Saiful

Lately, I’ve been joining a lot of Spaces on X and introducing myself to new people. But behind those introductions is a reality that many people may not fully understand. Because AI has become so advanced, my team was reduced from 20 people to just 4. As a result, I lost my job. 😭 Now, I’m struggling to find new opportunities. I barely see any relevant job openings, and even when companies publish vacancies, they receive a huge number of applications. Companies are struggling to shortlist CVs from thousands of candidates. People often tell me, “You should have learned to use AI better!” But the irony is that I already know what AI can do because I’ve been using it regularly in my work. I understand just how powerful its output has become. Think about this: I had never written a single line of blockchain code before. Yet today, I can build fully functional applications for different testnet projects using AI. And that, in my opinion, is one of the main reasons the job market is struggling right now. The barrier to building software has dropped dramatically. Someone who has never been a developer can now build a working product with AI. In some cases, a marketer or researcher might even build something better than a traditional developer because they already have specific marketing strategies, product ideas, or research insights. Meanwhile, many developers, including those with a developer mindset like mine, have spent years mastering coding but haven't invested nearly enough time in learning marketing, sales, or business. And this is where many developers are getting caught off guard. Today, both developers and marketers can build products. The difference is that marketers often understand how to sell those products, identify customers, and communicate value. Most developers haven't developed those skills to the same extent because we've spent so much time focusing on the technical side of things. Building a product is no longer the biggest challenge. Getting people to use it and convincing them to pay for it is becoming just as important, if not more important. Of course, I believe this difficult period may eventually pass. Perhaps developers and designers will regain their position in the market. Perhaps the demand for deep technical expertise will grow again. But notice that I said perhaps. I'm not making predictions because, honestly, nobody knows exactly how long this transition will take or what the job market will look like when things settle down. For now, we're living through a period of uncertainty, and people like me are trying to figure out where we fit in this rapidly changing world. I'm sharing my experience not because I have all the answers, but because I know I'm not the only developer going through this. AI isn't just changing how we work. It's changing who can build, who can compete, and what skills are actually valuable in the market. And we're only beginning to understand what that means for our future.