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Product design, product management, any roles that touch the digital creation space for app development: all of these are shifting and changing so fast.

In the last couple of weeks, I've had numerous conversations with people in and around these jobs. I've met a lot of people who have changed how they think about building software, and many more who are still trying to figure it out. The contrast is stark from even a year ago when I wrote about the death of Figma.

Earlier this month I started thinking about ways I could look to help, and the impact we can have on each of us by reaching out and supporting someone else—despite feeling uncertain and worried ourselves.

Well, since then, I've had that constant, recurring thought going through my mind.

I'm not sure about the future, but I can be sure about human connection and making a difference for people one at a time. I decided to support wherever I could, worry less about how I'll be impacted personally, and use my time to reduce anxiety for others.

And it's been a blast.

I've had in-person connections with people all across the board, in technical and non-technical positions, learning from others, sharing what I know, and picking up new understandings on how to build and create. It's been amazing.

More specifically, I've been onboarding people into Claude Code. I've been using this tool daily since my friend strongly encouraged that I should give it a try.

And what have I learned?

Namely that building things is still really hard. Even with friction removed (where we can go from an idea to something visual in moments), there's so much more to making a product that helps people than just the design, or the code, or the marketing, or any of the individual pieces I've been learning over the years.

And that gives me some hope. There's parts that will get automated, parts that will get simplified. But we still have the opportunity to find things that need fixing, and help people.

In one conversation I met with a person who was vocally non-technical, but does work that impacts their company. They want to learn how to use tools like Claude Code, and bring ideas to the table that they've had for years. At one point they asked me if something was possible—I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was using the tool in a way I assumed couldn't be done. Turns out you could use the tool that way, I just didn't know because I wasn't seeing it through fresh eyes.

In having conversations, meeting with new people, talking and helping, I've gained a mountain of insight, learned more empathy, and become more familiar with how these tools can improve my own workflows.

I'm not bullish or bearish about AI. I just see it for something that's here, that's impactful, and that will change the future in ways we can't imagine. And my role in all this is to see how I can continue to move forward, provide for my family, and help as many people along the way as possible.

I constantly have that temptation to hold it all in, to keep knowledge to myself, to not share—conceal don't feel. And I'm actively, knowingly, pushing against that. I don't want to hoard and hold, I want to encourage and support. Even if I'm wrong, it's a more fun way to live.

Last week I had the chance to speak with a Lyft driver about his son's career opportunities, and his interest in entering the field of software engineering. Turns out his son was told to get out of the field—despite falling in love with it over the last few years. The advice came from someone who was well meaning, and worried about the future of young people wasting their time and energy. The dad was concerned that his son's passion would turn into a dead end.

I encouraged him to look at it from another perspective. Even though we don't know the future of where AI will come in—and who or what it will replace, I'm relatively certain that someone with a love of their craft, a desire to help others, and willingness to put themselves out there and solve problems: that kind of person will thrive despite the changes and unknowns in our world.

I don't know where that will land with the dad and his son, but I'm hopeful that they'll find where to embrace technology, and combine that with a continued desire to connect with real humans.