Career

Something shifted in early 2026 — and if you blinked, you might have missed it. The AI industry stopped running benchmark races and started asking harder questions: Can these systems actually work in production? Do the business models hold up? And how do we do this without blowing something up? This isn’t a hype piece. It’s a map — of where we are, why it matters, what could go wrong, and what you can do about it. ...

Three years into my career, I had an identity crisis. The specialist path: “Master React. Become the React expert everyone comes to.” The generalist path: “Learn everything. Frontend, backend, DevOps, design, product.” Everyone had advice: Senior Dev A: “Specialize. Companies pay for deep expertise.” Senior Dev B: “Be a generalist. Adaptability is the future.” Recruiter: “Be T-shaped. Deep in one area, broad across many.” Me: “What the hell does T-shaped actually mean?” ...