The next wave of winners will design their own stack or get crushed by those who do.
Despite the dominance of off-the-shelf platforms, businesses are starting to question the true cost of convenience. The promise of plug-and-play has turned into a trap slowing innovation, inflating costs, and limiting adaptability in fast-moving markets.
Global investment in custom software is projected to surpass $99 billion by 2028, as companies abandon bloated, rigid stacks in favor of tailored systems built for speed, precision, and scale. The shift isn’t about replacing tools, it’s about reclaiming control.
In a landscape where everyone uses the same software, the tech stack itself becomes the new frontier for differentiation.
The question is no longer what tools are being used, but who is shaping them.
Will legacy platforms continue to define how businesses operate, or will businesses finally define their own?
