Just like GPs argument about quality; the majority of businesses doesnt need innovation and often even fights it.

I’ve been in the industry for a much shorter period than both of you; but the companies I worked for didnt really innovate anything.

>the biggest trade-off is a lack of technical innovation.

Most businesses and developers shouldn't be innovating, but instead providing secure solutions to their clients. The last 30 years of "innovation" has given us countless security bugs.

Most innovation is pointless, because a lot of it revolves around just making code easier to maintain and understand for humans, it’s not like you’re innovating radical new algorithms for a CRUD app or making performance modifications that people will actually notice.

But since AI writes everything anyway, innovations that improve “developer experience” are pointless, and all the other low hanging fruit has been taken.