This is an interesting discussion and I completely agree with @Axia here. I wonder if its possible for delegates to independently lead initiatives which compliment the strategies being worked on by the Labs team. However this does require some sort of ‘approval’ from the Labs team, hence delegates independently proposing and venturing into ideas maybe engaging in terms or participation but not as impactful in terms of bottomline metrics.
The ACI example is really interesting. ACI has had a long history working with the AAVE Labs team and was able to leverage this knowledge into product evolution and growth. I wonder if someone from the Labs team at Rootstock could be more actively suggesting priorities for the DAO in the consequent months.