I would also love a better insight into the timeline, however I understand if there is a desire to keep certain cards closer to the chest.
A common issue with timelines is the concrete expectation and obligations they can create. This can be strategically disadvantageous because you’re losing the flexibility to pivot on a dime towards something significant like AI when such an opportunity arises. Of course you could negotiate such a change with customers and users, however that takes very significant effort.
In my experience, this effort often slows down the attainment of both the original commitment and the new opportunity.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of the additional effort prematurely publicising certain ideas can create:
- Bikeshedding
- Analysis Paralysis
- Abilene Paradox
- Law of the Instrument
- Dilutiuon of Idea complexity to cater for the least skilled/qualified stakeholders (Which can lead to nasty cases of the Dunning Kruger Effect)
- Cognitive Overload – too many ideas, too much feedback
- False Consensus
- Blind leading the blind
and most importantly Authority Dilution. The team know best, but the public can be very passionate about going in the wrong direction sometimes.
Overall, I would be concerned about the loss of flexibility and exploratory safety such a roadmap could cause, as much as I would love to have one.