From Geek to Star #39 - “Something big is happening”

If you missed the previous episodes, you can access them online here.

🗓️ This Week – Episode 39: When the water reaches the chest

I started a few days ago to pen down my ideas for this episode. Then I stumbled upon this Linkedin article “Something big is happening” published on Thursday 11th of February 2026 by Matt Shumer, founder of a company called OthersideAI, and had gone viral, 20 million views in just 24 hours. 

I'll be making a summary in a few lines here for you but do take 15 minutes to read about it. It will definitely spark some questions regarding yourself and also changes around you due to AI. 

The Post That Stopped Everyone Scrolling

Shumer compares our current moment - February 2026 - to February 2020, when there were just a few people voicing concerns about a virus spreading overseas.. Then, over three weeks, everything changed.

His central claim is stark: "I think we're in the 'this seems overblown' phase of something much, much bigger than Covid." 

What makes this hit differently from the usual AI hype? Shumer writes: "I am no longer needed for the actual technical work of my job. I describe what I want built, in plain English, and it just… appears. Not a rough draft I need to fix. The finished thing."

He describes telling the AI what he wants, walking away from his computer for four hours, and coming back to find the work done well, done better than he would have done it himself, with no corrections needed.

The turning point? February 5, 2026, when new flagship models were released - GPT-5.3 Codex from OpenAI and Opus 4.6 from Anthropic. With GPT-5.3-Codex being the first model that was instrumental in creating itself... AI helping to build better AI. The feedback loop is closing.

His warning to those outside tech: "The experience that tech workers have had over the past year, of watching AI go from 'helpful tool' to 'does my job better than I do', is the experience everyone else is about to have. Law, finance, medicine, accounting, consulting, writing, design, analysis, customer service."

🔥 The Backlash Was Swift

Within hours, the critiques started pouring in. Scientist and entrepreneur Gary Marcus criticized the post for lacking any hard data to back up the assertions 

Vishal Misra, who runs controlled experiments on AI models, published a thoughtful counter-analysis. He argues that these models are Bayesian inference engines that reason brilliantly within existing frameworks but cannot invent new ones - they cannot "redraw the map while reading it" His take on jobs? "The jobs that involve navigating known territory will be affected. The jobs that involve redrawing the map - figuring out what to build, what questions to ask, what problems are worth solving - are the ones where humans remain not just relevant but indispensable." 

Others pointed to the range of predictions from tech leaders. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has said AI will automate tasks rather than eliminate roles wholesale. Accenture and McKinsey analysts echo this more tempered view: AI will restructure work more than it eradicates it, at least in the medium term.

🧠 What I Think Is Actually Happening

I've been sitting with this for a few days now. Reading the viral post. Reading the rebuttals. Talking to tech leaders and engineers in my network here in Singapore and beyond.

Here's what I believe, drawing from my 27 years across tech and my current work mentoring tech professionals:

Both sides are partially right. And that's what makes this moment so disorienting.

Something significant IS happening. I see it in my own work. In Newsletter #37, I shared how I've been building automation workflows for my solo venture. What used to take me days now takes hours. 

But - and this is crucial - I can only do this well because I have 27 years of experience to bring to the table.

I know what good looks like. I understand system design. I can spot when AI-generated analysis, business plan, system design, etc… will create problems three months down the line. I have the judgment that comes from Experience - the E in SHINE.

💡 The Real Question We Should Be Asking

The debate shouldn't be "Will AI take all our jobs?" versus "AI is just a tool that will augment us."

The real question is: "What kind of professionals will thrive in a world where execution speed is no longer a differentiator?"

Think about it through the SHINE framework:

S - Soft Skills: When AI can write code, create presentations, draft reports... your ability to communicate intent clearly, influence without authority, facilitate alignment across silos - these become MORE valuable, not less.

H - Hard Skills: The bar is shifting. Basic coding? AI's got it. But system architecture that accounts for business constraints, security governance, technical debt management, understanding trade-offs - this requires human judgment built on experience and understanding of specific context, including informal context.

I - Industry Knowledge: AI cannot invent new frameworks - it reasons within existing ones. Understanding your industry's unique dynamics, connecting technology to business value, seeing opportunities others miss again because the context of your company is different from the competitors - this is where you differentiate.

N - Network: In a rapidly changing world, your relationships become your resilience. The tech leaders I know who are navigating this well aren't doing it alone. They're learning from peers, sharing openly, building coalitions.

E - Experience: This is your moat. The pattern recognition that comes from living through complexity. Knowing what to build, not just how to build it. Understanding second-order effects. This is what AI cannot replicate from you specifically.

🎯 What This Means Practically

If you're reading this and feeling anxious - good. Not paralyzed, but alert. As I wrote in Newsletter #18 on career resilience: optionality is a must, you must prepare plan B and plan C in your career. Ignoring it won't make it go away.

For Individual Contributors:

Don't compete on speed. You'll lose. Compete on judgment. On knowing WHAT to build before AI builds HOW. This means:

• Deepen your industry knowledge (the I of SHINE)

• Build relationships beyond your immediate team (the N)

• Work on problems that require navigating ambiguity, not just executing clear specs

• Document your learnings and become a teacher - this forces you to articulate your judgment

For Tech Leaders:

Your role is changing faster than you might realize. If you're still valued primarily for technical execution, you're vulnerable. Instead:

• Position yourself as a strategic partner who connects tech to business outcomes

• Build cross-functional influence (remember Newsletter #32 on leadership facilitation)

• Develop your team's capacity for judgment, not just productivity

• Create spaces for collaborative learning

For Everyone:

Remember Newsletter #26: "First learn stand, then learn fly." In this AI age:

• Standing means building foundations AI cannot replace

• Flying means leveraging AI for what it does best

• But you can't skip standing and go straight to flying

🔮 The Part That Keeps Me Up At Night

Here's what worries me most, and it's something neither Shumer's alarmist post nor the calm rebuttals fully address:

How do junior engineers develop judgment when AI can execute everything?

In Newsletter #16, I warned young engineers: don't let AI do all your thinking. The struggle is where learning happens. But if companies can get AI to produce working code immediately, why would they invest in training juniors?

This creates a pipeline problem. Today's senior engineers built their expertise over years of hands-on work. If we skip that phase for the next generation, where do future senior engineers come from?

I don't have a full answer. But I know this: the engineers and leaders who are thinking about this question - who are intentionally creating learning opportunities even when AI could do it faster - they're the ones building sustainable teams.

✨ Finding Your Way Forward

As I've been writing this newsletter for over 6 months now, one theme keeps emerging: intentionality.

You can't control whether AI will disrupt your industry. But you can control how you respond.

Some will panic. Some will deny. Some will adapt thoughtfully.

The third group - the ones who engage critically, experiment deliberately, and build their SHINE across all five dimensions - they're the ones who will not just survive but thrive.

🙏 I’d Love to Hear From You

What is your take on this viral post? Just some more buzz or something profound you are thinking about as well?

Reply to this email, I read every note.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more reflections and “behind-the-scenes” thinking between newsletters. Don’t hesitate to comment or reshare,  it’s one of the best ways to grow your SHINE 🌟. 

P.S. Referral Pilot 🚀

Forward this email to one engineer or tech friend who could also benefit from this newsletter: sharing is caring - a little gesture can go a long way to strengthen bonds.

✨ May the SHINE be with you!

From Geek to Star by Khang | The Way Forward