll see, but make no mistake: We’re also looking at an impending onslaught of new software.

Here’s the challenge: Today’s tools are still built for that world where software is an artifact built by artisans, and maintained within the conventional structure of traditional platforms and devices. Can today’s technology paradigm sustain the Great Flood of software?

The Opportunity for Infrastructure

At Heavybit, we believe the impending software flood represents an incredible opportunity. The design, deployment, and operation of so many new species of software will require new primitives, new foundational disciplines, and totally new ideas from startups that aren’t afraid to have a different vision for the future of technology.

Our team has years of hard-won experience continuously launching and successfully scaling unproven technical startups across different economic conditions, from 2013 nonstop to today. We’ve constantly honed our approach to provide effective, hands-on support to fledgling teams to navigate exactly this type of shift.

As we look forward, we couldn’t be more excited to be the bridge to the future for founders with bold ideas, high standards, and the ambition to reshape the world of software. If this sounds like you, please get in touch.

Find more inspiration on how to run a successful startup at our upcoming DevGuild: Founder Fundamentals event.