Month: October 2025

Last week was about Dinesh and his line that stopped me in my tracks:
“AI is not capable of solving my problems.”

This week I saw what he meant.

AI didn’t fail. It just showed its limits.

We spent most of the week inside Cursor and ChatGPT, connecting systems, refining logic, and setting up automation flows that used to take days. It’s fast, clean, and impressive.

But it also felt like we were living with a quiet co-worker who never really understands the bigger picture.

I have started to see AI as a mirror more than a machine. It reflects what we already know, what we’ve done before, what we’ve written and built.
– It doesn’t imagine.
– It doesn’t dream.
– It predicts.

(And makes me reallllllly lazy haha)

And that’s fine, as long as you know what you want.

Clients are beginning to expect AI to handle everything.
Scope, plan, test, deploy.

The conversation has shifted from “how fast can you build this?” to “can’t AI just do it?”

And that’s where it gets tricky. Because yes, AI can do a lot. But not enough.

The projects that actually work are the ones where people step in, where someone questions an output, where intuition decides what the algorithm can’t.

We’re learning that the future of building products is not human versus AI.
It’s human through AI.

Our job is to shape it, not follow it.

To use AI as an amplifier, not as a replacement.
To be the ones who still ask “why?” when AI just says “here’s how.”

Week 43 taught me something simple.
AI isn’t here to take our jobs. It’s here to test our value.

The real question isn’t what it can do.
It’s what we still choose to do better.

The agency scene is shifting fast, and I’m right in the middle of it.
My name is Pierre Gronberg and I’m the founder of Helsingborg Design LAB, now known as HDL.

My background is in business development. My skill is taking ideas to market, products to revenue, and right now I’m doing that with three distinct products: HDL Commerce, Kepler Cloud and what we today call HubForce.

With this post I’m starting something new. A blog series called The day AI killed agency work. I’ll share my thoughts, actions, and how we’re pivoting in this avalanche era that’s hitting us all.

I mean what I say. The raw and bitter truths of my every day. How AI is changing development. How it’s both an existential threat to my foundation and business. And how, strangely enough, I love it. It intimidates me, but it also drives me. The challenge we’re facing is massive, but so is the opportunity.

It all really started three days ago from writing this post. Yes, only three days ago. You can ask where I’ve been this whole time, but the truth is I’ve been here the entire time, building and watching.

I used Lovable before it became mainstream. Today everyone is vibe coding and let’s be honest, it’s amazing.

I’ve used ChatGPT since the early days when it was crashing every five minutes and people thought their careers were over. Now, every email or message I get from 85% of our customers has been through ChatGPT before it reaches me. I’ll be honest, 50% of my own replies are written with AI. It makes my communication sharper and saves me hours.

But let’s not get derailed.

We all know what Lovable is.
We all know what ChatGPT is.
We all know what it does.

The truth now is that you can almost do everything people used to ask me for a quote for.

Let me put that in context.

I needed to gather all our subscription data into one place to get metrics. We have just over 100 active paying customers, ranging from 99 SEK to 190,000 SEK per month in recurring revenue. Normally this takes hours to pull into a spreadsheet, but I only had four hours before a meeting.

So I opened Lovable, started prompting, and 27 minutes later I had a working subscription dashboard. Two years ago this would have been a 150-200 hour project. We would have scoped it, designed it, built APIs, QA’d it, and written “OUT OF SCOPE” on every little change the client asked for after launch.

Hey, 200 hours are nice. But those requests stopped coming almost overnight.

Why?

Developers keep saying AI can’t do what we can do. But in the last 48 hours, I’ve seen it do it better.

Still, there’s a big but. There are things AI can’t do. Just like there are things humans can’t. It all comes down to a few key things:

– The context behind the prompts
– The quality of the scope
– The ability to understand what’s actually needed

I’ve seen both sides. Wrong context, bad prompts, poor scope. The project fails. The cost? In Lovable, it’s time. In real life, it’s money and reputation.

So back to my week #42 project. I decided to review the apps we pay for and see if I could rebuild them internally as SaaS tools. Same value, better fit.

I started with a feedback tracking tool. Something we use to collect bug reports and feedback. It saves hours and makes it easier for our clients to report issues.

So I made it my challenge to rebuild it in-house.

Goals:

– Build a feedback tracking tool with snippets and scripts
– Add ClickUp integration
– Multitenancy and user management
– Stripe payment integration
– Subscription and credit usage
– Multiple implementation methods for different app types

I started in Lovable. No scaffolding. Needed to pay for a Supabase backend. It got messy fast. So I switched to trysolid.com. That’s where things exploded.

Compared to Lovable, Solid was next level. It actually built backends and databases that felt natural to work with, like chatting with my dev team.

First prompt: “Build me a feedback tracking app.”

Five minutes later it was building. Ten minutes later I had a fully functional SaaS app with database, backend, widget, demo pages. Out of the box.

Then came the refining. Every prompt took 5–10 minutes, but that forced me to think clearly. My prompts got better, my planning improved, and I started doing market research in parallel using ChatGPT.

At the same time I jumped into Framer, built a quick landing page, copied a template, changed colors and logo, and wrote some copy. Within an hour I had a product, a brand, and a domain name: NordBug.

Perspective check:
We’ve charged clients 250–300 hours for similar projects. Here I was doing it in an hour.

But to be fair, those 250 hours result in a stable, production-ready product. Mine was still a prototype. I hadn’t reviewed the code or pushed anything live. But still, the gap was shocking.

