In October, after eight and a half years at Amazon, I decided to leave. If you look at the update at the top of this post, you’ll see why.
Doing Something Good
I don’t know if there will ever be another company like Zappos. But I also don’t need to find it. I just want to work somewhere that makes the world a little better in its own way. The company I work for doesn’t need to save the world. If I can contribute to a little more happiness, remove a little stress, and help someone breathe a calming breath, it’s enough.
AI and the Current Job Market
AI has changed how software engineers work. It’s not the same as 2023, when we worked towards a solution line by line. Now every company and developer has to find the right balance of code review and testing. I have found that I and the AI together can create and iterate at great speed. It acts as an advisor and coder, while I guide higher level decisions and architecture, and do my share of manual testing to find where it misses the mark on UX and third-party integrations.
Most companies that are hiring want candidates with experience using AI to build. If you don’t have it in 2026, you’re going to have a tough time.
What’s After That?
I’ll keep pursuing other hobbies as well, like digital painting on the iPad using Procreate, which is absolutely super. I took up drawing seriously in 2017, and moved into painting on the iPad around 2023.
Thanks for reading! More to come soon.
