The More Technology We Build, the More Human Guidance Matters

AI makes it easier to build software, but harder to manage a growing mix of apps, agents, and data. Nicolas Desmarais’s vision is to pair AI with connected commerce and trusted advisors, helping businesses choose technology and put it to work. As AI changes how software is built and used, teams and individuals can create custom apps and agents around their own needs, opening up new possibilities for how they get work done. At Thrive 2026, AppDirect Chairman and CEO Nicolas Desmarais described a future where AI helps people do more, while trusted relationships bring context, judgment, and trust to the decisions along the way. That future is emerging as software itself expands rapidly, bringing the challenge behind AppDirect’s founding back into focus: how can businesses find and manage the right technology as their choices multiply? AppDirect’s foundational idea began with a gap in the online economy. Marketplaces were already changing how goods moved from sellers to buyers, yet SaaS had no comparable marketplace. Businesses still faced…