Confessions of a Millennial in Tech
A millennial professional in tech reflects on the rapid pace of change driven by AI, which is disrupting established career paths and rendering previously valuable skills less relevant. The speed of innovation creates a sense of falling behind, even among experienced workers, and challenges traditional hierarchies in the industry. As automation reshapes knowledge work, value may shift from execution to judgment, prioritization, and strategic decision-making.
- ▪AI is advancing so quickly that even seasoned tech professionals feel they are operating on outdated mental models.
- ▪Many skills developed over years in growth, marketing, product management, and sales are losing leverage due to automation.
- ▪The productivity gains from AI are being absorbed by higher expectations, not reduced workloads.
- ▪Seniority signals like experience are weakening as younger workers can produce competent results rapidly with AI tools.
- ▪The economic implications of AI could reduce compensation premiums for knowledge work as output becomes easier and more abundant.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Career GrowthConfessions of a Millennial in TechA lot of mixed feelings and unanswered questions.Elena VernaApr 06, 20265886582ShareI’ve been in tech long enough to think I’d already lived through the big shifts.We went from on-prem to cloud. Then came digital transformation, where every company suddenly needed to become a software company (whether they had any business doing so or not). Entire stacks got rebuilt - .NET stopped feeling inevitable, Python spread everywhere, and everyone got weirdly excited about Next.js. Mobile came in hot (B2B, naturally, is still deciding whether a phone is a real device). Recurring revenue became our SaaS religion. Remote work exploded, then partially un-exploded. Product-led growth rewired how companies scaled.Each wave felt big. AI feels 10x bigger.
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