The agency world is changing faster than ever, and we’re right in the middle of it.
At HDL, we’ve always built at the intersection of design, development, and innovation but over the past months, something new has entered the mix.

AI.

My name is Pierre Grönberg, founder of Helsingborg Design LAB (HDL).
My background is in business development, and my expertise is turning ideas into real products and revenue. Today, that mission revolves around our three core platforms: HDL Commerce, Kepler Cloud, and HubForce.

With this post, I’m kicking off a new internal series we’re calling “The Day AI Killed Agency Work” a transparent look behind the scenes of how we’re experimenting, adapting, and building in a time where traditional agency models are being rewritten.

From Quote Requests to Prompts

Just a few years ago, a client request for a custom dashboard or SaaS feature meant hundreds of hours of design, backend work, testing, and deployment.
Today, with tools like Lovable and TrySolid, that same idea can become a working prototype in less than an hour.

Recently, I needed a unified subscription dashboard for our internal recurring revenue metrics, over 100 customers, from 99 SEK to 190,000 SEK/month. Instead of sending a request to our dev team, I opened Lovable and started prompting.

Twenty-seven minutes later, I had a working version.
Two years ago, that would have been a 200-hour project.

So yes, AI can do what we do, and sometimes faster. But the truth is, it still can’t do why we do it.

AI Can Build…. But Not Lead

The more we test and build with AI, the clearer it becomes that it’s not replacing development. It’s amplifying it.

AI can write code, design UI, even test components, but it still needs human direction – someone who knows how to translate an idea into a business outcome. Context, strategy, and timing still matter.

At HDL, that’s where we focus our strength:
Combining pure human business sense with AI acceleration to shorten development cycles and raise the creative bar.

The result?
We’ve started rebuilding tools we pay for – faster, cheaper, and more integrated with our ecosystem.
Our first experiment was a feedback tracking app we now call NordBug.

The goal:

• Create a SaaS tool for collecting and managing feedback

• Integrate with ClickUp

• Support multitenancy and user management

• Add Stripe payments and credit-based usage

• Offer multiple ways to implement the script for different app types

Starting with a simple prompt “Build me a feedback tracking app” we went from idea to working prototype in a few hours.

Fully functional backend, database, widget, and user authentication – all powered by AI.

But it wasn’t magic. It was human-driven experimentation.
It was context, iteration, and problem-solving – exactly what agencies are built for.

The New Reality

AI can now build faster than we can quote a client.
But it still can’t understand why something should be built, who it’s for, or how it fits into a business model.

That’s the new balance of agency work.
AI accelerates the how, humans define the why.

At HDL, we’re not resisting this change – we’re using it.
We’re turning AI into a creative and technical partner, not a replacement.

This is the start of a new era for agency work.
One where ideas move at AI speed, but vision, design, and purpose remain human.

Coming up next:
Can AI build a fully scalable SaaS product without a team?
We’re testing it – and we’ll share the results soon.

Stay tuned for the next post in The Day AI Killed Agency Work.