Hi friends, Recently, many clients asked me: "Should I become an AI product manager?" "I'm a researcher, should I pivot to AI engineer? Will all my expertise become a waste of time?" I hear this panic constantly. People trying to predict the perfect next move with AI changing everything. But here's the truth: It's impossible to predict what happens next year. No one predicted ChatGPT. We don't know more today than we did then. So it actually doesn't matter if you stay in analytics,...
4 days ago • 2 min read
Hello friends, Let me tell you what's really happening in 2025: There are no employees anymore. Only contractors. Let me explain why. "Full-time" job just means the contract could last a bit longer. "Full-time" employees are just contractors working with one client at a time. Most people don't realize they're already living in the Contractor Economy: Companies hire contractors from cheaper countries Layoffs hit even profitable tech companies The average person changes jobs every 2-3 years...
9 days ago • 3 min read
Hello friends, I’ve heard managers refer to their teams as “resources” and “headcount.” To your company, you’re a line item on a budget. A skill set they need to achieve business goals, not a full human being. It sounds cold, but it’s reality. And that's ok! To be fair, you also treat your company as a vehicle to make money and grow your career. If they stop serving you, you leave. Neither side is wrong - it’s just business. So, you can either whine about being replaceable, or you can figure...
12 days ago • 2 min read
Hi friends, I'm on a spontaneous trip to Seattle, and just realized it's been 10 years since my first time here. In 2015, I had my onsite interview with Amazon in Seattle. After the interview, I got a sandwich and sat on the exact stool in the photo (left), looking out at the water and mountains, thinking: If I get this offer, I'm moving here. I was living in LA. When I told people I was considering Seattle, almost everyone had something to say. The weather is terrible. You'll be miserable....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi friends, Last week, I wrote about the "option ladder" — the idea that you don't have to feel trapped on the corporate ladder, that you can start building your own options while you're still employed. This week, I want to share how I built mine. 2017 – My first blog. I started writing tech blogs on Medium. My thought was simple: I want something that belongs to me outside of my job. I want to grow ideas and reputation as assets — those are mine forever even after I leave Amazon. At that...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi friends, Since the pandemic, I've heard this exact sentence from people in Big Tech. High salaries, good benefits, prestigious companies — and they feel completely empty inside. Is work-life balance the answer? One person I know rage-quitfor a "better culture" job. Three months later: "Still feel empty. Just with less money now." You know the feeling, don't you? You used to jump on Slack messages. Now you just stare at the notification. You open your laptop and think, "What am I even doing...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi friends, My mentee recently shared that she received great feedback from her most challenging manager — someone who is too busy to provide sufficient context or answer her questions. She was left with a lot of ambiguity, but the challenge is an opportunity for her to demonstrate her value. Turn ambiguity into clarity and move things forward. That's when she started treating her manager like a child, a toddler, and that's how everything changed. Let me break down why this worked. Think...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi friends, As I write this post, OpenAI has just launched GPT-5. AI is becoming increasingly intelligent in a way that I don't know what else will be impossible. And I recently had a debate with a friend about whether AI is creating more jobs (net count). So, next week, I'm doing a virtual fireside chat with my friend, Ben Rogojan, aka Seattle Data Guy, on "Big Tech vs Freelance Data Consulting, which one is right for you". If you are a senior IC or a leader in data science/AI, wondering...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello friends, Last week, my friend John working in finance told me about his incompetent colleague G. This guy doesn’t have the finance skills, and says no to a lot of work. But while John pulls all-nighters creating presentations, G is the one presenting them to stakeholders and winning them over. Wide shoulders, good looks, perfectly timed jokes. G is the type of person who walks into a room and somehow you just trust him more. Many people in his organization hate him. But a few key...
4 months ago • 2 min read