AI’s robust code-writing capabilities are now user-friendly enough for non-developers to start experimenting with building their own websites and applications. As the technology becomes easier to use, some business leaders are considering how they might use AI to help redesign their company website.
AI-driven web coding tools like Cursor and Windsurf, along with AI-integrated functionality in DIY website builders like Replit, GoDaddy Airo AI Builder, and Wix Harmony, suggest that leveraging AI to build and launch a full B2B website is a straightforward process: A few basic commands describing your business and your brand, and voilà! You can update your existing website or launch a new one in a matter of clicks.
But the truth of web development – and how using AI for web design can help or hinder the process – isn’t so simple. This article breaks down the scenarios where it makes sense to leverage AI and when it’s best to partner with the professionals at a B2B web design agency.
Fast vs. cheap vs. good
AI’s digital thumb has definitely landed hard on the “fast” side of the three-way scale, skewing the age-old project equilibrium – fast vs. cheap vs. good – into the realm of unrealistic expectations. While speed is always a key factor in business (often with a tangible impact on the other two), leaning too hard into a quick turnaround by feeding unvetted direction into AI and accepting the first outcome can create complicated business consequences.
When to use AI: low-stakes personal projects
Leveraging AI to create a website works best for low-stakes scenarios where success isn’t critical and unclear outcomes don’t matter. In fact, building a website with AI can be a fun personal challenge. You can experiment with the technology to try new things because if it doesn’t work, you can scrap it and start over.
Here are some cases where using AI for web design might make sense:
- Personal blogs or portfolio sites
- Non-mission-critical side projects
- Individual landing pages
- Single-event websites
- “Coming-soon” websites
All other times: leave it to the professionals
For anything beyond extremely simple, straightforward, limited-functionality websites, working with an experienced B2B web development agency is a smarter, lower-risk choice. Particularly in B2B web design, a company’s website is a crucial component of success. Tinkering with page design, adjusting site structure, or adding new back-end functionality with AI can disrupt elements of the site that might not be immediately apparent but can negatively affect a business.
Bop Design has already started receiving calls from companies that used AI to make website changes and created unintended consequences that take time and money to fix.
Experienced B2B web design agencies bring essential skills to the table that should not be underestimated. Their teams have expertise in systems thinking, architectural design, business operations, digital security, user experience design, and more. These are essential competencies that run behind your coded pages, ensuring they work as seamlessly and reliably as you expect. These less obvious disciplines are both the glue that holds a high-quality B2B website together and the grease that keeps all parts running smoothly.
What does a web development agency bring that AI can’t?
What might sound like a good idea (“Let’s just have AI redo our website!”) can often hit a wall when it becomes clear that high-quality websites are so much more than what a user sees in their browser.
Experienced web development partners manage the essential technical, logistical, and foundational aspects of your website and the development process.
They bring:
- A holistic understanding of your website’s functionality and how it supports your business
- The flexibility to change course while ensuring consistency throughout the site
- Clean, clear back-end code that holds up over time and is easy for future teams to understand
- A consistent approach to implementing changes throughout the website’s system architecture
- Checks and balances that guard against technical glitches and unintended downstream business consequences
- Recommendations grounded in real-world experience
- Security expertise to protect your website with the latest protocols
Yes, with strict direction and significant human involvement, AI might be able to deliver the above. But using AI for web design reliably requires deep fluency in AI itself.
AI is just another tool
Yes, it’s a powerful, flexible, exciting tool – but ultimately, artificial intelligence is only as good as the person using it. We’re optimistic about the creativity AI can unlock in website development, enabling non-professional coders to get their feet wet building low-stakes passion projects.
However, AI is not a panacea for development just yet. There’s still a very long way to go before “Let’s just have AI redo our company’s website!” is a realistic or responsible plan of action.
Until then, use AI to have fun and experiment. But when your business depends on the results, put AI in the hands of professionals who understand the technology and can plan, build, and execute your website with care.
Ready to update your website with an experienced B2B web design team? Let’s connect.
