[ssivark]

> each of those steps is done by a different team of people, often at different companies. Most companies doing [ABC] today are buying off-the-shelf [XYZ] etc. and just wiring them up.

A lot of software engineering work is similar -- basically plumbing across bits of functionality that someone else wrote. But really, isn't this true for several industries and most jobs? Between the management framework of breaking down responsibilities and pushing companies / people to focus on "core competencies" it seems that there's an inexorable tide in this direction, especially in corporate roles. Startups, of course, are the exception because they typically haven't gotten to a point where they have the luxury of dividing a goal so finely between so many people.