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

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

๐€๐ˆ ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ”: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ก๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐€๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง

We are rapidly hitting the natural ceiling of the “chatbot era.”

For the last three years, the dominant AI strategy has been refining human-to-machine conversation. Weโ€™ve built better models and smoother interfaces, essentially trying to make software “talk” like a human. We have automated the retrieval and summarization of information.

But as we look toward 2026, simply making AI talk better won’t generate competitive advantage. To understand the necessary strategic pivot, consider this insight from Paulo Coelho:

“๐˜‰๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ. ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด.”

๐“๐ก๐ž “๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง” ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ฉ

For centuries, humans failed to fly because we were obsessed with flapping wings. We thought flight meant mimicking nature. We only succeeded when we stopped imitating birds and built fixed wings and enginesโ€”mechanisms that looked different but achieved the outcome of flight far more effectively.

Right now, many enterprises are still flapping their wings.

We are forcing complex business processes into chat interfaces. While useful for triage, the chat box is a bottleneck for true cognitive work. It mimics human interaction, rather than leveraging machine speed and scale.

๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ”: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐„๐ซ๐š ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐€๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ญ

If the current phase is imitation, 2026 is about flight. The strategic advantage will shift from Conversational Bots to Autonomous AI Agents.

The difference is the move from imitation to agency:

๐Ÿ”น ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ญ๐›๐จ๐ญ tells you the steps required to fix a supply chain disruption. It chats with you about the problem.

๐Ÿ”น ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐€๐ ๐ž๐ง๐ญ detects the delay, re-routes the shipment, updates the ERP, and simply asks for your final sign-off.

The future isn’t a better chat interface; it is cognitive orchestration.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐œ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐๐š๐ญ๐ž

To prepare for 2026, stop asking, “How can we add a chat interface to this workflow?”

Start asking, “If we stop imitating human conversation, what outcomes can we empower an agent to execute autonomously?”

Don’t just build a better bird. Build the engine.

AIstrategy #AIAgents #2026 #FutureOfWork #EnterpriseAI

How To Find Your Next Book To Read?

Christmas is around the corner and itโ€™s about time to create my 2026 reading list.

I used to rely on the “Customers who bought this also bought that” feature. While efficient, it has a significant downside: homogenization.

Algorithms tend to feed us more of what we already know. If we all rely on the same suggestion engine, we end up reading the same books and thinking the same thoughts.

Thatโ€™s not discovery; thatโ€™s reinforcement.

To find truly fresh ideas, I go offline. Before I download anything to my Kindle, I tour physical bookstores – specifically the Translated Books section.

The Logic:

If a local publisher is willing to acquire rights, pay for translation, and print physical copies, that book has passed a rigorous vetting process. It implies the content is valuable enough to justify significant financial risk outside its home market.

I browse the shelves to find these gems, then head home and buy the original English versions for my eReader.

Itโ€™s a powerful strategy that hasn’t failed me yet. How do you prepare your reading list?

ReadingList #BookLovers #Kindle #ContinuousLearning