AI Is The "here, not evenly distributed" Thing
Title: AI Is The "here, not evenly distributed" Thing
Published On: Jul 17, 2026
The value of code is going to zero. A lot of people hear this and freak out. People hate change. But I recently heard a good frame for thinking about this: when people are unbothered by change, it’s because they don’t see the change as change.
As a software engineer, I know that the value of code going to zero isn’t actually a change. If anything, it excites me. A lot of my value comes from having domain expertise in software, and especially from being able to think like an engineer. The shift with AI has forced me to spend more time designing, thinking, and communicating. This is one of the reasons I’m forcing myself into a writing habit now.
But to be at the forefront, I need agency. I need to proactively try new products and frameworks, and frequently change the way I work. It’s important to listen carefully to what people at the frontier are saying and building, because they have the most information. They might not be right, but it’s worth seeing it for myself.
And with that, I’d like to introduce the Technologist. This is someone who understands the technology and the value of AI, is trying new products, and most importantly, can build products that use AI to its full potential to achieve a goal.
Pair a Technologist with any non-technical job, and that non-technical person is now more capable and can achieve 100x the results.
Because this is all happening so fast, there’s a transition phase where AI is capable enough, but it still takes a Technologist to make it happen.. Soon enough, the technology will be so widely adopted that there’ll be no need for a Technologist.
In the meantime, a Technologist will think creatively and systematically about achieving a goal, and the non-technical person will set that goal and give the Technologist the constraints and domain expertise it requires. Together, this pair is more powerful than either part alone.
William Gibson said ‘The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.’ The Technologist is the one distributing it.