Dashboards Are Dead — Sarah Simionescu, Composio
The talk argues that traditional dashboards and even early AI query systems are obsolete because they fail to handle complex, cross-application workflows. The speaker proposes that the future of product development must cater to AI agents, not human users. She details the limitations of the existing Mattermost Connectivity Protocol (MCP) and introduces a new interface designed to allow agents to seamlessly execute complex tasks across multiple, disparate applications (e.g., Slack, DataDog, PostHog, Metabase) by providing a unified search and execution plan.
Key takeaways
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The Dashboard is Dead
0:12
Every dashboard and obscure query language (e.g., DataDog syntax, JQL, Slack search modifiers) is fundamentally a translation layer, meaning the user never wanted the dashboard; they wanted the answer. (0:12)
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Limitations of MCP
5:31
While the MCP protocol allows agents to connect to services, it is insufficient because agents lack memory, context overload occurs when connecting many tools, and every application remains isolated, requiring manual orchestration. (3:31)
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The Agent-First Solution
A new interface is required to translate messy, sparsely documented APIs into a cohesive, unified experience for agents. This allows agents to generate a full execution plan (e.g., fetching Slack messages, searching Sentry, and querying DataDog) without requiring pre-built workflows or skills. (6:45)