# Staying relevant in the age of AI

- **Episode:** [135](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/135.md) (2024-10-10)
- **Type:** panel-interview
- **Tags:** ai, generative-ai, staying-relevant, tech-skills
- **Time:** 52:16–57:55 (start 3136s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/135?t=3136](https://truthliesandwork.com/135?t=3136)

---

[52:16] Nick Korte: Take generative AI. As John said, maybe I, I don't have a deep expertise in data science, and I don't understand maybe the, the deep innards of how train a model and all that stuff. But I can structure the projects I work on in my professional development so that I kind of step into that area so that it includes some piece of generative AI, right? Maybe I use that— for me, I like to use it in trying to figure out what, what to title the podcast that's coming out the next week. Here are my show notes. What are the major themes from this that you saw? Let's see if it's what I picked. And then based on those, what's a good title? And I'll use that to kind of help give me a measuring stick. But like, I think what I'm saying is generative AI, I think of it as a system. There is a system that needs to support that for my organization. That system needs cybersecurity. It needs compliance policies and ethics on how to use it. It needs probably maybe underlying infrastructure that goes with it. So I think that a lot of the other technologies that people know, they can still know those and apply them and work with that new technology in some This is how I would encourage someone— let's say I focus on virtualization today, and I don't know that much about networking. I can go and I can start to talk to the people in network engineering about how what I'm doing could help them or hurt them and start to learn a little bit about that. And I can continue to learn more, and it makes me broader across the stack. So that I've generated this breadth of knowledge across the technology landscape. And that way, if I then need to go deep in an area, it's not just so new that I am 5 levels away from any kind of competency and general understanding. That is how I would do it. How can I tinker with something that would include this new tech for a little while? Is there some personal project or project at work where I could use this? How can I get the double checkmark of accomplishing what I need to accomplish at work, or as a passion project, but still include this other thing that would be beneficial for me to know? That's how I always try to It doesn't always mean I do it or do it well, but that's how I would think about it
[55:09] Al Elliott: Nick and John co-host one of the most popular tech podcasts and have hundreds of guests from tech. So we had to ask them for their favorite conversations
[55:18] Leanne Elliott: I mean, you've spoken to hundreds of guests over the years you've had the podcast. I'm curious who stands out or what What nugget of advice stands out for you over all those conversations that you'd want to share with somebody listening today? Nick, can I start with you?
[55:38] Nick Korte: Some of my favorite conversations are with people who went into the tech industry and reached this role of the principal engineer, like the highest-level individual contributor that you can get to. So, they're making a huge impact. in their organization at a large scope. Recently, a conversation with Max Cannatt-Alexander just keeps replaying in my mind. He was talking about how as you gain expertise and move up in seniority as an individual contributor, you want to be a principal engineer, you should only do the work that only you can do and be careful of getting into those areas that maybe where you should let someone else answer the question, even if you know the answer. So this focusing on what is the unique value I'm providing to the organization in my role and trying to be pretty disciplined about it. But he also talked about you don't want to work on a project forever. And when he starts working on a project that's going to take a lot of time, he immediately starts to think about how can he hand this off. Like, that's one of the first things he thinks about when he starts a new project. How am I going to hand this off once we get it to a certain point so that I don't have to do it forever? I don't have to wean this baby for the rest of my life, right? I can let it grow and give it to someone else. Those stand out. And I think just the, the overall focus on building that body of work that makes you stand out from other people. That is one of the most common themes of everyone on the show who's done something to stand out amongst the rest from a job applicant perspective. So trying to do that little bit extra in documenting your work, making sure it's publicly referenceable, those are the things that stand out to me. And I'm sure there's hundreds more, but those are the ones that are ringing in my head right now