del·uge
Adaptability goes hand in hand with working in tech. It’s almost second nature to anyone in the industry, whether you’re in software engineering, operations, data, or even management. That’s certainly been true for me. Over the past eight years or so, I’ve adapted and found my way into roles I never imagined I’d fit into.
I’ve worked with different programming languages since I first learned to code in college, starting with Java and C#, moving into PHP and Ruby, and even experimenting with functional languages like Haskell. Funny enough, I never expected JavaScript to be the language I’d end up working with the longest, or that I’d become so proficient in CSS along the way.
My career has taken a similar path. I’ve always had an interest in design, so I used my graphic design hobby as a foundation to explore UI/UX and web design. When I learned programming, I built on that experience and moved into front-end development. Eventually, I found myself taking on back-end tasks, and by the time I became an intern, I was already doing full-stack development. I stuck with it for a while before briefly specializing in front-end development again. Eventually, I made the move into DevOps, and now I’m leaning more toward platform engineering and site reliability engineering (SRE).
Looking back, my career hasn’t exactly followed a straight path, but every turn I’ve taken has been intentional. Whenever I see an opportunity that could benefit my career, whether in the short or long term, I don’t hesitate to pursue it, even if it means stepping into unfamiliar territory or changing direction entirely. Along the way, I’ve learned that I don’t need to know everything before taking something on. Sometimes, you just have to figure things out as you go, fail fast, learn from your mistakes, and keep delivering.
But this time, things feel different.
It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with change. It’s just that I’ve never experienced things changing this quickly, in so many directions at once. I’m talking about AI, of course. Over the past year or two, it feels like the entire tech industry has been moving at a pace I’ve never seen before, and frankly, it’s been overwhelming.
I’ve been overwhelmed before, but the challenges I faced in engineering back then still felt manageable. Developers mostly argued about which programming language or framework to use, and that was pretty much it. If you felt overwhelmed by all the options, you could just pick one, learn it, and maybe explore another two or three later on.
But with AI, it’s different. Everything is developing so quickly that even when you’re actively trying to catch up, you somehow still feel left behind. I’ve only recently started taking AI seriously and even subscribed to Anthropic and OpenAI on YouTube just to keep track of their updates. These companies are releasing new features like they’re printing random text on paper with an unlimited supply of ink.
And it’s not just the technology itself that’s moving quickly. AI has also made it easier than ever for people to build applications, turning ideas into actual products in a fraction of the time it used to take. On one hand, I think that’s great. On the other, it’s getting harder to keep up with everything people are putting out there.
We now have local app builder communities popping up, which I don’t necessarily have anything against. But I’m starting to understand why some tech content creators have been complaining about app development fatigue. Suddenly, everyone’s an entrepreneur selling their own software products. Some are revamping old applications, others are recreating existing ones with a fresh coat of paint, and then selling them with a different payment model.
Instead of subscriptions, some charge a one-time fee of around $7–8. That might not sound like much to someone in the West, but locally, that’s a pretty hefty price for something like a budget tracker or a Mac app that blurs your screen as you slowly close your MacBook, mimicking the folding effect of the recently announced iPhone Duo.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily hate these products or the people building them. I just find the whole thing a little weird right now. I’m all for making software development more accessible and seeing more people turn their ideas into actual products. I just think it’s worth remembering how crowded some of these markets already are. The pie is only so big, and with everyone trying to get a slice, some might already be fighting over the crumbs.
I know, maybe I sound like I’m just ranting at this point, and maybe I really am. Some might even think this is just another engineer crying foul over his own incompetence, or as people would put it, a skill issue, and that I should just git gud. Trust me, I’m well aware of that. But if there’s one thing I’ve proven to myself over the years, it’s that I can adapt, and I will.
I haven’t survived this long in the industry just to back down now.