AI Coding Tools Converge—Just Not How You Think

Rather than traditional mergers and acquisitions, AI coding tools are organizing into a specialized stack through protocol standards like MCP and A2A. Each tool—Cursor for daily IDE work, Claude Code for orchestration, OpenAI Codex for async tasks—is settling into a distinct role that complements rather than competes with the others. This fundamental shift transforms how developers approach tool selection, moving from 'which is best?' to 'how do they work together?'