In our team at Adapty, AI didn't replace people. It replaced something else entirely: fear. And that shift turned a feature that struggled to gain traction into one that now drives meaningful revenue.

From v1 to v2: proving the need

We built a no-code paywall builder for mobile apps because the problem was painfully obvious. Growth teams were stuck waiting for developers just to test a new paywall or adjust pricing.

Version 1 proved the market was real. Teams wanted the idea – but adoption was slower than we hoped.

Twelve months later, we rebuilt it into version 2 with a much clearer UX and UI. That lowered friction. Customers could finally navigate the tool intuitively and get working paywalls live faster. Adoption picked up – but something was still holding people back.

The hidden blocker: fear

Even with better design, customers hesitated. They weren't confused. They weren't unconvinced. They were afraid.

One client put it perfectly: "We knew the builder was there, but we were afraid of breaking our production paywall. One wrong move and we could tank our entire revenue stream."

That's when it became clear: the problem wasn't features or usability. It was psychology. Fear was the real adoption killer.

How AI changed the equation

We didn't need more templates or options. We needed to give users a safe first step.

That's where AI came in. Instead of starting with a blank canvas, customers got an auto-generated draft: layout, copy, design, even pricing.

It wasn't about hype. The value was emotional. Editing something that already existed felt much less risky than starting from scratch.

One customer described the turning point: "Once we shipped our first AI-generated paywall and saw it work, we finally trusted the process."

AI didn't replace their job. It replaced their hesitation.

The compound effect

Step by step, the product grew stronger:

• v1 proved demand
• v2 fixed usability
• AI removed fear and unlocked adoption at scale

Today, more than 5000 apps rely on the builder. Over 30,000 paywalls are live in production. Roughly 25% of aggregate client revenue now flows through it. And the AI feature, though new, has already produced 1000+ live paywalls.

What I learned as a product leader

Working on this taught me four lessons I'd share with any founder or operator:

1. Version 1 is validation, not victory. It shows the need, but rarely nails adoption
2. Clarity beats flexibility. A clean first step matters more than advanced options
3. Fear is a metric. Users may not say it, but hesitation kills adoption as surely as churn
4. AI's hidden value is confidence. Sometimes its role isn't automation – it's lowering the barrier to start

The real AI story AI didn't replace me. It didn't replace my team. What it replaced was the fear that held customers back. And that made the difference between a feature people ignored – and one they now trust to run their business.