After 20 years in product, I know a “naive” timeline when I see one. Or at least, I used to.
This week, I sat through a pre-sales pitch where the team promised a transition from a managed service to a full API in seven days, followed by a self-managed platform in a month.
Old me: “Impossible. They’re dreaming.” March 2026 me: “Sounds about right. See you in thirty days.”
The “Velocity Shift” is here. Even if they’re a week late or the first version is buggy, we are operating at speeds that were unthinkable two years ago. AI-supported development matured this quarter, and it has fundamentally changed the math of “execution.”
The new multi-tasking: I watched a colleague this week direct AI agents to build deep-tech PoCs while he stayed fully engaged in back-to-back video calls. It wasn’t production code, but it was functional code. It moved the needle in real-time.
The Chasm: Last year’s talk of an “employment apocalypse” might have been hyperbolic, but the underlying truth is now undeniable. If you aren’t using these tools, you aren’t just slower—you’re operating in a different era.
The gap between the “AI-augmented” and the “AI-resistant” is no longer a crack; it’s a canyon. And it’s widening every single week.
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