You Cannot Predict, You Can Prepare

It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed by the sheer velocity of AI.

Every week brings a new model, a new feature, or a headline declaring that everything is about to change. When the landscape shifts this fast, figuring out where to begin can feel paralyzing.

Billionaire investor Howard Marks famously wrote a memo in 2001 titled: “๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป’๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜. ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.” While he was talking about financial markets, this philosophy is the ultimate playbook for navigating the AI revolution. Here is how to apply that mindset to get yourself ready for what is next:

๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜

If you try to predict exactly where AI will be in three years, you will exhaust yourself. Will AI replace software engineers or make them 10x more productive? Which AI company will dominate? What specific jobs will disappear?

The truth is, no one knows. If you tie your career strategy to a specific prediction, you are building your house on sand.

๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ

Preparation doesn’t mean knowing the future; it means building the resilience and adaptability to thrive no matter what the future looks like.

This brings us to the most crucial shift in how you should approach your AI education: ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น.

Tools are fleeting. Their interfaces change, and eventually, they get replaced. Capabilities – knowing ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ and ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ to apply technology to solve a problem – last a lifetime.

Think of it like photography. Mastering a tool means memorizing the menus on a specific 2026 high-tech camera. Mastering the capability means understanding lighting, composition, and human emotion. The camera will be obsolete in three years; the eye for a great photograph lasts a lifetime.

Donโ€™t just memorize where to click. Instead, master the underlying skills that make AI useful:

  • Problem Decomposition: AI struggles with massive, vague goals but excels at small, defined tasks. Learn to break big projects into bite-sized pieces an AI can actually execute.
  • Critical Evaluation (Taste): AI generates infinite content. The premium skill is no longer creation; it is editing – spotting errors, biases, and mediocrity.
  • Context Building: Models only know what you tell them. Master the ability to clearly articulate the specific constraints and goals of your problem.

How to Start Today

  1. Pick one friction point: Don’t try to automate your whole life. Pick one annoying, repetitive weekly task to experiment with.
  2. Experiment with curiosity: Treat AI like a brilliant but naive intern. When it fails, figure out why, adjust your instructions, and try again.
  3. Double down on human skills: Empathy, strategic vision, and relationship-building are things AI cannot do.

You cannot predict what the AI landscape will look like tomorrow, but by focusing on timeless skills and daily experimentation, you can ensure you are ready for it.

I’d love to hear from you: What is ONE repetitive task you are trying to use AI for this week? Let me know in the comments!

FutureOfWork #ArtificialIntelligence #CareerDevelopment #Productivity #AI #ContinuousLearning

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ “๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ” ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป’๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ. ๐—œ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

We are incredibly lucky to have the privilege of two New Years. It usually serves as a grace period – a chance to review the resolutions we set on January 1st and tweak them if they aren’t working out by the time the Lunar New Year arrives.

Usually, itโ€™s just a status update. A minor pivot.

๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜.

We are just 6 weeks into the year, and the landscape hasn’t just shifted; it has completely transformed. This isn’t the time for an “update.” It is time for a total ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ.

The pace of Agentic AI advancement in these last few weeks has been unprecedented:

  โ€ข ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด & ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ: We now have multiple autonomous models handling complex architecture.

  โ€ข ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ: Video and music generation have leaped forward in fidelity and control.

  โ€ข ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Powerful agentic platforms are popping up from nowhere, automating workflows we thought required human oversight just two months ago.

If your strategy relies on how things worked in December 2025, you are already behind.

๐— ๐˜† ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—Ÿ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป:

Stop trying to fit AI into your old boxes. Don’t just “add AI” to your current Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜†.

Look at your processes and redesign them from the ground up with an “AI-First” mindset. Ask yourself: If I were building this workflow today, with today’s agents, what would it look like?

The window for adaptation is shrinking.

๐—”๐—œ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ.

AI #AgenticAI #FutureOfWork #LunarNewYear #2026Trends #Innovation #TechResolutions

Success is often built on what happens at 2:00 AM

We often celebrate the launch ceremonies and the awards, but we rarely talk about the chaos right before the ribbon-cutting.

Back in 2001, my team was preparing to launch Hong Kong’s first comprehensive e-government platform. But at 2:00 AM on launch day, we discovered a show-stopping issue: a missing SSL Certificate on a key server.

There was no “download from the cloud” back then. I had to physically go get it.

I took a taxi to the Certification Authority in Kwun Tong, told the driver to keep the meter running, and rushed into the data center. An hour later, I emerged with a floppy disk in a brown paper bag-the missing piece of the puzzle.

As I jumped back into the cab and told the driver to floor it, he looked in the rearview mirror and asked, “Mission accomplished?”

“Accomplished,” I said.

He smiled and drove us to the finish line. He probably thought we were spies, but the reality was just as high-stakes for us. The system went live, and the project went on to win the Stockholm Challenge Award.

Reflecting on this 25 years later, the technology has changed, but the lesson hasn’t: Delivery isn’t just about code; it’s about doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

AI Anxiety

Feeling the “AI Anxiety”? You aren’t alone.

Open LinkedIn right now, and it feels like a firehose of information. New tools, new models, new agents, new frameworks. It seems like AI is moving at breakneck speed, and if you blink, youโ€™re already behind.

Iโ€™ll be honest: sometimes it feels impossible to catch up, let alone “master” it all.

But then I remembered a quote by E.L. Doctorow (originally about writing, but perfect for the AI era):

“Itโ€™s like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

You don’t need a map of the entire territory. You don’t need to understand every layer of the neural net or every new tool released this morning.

Stop trying to master everything. Start by mastering something.

You just need to see as far as your headlights:

  • Learn one new prompt technique today.
  • Test one new tool this week.
  • Read one paper that interests you.

You can navigate the entire AI revolution just by focusing on the few meters of road right in front of you. Just keep driving.

What is the “one thing” you are focusing on learning this week?

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #ContinuousLearning #TechTrends

2026, Iโ€™m Ready

Goodbye, 2025.

For many, this was a year of silent grinding. You put in the work. You showed up early. You stayed late. You trained hard.

And yet, maybe the promotion didn’t happen. Maybe the deal didn’t close. Maybe the scale didn’t move.

Do not confuse a delay with a denial.

The gap between “doing the work” and “seeing the result” is where most people quit. But you aren’t most people.

If 2025 was the grind, make 2026 the breakthrough. Keep the standard high. Keep the foot on the gas.

Remember: You didn’t come this far to only come this far.

Let’s get to work.

#Motivation #NewYearGoals #KeepGoing #2026Ready