Matt Palmer explains that code is becoming the primary medium for content creation, enabling dynamic, scalable, and high-quality communication through disciplined structure and conscientious practices, especially with the aid of AI tools. He predicts a future where content engineering becomes integral to development workflows, transforming how organizations produce and manage product content efficiently and consistently.
In his talk, Matt Palmer discusses the evolving relationship between content creation and code, emphasizing that code is increasingly becoming the primary medium for communication, especially in technical fields. Traditionally, content creation involved choosing a medium such as blog posts, videos, or conference talks, often based on personal skill or experience. However, Palmer highlights a shift where code is now used not just for software development but as a versatile tool to create various content types, including documentation, product marketing, change logs, and even videos. He illustrates this with an example of a product tour for Conductor built entirely with React and Remotion, showcasing how code can recreate product experiences dynamically.
Palmer outlines three distinct eras in content creation: the handcrafted era, where everything was manual and reliant on time, money, and skill; the era of expensive code, where professional engineers were necessary to build digital assets, making content a lower priority; and the current era, where code is cheap and AI tools like OpenAI and Anthropic enable rapid generation of high-quality content. This third era democratizes content creation, allowing those with engineering mindsets to produce sophisticated assets efficiently, though quality still depends on skillful use of these tools.
A key insight Palmer offers is that while code is now inexpensive and accessible, the real challenge lies in maintaining structure and conscientiousness within the codebase. Structure involves rigorous organization, clear documentation, consistent design tokens, and disciplined code management practices. These elements are crucial to ensure that AI-generated or code-based content is polished and professional rather than chaotic or low-quality. He argues that conscientiousness—being meticulous and guided by professional duty—is more important than raw technical skill in producing excellent content through code.
Palmer stresses that AI rewards organizational excellence and structure, meaning that teams who invest in disciplined processes and maintain a structured source of truth in their codebases will excel in content creation. This shift requires a cultural change where content is “shifted left” into the development process, making code the definitive source for all product communication. The best-performing teams will be those that integrate content engineering into their workflows, leveraging AI and code to automate and enhance content production.
Looking ahead, Palmer predicts that 2027 will be the year of the content engineer, building on the rise of creative technologists in 2026. He envisions robust, declarative content pipelines capable of automatically generating documentation, product walkthroughs, updates, and other assets through code and AI. This transformation will make content creation more scalable, consistent, and integrated with software development, fundamentally changing how organizations communicate their products and engage with users.