Automate the toil. Keep the skills that make you dangerous.
You use AI to code HTML every time, so you stop thinking about semantic markup. Then you need to debug, and you're lost. You've traded current speed for future capability.
The skills you'll need for the next 5 years. Write them down.
Never let AI fully own what makes you valuable.
Boilerplate, repetition, scaffolding — that's AI territory.
Do 30% of core work by hand to stay sharp.
Use AI as a starting point you can explain, not a black box.
You keep the skills that give you pricing power and decision-making authority. AI handles toil. You stay dangerous.
You manage stakeholder communication in a complex org. Use AI for routine status updates and boilerplate. But write the emails that navigate conflict or deliver bad news yourself. Stay sharp on judgment calls. You're irreplaceable on strategic work.