March 2026 Update: Thoughts on state of AI, more Open Source-ing & more videos

In March 2026, we continued building on the momentum we had picked up earlier this year.

What started as an internal initiative to contribute more actively to Open Source and share our learnings is now becoming a consistent part of how we operate as an engineering team.

This month, we opened 11 pull requests across multiple repositories and got 9 of them merged — a solid step forward in contributing back to the ecosystem we rely on every day.

Open Source Contributions this month

Continuing our focus on meaningful contributions, our work this month spanned across developer tooling, CLI improvements, and production systems.

Gemini CLI

We contributed multiple improvements to Gemini CLI, primarily focused on reliability and usability:

• Fixed a Windows compatibility issue where carriage return (\r) characters were breaking filename detection

• Standardized line splitting and path handling to ensure consistent behavior across operating systems

• Resolved a keyboard shortcut conflict, restoring Ctrl + B for cursor navigation and reassigning background shell functionality

These changes improve cross-platform stability and make the CLI more predictable for developers working in different environments.

Open Mercato

A significant portion of our contributions this month went into improving Open Mercato across multiple areas — validation, UX, and system correctness.

• Fixed duplicate validation messages in image uploads by cleaning up validation flow

• Resolved a form rendering issue where dropdown options were missing in grouped inline sections

• Fixed a global search authorization bug that was unintentionally logging out users due to improper request handling

• Restored full dataset rendering in a currency combobox, improving usability in exchange rate selection

• Restructured the admin sidebar, moving key items like Security, Audit Logs, and API Docs into a more intuitive Settings section

• Fixed a critical numbering bug where quote document numbers were incorrectly reused for orders — ensuring proper sequencing with ORDER- prefixes

While many of these changes might seem small individually, they directly improve system reliability and user experience in production environments.

Thoughts on AI and the Cost of Building

Alongside engineering work, we’ve also continued sharing our perspectives on how AI is shaping the way products are built.

This month, I shared a video discussing a trend we’re seeing more and more:

The cost of building Proof of Concepts is going to zero.

At first glance, that sounds like a great thing. But in practice, it’s creating a different set of problems.

• When building something requires almost no time, effort, or cost, it also reduces the conviction needed to take it seriously

• The ability to “one-shot” ideas and see something working instantly is replacing the discipline required to build something meaningful

• And when non-engineers try building with AI and fail, they often walk away with the wrong conclusion — that their idea isn’t possible

What we’re seeing is a pattern where people are getting wrong validation using the wrong tools.

Instead of enabling better products, this shift is often just adding more noise.

If you're interested in the full breakdown, you can watch the video here:

At RipeSeed, we’ve always believed that engineering isn’t just about building faster.

It’s about building with clarity, conviction, and intent.

Open Source contributions, internal experimentation, and sharing honest perspectives — all of these are part of that journey.

And we’re continuing to lean deeper into it.