Yvan Cohen
Thu Oct 30 2025
Why LightRocket Believes in the Always Evolving Product (AEP)
AI-generated image
Who doesn’t love an acronym: SAAS, DAM (Digital Asset Management), MVP. And why not a spot of AWOL, or a dash of TACO because, well…just because.
Of course, I know you know what all those acronyms mean. No need to elaborate. I can tell by the blank expression on your face. It’s run of the mill to you, dear reader.
Who doesn’t love lobbing an obscure acronym into a conversation and then watching to see if those around you are in the know. How many times have you had to look calmly unbothered while under incoming acronym fire - just long enough to launch an emergency under-the-table Google query.
So how about this one: AEP.
So What Exactly Is AEP in the LightRocket DAM Universe?
Before you pretend to know what AEP stands for, and before you reach reflexively for Google. I can tell you right now, it’s not what you think.
I know, I know. You knew all along that AEP stands for Attenuating Energy Projectile, or Asset Earning Profile or the Association of Educational Psychologists. Obviously.
Except in my world, in the LightRocket DAM universe, it means none of those things. AEP means something much simpler, much more elegant than any of those authoritative Google explanations. Here at LightRocket, AEP simply means ‘Always Evolving Product’ which, by the way, is our ethos and goal.
Now, you might wonder why I’m bothering to write about an alphabet soup of acronyms in a blog about Digital Asset Management. It’s partly because over-used acronyms can become a glib way of forgetting what words actually mean, of devaluing them.
Photo by Tim Douglas
At LightRocket, We’re Focused on the Service Part of SaaS
Take SaaS, for example. Lots of providers talk about Software as a Service (SaaS), but how seriously are they taking the service bit? Most of the time, it’s just about the software, with a spot of service tacked on as an after-thought. No matter. SaaS sounds good.
Needless to say, at LightRocket we are extremely focused on service – and not just paying lip service to it. We understand that for our clients to fully benefit from the value of our DAM software, they need our support, advice, and expertise. They need, and deserve, great personalised service.
And so to AEP, or Always Evolving Product – our very own LightRocket slogan-acronym.
AEP: Evolving Beyond the Minimum Viable Product
AEP actually came to mind because I often hear talk of MVP, or Minimum Viable Product (but you already knew that, right?).
In software circles MVP is what you aim for as the baseline product you can release. In our world, MVP feels underwhelming and unambitious. How does the saying go? ‘Aim for the moon, because if you miss you may hit a star’. Why aim for anything that’s ‘minimum’?
Which is why our focus is on AEP. By committing to the perpetual forward momentum of evolution, we are always ‘aiming for the moon’. An Always Evolving Product (AEP) is one that is continually improving - fed by ideas, responding to changing technologies, seeking to deliver more value.
Behind the ridiculous acronym – which we never actually use - is a seriously profound passion to be good at what we do, and an understanding that being good at something or creating a system that is excellent, is not a static state.
Photo by EL Evangelista
An Always-Evolving Digital Asset Management Platform
The complexity of any comprehensive Digital Asset Management system and the fast-changing technological environment we live in means we are always adding new features and exploring new technologies. Our focus is on delivering the best DAM software experience today, while keep one eye on the horizon, so we are still relevant, still contemporary, still excellent tomorrow.
This evolutive approach is particularly salient just at the moment, as we work to completely re-imagine the LightRocket DAM platform. I suppose there is naturally a point where an ‘Always Evolving Product’ eventually transforms into something entirely new. After more than 20 years of refining, developing, responding and evolving it feels like LightRocket is at that point – we are becoming something new.
Watch this space because in the coming months, we won’t be releasing anything we consider to be minimal, no MVPs for us, our re-designed, re-imagined enterprise DAM solution will be the direct result of an exciting process of process of perpetual evolution and improvement.
We’re reimagining what a DAM platform can be: powerful, intuitive, and always evolving.
Ready to see how LightRocket’s next chapter could transform the way you manage your digital assets? Contact Us to book a free demo today!
Written by Yvan Cohen | Yvan is a Co-Founder of LightRocket and has spent the past two decades immersed in the challenges and realities of digital asset management. As a professional photojournalist, Yvan uses his decades of media experience to help shape LightRocket's world-class DAM platform; focusing on collaboration, intuitive workflows and continuous innovation.
