The Career Pivot Nobody Saw Coming
Technology once rescued his career. Then, 25 years later, technology helped take it away. After an injury ended his future in the forest industry, a young man retrained as a programmer at the beginning of the Internet age. He discovered that he had an exceptional ability to understand complicated systems, translate operational problems into technology, and build applications that worked. He joined a small software company, helped it grow into an industry leader, and enjoyed a successful career for almost a quarter century. Then artificial intelligence changed the economics of software development. Routine coding could increasingly be automated. Development teams became smaller. His position disappeared. His mistake was not a lack of talent. It was failing to recognize how quickly the market around his talent was changing. That is the cautionary lesson. Professionals can no longer assume that being excellent at today’s job will protect them from tomorrow’s disruption. We
