Tech has become a strange field. Professionals worry about AI’s impact on their jobs while simultaneously driving AI adoption. Some embrace new tools eagerly, others use them discreetly, and many feel forced into changes they don’t fully understand. Amid constant innovation, workers question whether they should pivot careers entirely or double down on technical expertise.
Ask ten people what to do and you’ll get ten different answers. The noise is deafening, the advice contradictory, and the future uncertain. Yet certain fundamental truths remain constant regardless of what happens with specific technologies, frameworks, or job markets.
Truth 1: The 9-to-5 Job is Not a Bad Thing
We live in an era where making money through side hustles has never been easier. The internet is saturated with people who left their traditional jobs, sharing stories about newfound freedom and calling their own shots. This creates a pervasive discontent where steady employment feels like failure.
But here’s what gets lost in the narrative. Most successful entrepreneurs who claim they’ve escaped corporate life are in that position because they now sell courses and products teaching others how to escape. They’ve found a business model in discontent itself, creating an audience of people questioning perfectly good situations.
When you return from running your own business to a full-time role, reality hits differently. You realize that most 9-to-5 professionals aren’t living in delusion. They’re making steady money with good insurance, taking regular paid vacations, being challenged and growing professionally. They maintain social connections, enjoy hobbies, spend time with families, and aren’t talking about JavaScript 24/7.
Meanwhile, running your own business often means overwork, unsteady pay, overpriced insurance, isolation, and wondering whether you’ve been comparing yourself to online personas while people who ignore that noise are actually thriving. Unless you’re completely financially free, whoever pays you is your boss with deadlines. Even entrepreneurs have customers, investors, or partners directing their time. We’re designed to work, and waking up every morning with nothing to pursue would grow stale quickly.
Truth 2: Stop Viewing Yourself as an Employee
Here’s the mindset shift that matters most. Typically, you get a role at a great company, truly love the product, feel part of a family, and are appreciated. Then one day they tell you to pack up—they no longer need you. Devastation follows because you unintentionally built your identity around this company and their product. You became an engineer at Microsoft or a data analyst at DataDog, and now that identity is gone leaving a void.
The issue is viewing yourself as an employee belonging to an employer. Instead, view your employer as one of your customers. You’re in the business of software development or AI consulting. The skill set is yours to own. Your employer pays you money to provide services, taking up 40 hours of your week. They might be your only customer, but this perspective shifts everything from powerlessness and dependency to autonomy and self-direction.
Instead of saying I work in cyber security at Microsoft, reframe it as I’m a cyber defense strategist who specializes in protecting cloud infrastructure. This mindset allows you to actively manage desired career outcomes rather than passively waiting for employer decisions. When they terminate your position, you won’t lose your identity because your professional identity exists independently of any single company.
Redefine Your Professional Identity
You don’t just work for a company — you shape your own expertise. Stop saying you “work in cybersecurity at Microsoft.” Instead, say you’re a Cyber Defense Strategist specializing in protecting cloud infrastructure. When your skills define your identity, no employer decision can define your future.
Explore Cyber Strategy & Cloud Security Roles →Truth 3: AI Extremism is Unhealthy
Recent years have flooded timelines with what might be called AI extremism—hundreds of videos daily claiming AI has transformed lives, saving hours of work per day. These often involve connecting AI to Google accounts to filter emails, with the AI deciding which messages are important, supposedly saving four hours daily. The question remains whether people actually use these systems.
Do you receive so many emails that AI filtering becomes necessary? When did the unsubscribe link lose relevance? Why allow AI to sift through personal emails? And situations where AI agents order groceries at turtle speed using credit cards while you could complete the task faster yourself—this isn’t productive automation but performance art.
While excited about the technology and seeing legitimate benefits ahead, the hypotheticals being treated as norms create anxiety. The content makes people believe AI is much further along than current reality in terms of actual adoption, generating unnecessary fear. This keeps audiences in constant anxiety about being left behind.
Instead of delegating trivial tasks to AI agents, use AI for meaningful purposes like medical discoveries, technical education, or building sophisticated systems. Maintain realistic perspectives about actual capabilities versus marketing claims, and remember that checking your own email, glancing at calendars, and ordering groceries yourself are perfectly reasonable approaches.
Truth 4: Balanced AI is Necessary
Despite concerns about extremism, certain AI applications are genuinely transformative. Using ChatGPT daily to explain concepts and plan projects while having it write substantial portions of code represents powerful capability. However, understanding programming is essential—knowing what you want and how to prompt AI properly separates serious professionals from those who simply vibe code together and expect others to trust them with data and payment information.
