---
id: "action-prepare-for-third-party-infrastructure"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Reinvent"]
tags: ["technical-leadership", "infrastructure"]
related: ["concept-walled-garden-deconstruction"]
action: "Design tech stacks to interoperate with third-party AI infrastructure rather than proprietary walled gardens."
outcome: "Maintain market access when users delegate tasks to external AI agents."
speakers: ["Yuanyuan Gina Cui", "Patrick van Esch", "Jan Kietzmann"]
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-69-ai-threatening-platforms"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/how-ai-is-threatening-platforms-revenue-streams"
sourceTitle: "How AI Is Threatening Platforms’ Revenue Streams"
---
# Prepare for Third-Party AI Infrastructure

**Audience:** Technical leaders.

**Action:** Prepare tech stacks for a world where **AI infrastructure is owned by others** — the users' personal agents — rather than relying on proprietary platforms to control the user journey. Design for interoperation instead of walled gardens.

**Outcome:** Maintain market access when users delegate tasks to external AI agents.

This action follows directly from [[concept-walled-garden-deconstruction]]: if agents unbundle ecosystems and route across providers, defensibility comes from being *reachable and machine-consumable*, not from lock-in. Complements [[action-pivot-to-api-first]] and [[action-rethink-business-models]].