The prompt is now a workflow spec

Tools and agents make the prompt less like a message and more like a procedure. You’re not just asking for text; you’re describing a sequence: decide, call tools, verify results, and produce an artifact. The core skill shifts again—from phrasing to orchestration.

This is also where a lot of “AI product” work lives: routing, fallbacks, guardrails, and UX decisions that keep users out of jagged edges. At this stage, the prompt is inseparable from the product.

In other words: you’re no longer prompting a model. You’re designing a system that includes a model.