I kept going. Added unit testing, wrote automation for functionality checks, then moved to multitenancy and user auth. Originally it was public, so I built login and register. Then I tried OAuth with Google. Twenty-five minutes later, I had a working Google login flow.

03:20 CET, laptop closed. 3 hours and 35 minutes of building.

Next day, laptop open, 2 cans of Celsius, leftover tacos. Mission: ClickUp integration.

This was harder. At first I needed an API key, but I changed it to a full OAuth flow so any user could connect ClickUp directly. I had to think about data isolation and integrity. A few hours later,fully functional, tested, verified.

And that’s where I am now.

So what’s the point?

AI can build faster than I can quote a client. But it still needs vision, logic, and context.
It doesn’t know why to build something,only how.

That’s where the human part comes in.

Maybe this isn’t the end of agency work. Maybe it’s just the rebirth of it.
The agencies that survive won’t be the biggest ones, they’ll be the smartest ones.

This is what we’re exploring at HDL.
Real projects, real tools, real change.

I finally did it, I took my first real step toward something i have wanted for a long time. To becoming a public speaker.

I have so many stories to share, lessons learned, and experiences that shaped me. And deep down, I’ve always believed that I can be an engaging, inspiring speaker, someone who connects with people through honesty, energy, and passion.

It’s a side of me that’s been growing quietly for years, and now I’m ready to let it out.

I have no idea exactly where this journey will lead, but yesterday, I made it real. I reached out to 10 different talent pools and event organisers. That was step one.

The stage, here I come.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I guess I’ve been lost in everything that’s been going on, caught up in the constant motion of running, building, and trying to stay ahead. Sometimes, the motivation to keep pushing at a certain level fades, and maybe that’s just part of this never-ending journey I’m on.

Even if I never want it to end, these days have been tough. It doesn’t seem to get easier. I wish I could fully express everything happening around me, but there’s still that lightning bolt inside — the one that sparks, keeps me moving, and reminds me why I started.

It’s been a time of reflection. We’re in a recession, things are slower, and closing new deals feels harder than ever sometimes even threatening my whole existence as an entrepreneur. But that too is part of the journey. I’ve learned that only you can decide how you feel, and you don’t have to take shit from anyone.

There will always be negative people. People who once were driven and full of ideas but now only see what could’ve been done better. They see the problem but not the solution.. or they have the solution but no idea how to implement it.

Everyone has expectations. Everyone expects you to be the driving force. But at the end of the day, why should I keep driving if there’s no energy coming back? Is that really my job?

What’s been both fascinating and frustrating lately is the AI race. Running an agency used to mean being the go-to team for design, development, and simple builds!!!!!! but now, tools like Lovable can do in hours what used to take days. At first glance, it feels like the ground is slipping. But when you look closer, AI has actually opened up an entirely new world for agencies. It’s now my job to pivot, adapt, and figure shit out.

And that “shit” it’s one big load of it that I’m still trying to find my way through. (Excuse my French.)

I don’t really know where I’m going with this post, other than it being my way back to what I love doing writing about my experiences, my days, my ups and downs. Hopefully, one day, someone out there will read this and find something useful in my journey.

Maybe a book one day. Who knows.

Until next time > spread the spark.

Leadership is often portrayed as a position of authority, a seat at the table, or a series of bold decisions. But anyone who has walked the path knows it’s far more intricate. Leadership is a balancing act—a mix of highs and lows, triumphs and lessons, moments of inspiration, and occasional (Not to lie… Its more like every god dman second) self-doubt.

As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to reflect on what leadership has meant for me, both in the easy, fulfilling moments and in the more challenging ones.

One of the most rewarding aspects of leadership is the people. Seeing a team come together, thrive, and achieve remarkable things is an unmatched joy. It’s in the small wins: a team member conquering a challenge, a project going live after months of hard work, or simply seeing a group of individuals truly collaborate and support each other. Leadership in these moments feels effortless—like steering a ship with the wind at your back. These are the times when you feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

But leadership also means navigating storms. It’s staying steady when the waters are rough, making tough decisions that may not always be popular, and shouldering the responsibility of outcomes. It’s about admitting mistakes, owning up to missteps, and doing the hard work to correct them. There are nights when the weight of decisions feels heavy, where the stakes seem impossibly high, and where doubt can creep in (again). These are the moments that truly test you—not just as a leader, but as a person.

The thing about leadership is that it’s not just about the big decisions or the grand gestures; it’s about consistency. It’s in showing up, day after day, ready to listen, guide, and grow alongside your team. It’s about creating an environment where everyone feels valued, where their voices matter, and where they can see their contributions making a difference.

One of the lessons I’ve learned this year is that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating space for others to bring their ideas, challenge norms, and push boundaries. It’s about trusting your team to take ownership, even when things don’t go perfectly. Growth comes from giving people the freedom to explore, fail, and rise again.

This year, our team has achieved incredible things. We’ve tackled challenges head-on, taken bold steps into new opportunities, and grown stronger as a unit. None of this would have been possible without the resilience, creativity, and dedication of the people I have the privilege of working with every day.

Leadership is hard, but it’s also immensely fulfilling. It’s a journey of constant learning—about your team, your organization, and yourself. As we close out the year, I feel grateful for the lessons learned, the challenges overcome, and the successes we’ve celebrated together.

Here’s to another year of growth, collaboration, and success. May we all continue to lead with courage, empathy, and a relentless drive to create something meaningful.

And here is to my fellow founders. Its okey to say that things are AWESOME all the time. It actually gives you a kick, you feel good about it! Its motives you to be able to write that things next time were AWESOME again! Its releaves stress, presure but it keeps you in the zone and it keeps you pushing!