# Brendan Cody-Kenny: 4 out of every 5 AI projects should be killed. That's the whole idea of a prototype.

Technical Due Diligence for Software M&A https://sub.xiliary.com/p/brendancodykenny

### 2026-09-28 update #ai #due-diligence #prototyping
4 out of every 5 AI projects should be killed. That's the whole idea of a prototype.
- An Excel prototype drops out of the inbox into the archive. Code is stickier because every change to it is tracked.
- For diligence the question is hygiene, whether prototypes are kept apart from production, whether killed ones are deleted, and how the survivor reaches production.
- All three are visible in the repositories. A team that prototypes is a good sign, and a team with no cleanup process is overpaying.
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brendancodykenny_4-out-of-every-5-ai-projects-should-be-killed-share-7510291109345058817-9r8G

https://sub.xiliary.com/p/brendancodykenny/posts/84/4-out-of-every-5-ai-projects-should-be-killed-that-s-the