The day when you can successfully write code without any coding skills may come, but today isn’t that day. If you understand programming fundamentals, or invest one to two months learning basics, AI becomes incredibly beneficial. Building an MCP server for a home lab where you orchestrated every step but wrote little code personally demonstrates this perfectly.
Or creating a portfolio tracking app that monitors average stock pricing and alerts when stocks fall below average for buying opportunities—accomplished in about an hour with AI writing most code while you provide oversight and direction. This represents mind-blowing capability when used appropriately.
For those still cautious about AI, I would urge trying it minimally in your workflow. Be careful, tell it not to write code directly but rather suggest approaches, and use it as an advisor. This is where the industry has already moved. The boat has left, and you need to get on board. While not necessary for becoming a great programmer, AI integration is necessary for future career success.
Truth 5: Coding Alone is Getting Phased Out
The big question consuming developers concerns the future of coding itself. With AI overshadowing traditional skills, where does that leave career paths?
Coding alone is a skill that’s diminishing. Consider the developer who moved from senior to principal engineer, where duties shifted from coding 85% of the day to overseeing larger pictures, architecting, managing, and working with third-party teams. Over time, while coding skills improve, you must adapt and foster broader, softer skills making you more than just a developer.
In my own career journey from full-stack web development to site reliability engineering to developer relations to YouTube to developer experience, I realized that while I enjoy coding, skills like making technical concepts simple to understand and helping developers adopt products became more valuable.
As AI handles routine coding, skills like problem-solving, driving AI and agents, providing solutions, and navigating cloud systems become prominent. During major technological transitions, new opportunities emerge requiring technical people. While many predict a future where humans have nothing to do because AI handles everything, this overlooks human nature—we’ll create the next phase of history, and everything created will involve technological complexity. Be a technical person broadly defined: coding, technical books, cloud concepts, networking, math, problem-solving.
The Next Era of Technical Talent
As AI automates routine coding, the edge shifts to those who can think, adapt, and build across systems. From cloud architecture to AI-driven workflows, the future belongs to problem-solvers who understand technology deeply and broadly. In every new wave of innovation, it’s the technical minds who create the next phase of history.
Explore AI & Cloud Engineering Roles →Truth 6: You Need Hobbies
Centering your entire life around work isn’t healthy. This is why many 9-to-5 professionals maintain happiness—they get paid vacations, work hours end each day, and this stability creates opportunities for life beyond work. They hike, bike, play sports, travel, play music. They enjoy themselves using money earned from stable careers.
I’ve been guilty of work obsession. A few years ago, I became aware that all I talked about was work, and that’s all people asked me about. This happened because I had nothing else going on—no hobbies beyond coding, which was also my job. These days, maintaining balance requires intentionality.
Think back to past interests, explore current passions. Join a gym, get a bike, plan a trip, start playing chess, get a kayak, pick up sports. MKBHD represented the United States in World Ultimate Frisbee Championships last year. Now that’s a hobby. Think about how exciting your life is. Your work may not be thrilling, but the paycheck enables doing more exciting things.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should I leave my 9-to-5 job to avoid being outdated by AI?
A: No. Most successful entrepreneurs selling the “escape your 9-to-5” narrative profit from discontent. Traditional employment offers stability, benefits, and life balance that many find more rewarding than constant uncertainty.
Q: How do I protect my career if AI is taking over coding?
A: Develop broader technical skills including problem-solving, system design, cloud navigation, and human-AI collaboration. Coding alone is diminishing, but technical people who can orchestrate AI and solve complex problems remain essential.
Q: Should I believe all the AI transformation stories online?
A: Be skeptical. Much AI extremism content is hypothetical presented as norms. Many businesses still haven’t found AI use cases, and most AI claims focus on trivial tasks you can do faster yourself.
Q: How should I use AI in my work?
A: Mindfully. If you understand programming, AI can amplify your capabilities in writing code and planning projects. If you don’t, use it as an advisor rather than a replacement. Don’t let AI agents handle critical decisions without oversight.
Q: What happens to developers who only code?
A: Their opportunities are shrinking. Those who evolve into architects, advisors, and problem-solvers who orchestrate AI tools will thrive. Develop soft skills, communication abilities, and broader technical knowledge beyond just coding.
Q: Is work-life balance still possible in tech?
A: Yes. Intentionally maintain hobbies and interests outside work. Many successful tech professionals enjoy stable employment that enables pursuing passions, not preventing them.
