Specialists vs generalists

We always wondered if we should be specialists or generalists, debating the pros and cons and choosing a path for our careers. Now, with the help of AI, we can increase our productivity by a lot, but more importantly, we can ship anything, even in a technology we don't know well.

Because of this, more and more companies are changing their organizational structure to be leaner and less fragmented, with extreme cases like one company testing one-person teams.

That's why I think generalists will do better. They are not limited to a specific skill set or a stack. With the help of AI, they can ship any kind of product or feature while still having the technical knowledge to judge the AI output.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have a deeper expertise in one area, because this can be an important differentiator. For example, a good software developer with a deep knowledge of front-end and design can still ship anything, but will better guide AI to produce beautiful and distinct websites.

So: do not be only a front-end, a back-end, a QA, or a mobile developer. Be a software developer who can comfortably work with the unknown, who is curious and can learn anything, and most importantly, who can tackle any kind of problem.