A New MVC is Emerging

Traditional MVC separated data, UI, and logic. AI and decentralized protocols are shifting this toward dynamic, agent-orchestrated, distributed systems.

The old MVC

The pattern we’ve used for decades assumed:

• Models were databases you controlled
• Views were screens you designed
• Controllers were logic you wrote

Everything was monolithic. Data lived in your app. UI was bespoke. Logic was deterministic.

The new MVC

LLMs as Models — Probabilistic, continuously trained systems. “Grown, not built.” Models expand beyond a single datasource into LLMs, APIs, external datasets, and federated data. Users may choose models, build their own, or bring their own dataset.

Apps as Views — UI layers that render, query, and pass data. Portability over storage. Interoperability by design. The “view” becomes less about fixed screens and more about interface surfaces spanning devices and contexts. Views adapt not only in layout but in function.

Agents as Controllers — Interpret, plan, and coordinate actions across systems via protocols like MCP. Real-time context switching. Interaction is no longer exclusively initiated by the user. The controller mediates between human intent, model capability, and interface behavior.

What this means

• Shift from app-centric to system-centric product experiences
• Managing endpoints, protocols, and interactions replaces monolithic codebases
• Vendor lock-in becomes a liability
• AI interfaces act as meta-layers across apps
• Software is decoupling, enabling portability, ownership, and agent-driven orchestration

The controller evolves most dramatically. User input remains ground truth, but AI can propose or execute adjustments. Non-deterministic workflows become the norm.

This note is extracted from my longer essay on Dynamic Interfaces.