When I arrived at Google in 2006, experienced professionals were rare. At 31, I felt "ancient" despite having minimal work experience. That was the culture then - young, experimental, move fast.
Years later, as an executive, I made difficult decisions cutting middle-management roles. People with 15-25 years of experience whose value wasn't "directly billable enough." Financially necessary at the time. But I knew we were losing something.
Institutional judgment. The ability to look at something and know - from experience, not data - whether it was right or wrong.
Now, watching AI-generated content flood social platforms, the consequence is clear.
You'd absolutely kill to have those people back now, wouldn't you? That layer of judgment sitting between the machine and what goes out the door.
The economics haven't improved. But experienced judgment has become demonstrably more valuable. "Cheap energy" from AI cannot replace scarce human wisdom and discernment.
My advice to clients: balance AI implementation with sufficient human judgment. Without enough human judgment and with too much AI - you can really cock things up.
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