Oh man, I am so torn on this. On the one hand I agree AI is both merging and flattening roles. On the other I don’t think we’ll eliminate specialisations - I think they’ll still exist, but that they’ll be carved along different lines (especially domain/problem space). eg some builders will focus on the platform, others on specific value streams. You could bounce between the two, but the rest may be that your career capital isn’t as accumulative (ie you’re partially “starting over” even if some stuff stays transferable) - which is similar to bouncing between eg DS and DE (but less extreme, for the reasons you have presented re:AI’s impact on the work)
I also think there’s a lane between the strategist and the builder we’ve been really bad at identifying both pre-AI and now: Change management. If you had to slot it in your 2 I’m guessing it would go into Strategist, but it’s an example of a specialisation I think makes sense to treat as something separate to eg “how do we land this insight with our stakeholders” or “how do we identify and prioritise new problems for the builder team to solve”
first of all, love your posts especially the end of ai buffet was an amazing read and thought provoking. read it at least 3 times. on this post, I don’t know if it right answer will be 2 or 3, and the key thing that i am seeing is that it won’t be 10+ data roles and sprawl that we currently have. what that specifically means for individual practioners is that there is alpha in going broad vs going super deep in one area.
Oh man, I am so torn on this. On the one hand I agree AI is both merging and flattening roles. On the other I don’t think we’ll eliminate specialisations - I think they’ll still exist, but that they’ll be carved along different lines (especially domain/problem space). eg some builders will focus on the platform, others on specific value streams. You could bounce between the two, but the rest may be that your career capital isn’t as accumulative (ie you’re partially “starting over” even if some stuff stays transferable) - which is similar to bouncing between eg DS and DE (but less extreme, for the reasons you have presented re:AI’s impact on the work)
I also think there’s a lane between the strategist and the builder we’ve been really bad at identifying both pre-AI and now: Change management. If you had to slot it in your 2 I’m guessing it would go into Strategist, but it’s an example of a specialisation I think makes sense to treat as something separate to eg “how do we land this insight with our stakeholders” or “how do we identify and prioritise new problems for the builder team to solve”
first of all, love your posts especially the end of ai buffet was an amazing read and thought provoking. read it at least 3 times. on this post, I don’t know if it right answer will be 2 or 3, and the key thing that i am seeing is that it won’t be 10+ data roles and sprawl that we currently have. what that specifically means for individual practioners is that there is alpha in going broad vs going super deep in one area.
You’re being too kind ☺️ I’m glad you liked it!!
Yeah I’m with you - I left my comment more to express my uncertainty too rather than push for a specific view