Everybody’s talking about AI. Open your LinkedIn feed and try to count how many posts engage with this theme. We live in the AI era, as AI is advancing at remarkable speed. Systems that once performed narrow, rules-based tasks now assist with product decisions, write production-level code, and generate ideas at scale.Wix has been building with AI for almost a decade, long before “powered by AI” became the buzzword for innovation it is today. That experience has taught us something counterintuitive. The closer we work with AI, the more obvious it becomes that progress does not equal replacement. It equals amplification. AI elevates the work of people, but it does not approach the qualities that make a company like Wix succeed.

Our teams and professional guilds build products used by millions of users around the world. Any decision can shape online experiences for businesses, creators, freelancers, agencies, and entire communities. In this reality, the qualities that matter most are the ones AI cannot simulate:Judgment. Responsibility. Taste. Imagination. Leadership.These are human capabilities, shaped not by data but by experience, collaboration, and, most importantly, care. Yes, care. No one cares like humans. 

The following are the areas where AI contributes, but people at Wix remain irreplaceable.

AI can give answers. People know which questions matter.

Large AI models can deliver precise, context-aware responses. Yet almost every breakthrough inside Wix begins with a question that is not obvious. Why do users behave a certain way? Why do certain patterns fail? What is the pain nobody is articulating? 

These questions are not generated by data. They come from product managers who listen deeply, customer care managers who know where friction hides, designers who sense what feels off and UXers who understand human context beyond metrics. Curiosity and intuition guide these leaps. AI cannot originate them.

AI can generate. People can choose.

Generative tools can produce endless variations of design, text, or logic. But selecting the right variation requires a deep understanding of the culture, the product and its users. Our teams make daily decisions that impact the experiences of millions. Choosing a direction is never just a technical act. It requires a sense of brand, an understanding of user expectations, and the ability to detect quality in ways that resist automation. AI can surface possibilities. People decide what becomes a product, a feature, or a user journey.

AI can learn from data. People learn from each other.

AI models absorb information at scale, but they do not build teams. At Wix, knowledge flows through mentorship, collaboration, and shared ownership. When a junior engineer learns a new architecture pattern, or when a writer refines their judgment by working closely with a senior editor, the learning is relational, not statistical. Culture in general, and especially engineering culture, is formed through trust and accountability. AI can support learning. It cannot replace the leadership behaviors that make learning possible.

AI can predict. People can imagine.

Prediction comes from existing patterns. Imagination is the ability to see beyond them. When Wix teams envision the next generation of site-building, or rethink how users design, write, or automate, they are not forecasting the past. They are creating something that does not yet exist. Taste, aesthetic judgment, and conceptual thinking remain human abilities. AI can suggest and tweak creative ideas. Only people can invent them.

AI can optimize journeys. People can change them entirely.

Models excel at improving what already exists. They detect friction, recommend adjustments, and highlight inefficiencies. But strategy requires something different. Strategy is the choice to do something new. At Wix, this often means questioning assumptions, interpreting ambiguous signals, recognizing shifts in user behavior, sometimes even before they appear in data – or deciding that the real opportunity is not optimization but reinvention. AI works within the current frame. People define when it is time to redraw it.

AI can execute. People take ownership.

AI completes tasks. People carry responsibility. When our teams release a new editor capability, or ship an AI assistant to millions, they do it with a sense of stewardship. They care about the outcome. They argue passionately for the users who are not in the room. They fix issues not because they were assigned, but because the product matters. Ownership is not an instruction. It is a feeling. AI does not feel responsible.

The human edge at Wix

Working with AI for so many years has shaped a simple truth. No one can really forecast the future, but we believe that the companies that will lead the next decade will not be the ones with the most advanced models. They will be the ones who understand what their people bring that models cannot replicate. Here, for example, AI accelerates our work. It improves quality, reduces manual effort, and expands what users can do with our platform. But the meaning behind our products comes from the people who build them. From the decisions they make. From the values they hold. From the imagination they bring to problems that do not have obvious solutions.

AI transforms scale. People transform purpose. AI improves speed. People determine direction. AI shapes content. People shape meaning. This is the real story behind AI adoption at Wix. We are not building a future where AI replaces us. We are building a future where AI amplifies us. The advantage belongs to the teams that know how to use these tools with clarity, judgment, and vision.