We were the unicorns. Now we're just horses in the age of automobiles.

And I'm still trying to figure out if that terrifies or excites me.

For 20 years, technical founders were mythical creatures. Rare. Magical. Irreplaceable.

I still remember when, as CTO, I earned more than my CEO. Our investors insisted on it - "the only way to keep technical talent."

Yesterday, that mythology shattered.

I was discussing with another CTO how Claude Code transformed everything. We traced the evolution:

2020: Manual coding, every line sacred 2021: Copilot arrives 2023: ChatGPT builds features 2024: Agents write components Today: "Vibe coding" - describing apps into existence

Then he said it: "You know what we sound like? Horses discussing automobiles."

We ARE the horses. Watching automobiles take over the roads.

The unicorn's horn? Just decoration now. Anyone can build from 0 to 1 with AI.

What took me years to learn, Claude Code does in seconds.

These tools 10x'd my productivity. But here's the terrifying part: They've 100x'd non-technical founders.

The gap vanishes daily.

So how do we avoid obsolescence? Here's how I'm adapting:

1. Stop gatekeeping knowledge - become the bridge between AI and outcomes
2. Focus on what AI can't: navigate ambiguity, make judgment calls
3. Conduct the orchestra of AI agents, don't play every instrument
4. Build taste - knowing what to build beats knowing how
5. Edit, don't write - AI generates, you curate and refine

The horses that survived didn't compete with automobiles. They found new roles.

What's your #1 strategy for staying relevant in the AI age?

#AILeadership #TechTransformation #EngineeringLeadership