From Literacy to Building

For the past two years, most of the AI conversation has revolved around literacy. How to prompt. How to chat. How to “use” the tools. It was a useful phase — necessary even — because it helped people recognise that the interface had changed.

But this phase is coming to an end.
2026 marks a different kind of transition, and Imbila Studio is deliberately stepping into it.

The Lightbulb Era Is Over

There’s a reason the first demonstrations of electricity always referenced the lightbulb. It made the invisible visible. It showed people the possibility.

Early chatbots played the same role.

They illuminated what AI could do — summarise, explain, write, advise. They helped people understand the power at their fingertips. But just like electricity, the true transformation never came from the lightbulb alone.

It came from what followed:

• motors
• appliances
• machinery
• redesigned factories
• entire industries rebuilt on a new foundation

That’s the moment we’re entering now.

The “chatbot as lightbulb” was the opening act.
The wave ahead is about building things that run on the underlying power.

2026: Moving Beyond AI Literacy

Most individuals and teams now understand the basics. They know how to ask a model questions. They know how to get a summary or a draft. They’ve experimented with prompting styles. They’ve tasted productivity gains.

But literacy isn’t leverage.
Knowing about the technology is not the same as knowing how to deploy it.

The gap is no longer awareness.
The gap is the ability to make something real.

This is where Imbila Studio is placing its focus.

The Building Era

The next generation of models doesn’t simply “produce text.” They can design, plan, write code, run tools, integrate with systems, and operate as components inside real applications. They can help individuals build software, automate workflows, structure data, deploy agents, and create custom systems.

This shifts the centre of gravity from using AI
to building with it.

At Imbila Studio, this becomes the organising principle for 2026:

• Build applications, not just ideas.
• Build small tools that solve real business problems.
• Build workflows that replace repetitive tasks.
• Build agents that sit inside processes.
• Build IP that members can reuse.
• Build capabilities, not just knowledge.

Studio becomes a maker space.
A sandbox for experimentation.
A workshop for assembling solutions.
A place to learn by building, and build by doing.

Why This Matters for Consultants and Small Teams

For independent consultants, small businesses, and specialists, the playing field has shifted.

Previously, building software required:

• engineers
• budgets
• long timelines
• technical infrastructure
• project teams

Today, with the right guidance, a single consultant or small team can produce:

• a functional micro-app
• an automated workflow
• a client-facing agent
• a niche business tool
• a prototype product
• an internal system

This is not about “learning to code.”
It’s about learning to think in systems and collaborate with models that can execute the technical layer.

The competitive advantage for 2026 isn’t AI literacy.
It’s the ability to turn ideas into working solutions rapidly.

Imbila Studio’s Role in This New Phase

In this next chapter, Studio’s mandate becomes clear:

Help members build. Help clients build. Teach the practice of building.
Create a culture of making, shipping, iterating, and improving.

This includes:

• practical build-along sessions
• small application templates
• real-world examples
• reproducible workflows
• Studio-grade demos
• guided projects
• hands-on coaching for specific outcomes

We’re moving from explaining how AI works
to showing how to use it as a construction partner.

A New Foundation

Just as electricity moved from the lightbulb to the assembly line, AI is moving from chat interfaces to a deeper layer of capability.

The early years were about discovering what was possible.
2026 is about putting that power to work.

Imbila Studio will focus on the craft of building — creating tools, products, and solutions that work in the real world and give our members and clients a tangible edge.

This is not a shift in messaging.
It’s a shift in what we do every day.

And it sets the tone for the next stage of Imbila: practical, grounded, and centred on creation.

Our first app deck2vid has some friends that we are testing and working on!

Wordy AI - A free to play Wordle Game built in few prompts

BirdyAI - our AI Bird Sighting App

Identity Template - How to add Database Storage and Authenticate with Google