Welcome to Edition #39 of Ask Gorick Anything. This AMA is part of Gorick's Newsletter, where Harvard career advisor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
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→ Read time: 6 min
ASK GORICK ANYTHING
“Is there still a place for generalists in the age of AI?”
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Subscriber’s question:
“Hello!
I'm 30 y/o and have been working since I was 25 in tech, consulting.
Despite the years of experience, I feel like a generalist as I've focused on "getting things done". Which means my knowledge is limited to the projects I've worked on and I'm not the kind of person others reach out to for advice/expertise. I'm too "technical" to be in management and too "non-technical" to be in pure tech and feel stuck. My career also feels stuck because I haven't been able to get promoted to the next level as I neither have new skills or new knowledge areas. With AI, I feel like the scope of roles like mine may get limited as experts can use AI to work on "generalist" tasks. I feel like the only way out would be to take 3 months and focus on new skills - but it's impractical. Open to any advice!”
—Claire from Paris, France
Gorick’s response:
Hi Claire,
You’re asking a question that I hope more generalists are asking themselves: “Is there still room for generalists in the age of AI?”
Here’s my take: “no” in the short run—but “yes” in the long run.
Why?
We’re at peak hype for AI right now—so much so that we’re in this endless cycle:
…Media keeps talking about AI killing entry and mid-level white-collar jobs…
→
…People keep talking about AI killing entry and mid-level white collar jobs…
→
…Firms keep wondering why they’re not also killing entry and mid-level white collar jobs…
→
…Firms not hiring (or even firing) entry and mid-level white collar jobs…
→
…Media keeps talking and the cycle repeats
AI adoption isn’t just a narrative, of course. This is the other cycle that’s also happening:
…People increasingly use AI to do what human analysts would have done…
→
…People stop giving tasks to human analysts…
→
…Human analysts disappear…
→
…People increasingly use AI and the cycle repeats…
As smart as this headcount reduction may seem in the short run, there’s a problem: the generalists of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
If companies stop hiring, investing in, and retaining the generalists, who’s going to know how to keep the business running when the senior leaders retire? No one left behind will know (A) what to ask, (B) what to do, and (C) what to prioritize (click here to read my essay on this!).
The point at which companies realize that they’re nothing without the know-how of their people is the minute the above cycles will break and generalists will come roaring back.
In the meantime, I believe AI has ushered in what I call “The Age of the Subject Matter Expert.”
In a world where you can get surface-level answers to practically any question and a half-decent job at any basic task, it’s no longer good enough for us humans to have the same surface-level knowledge and the same half-decent skills.
You need people to look at you and think, This person knows something I don’t know, can do things that I can’t do, and connect the dots in a way that AI cannot. Otherwise, why invite them to this meeting (let alone have them on payroll)?
So, yes: it’s time to give others a reason to call you up.
It’s time to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME).
How? Use these 2 frameworks.
(1) First, fill in the blanks:
1. Knowledge: No one around me is familiar with _______. Could I be that go-to authority?
2. Skills: No one around me knows how to _______. Could I be that go-to executor?
3. Network: No one around me has access to _______. Could I be that go-to broker?
4. Portfolio: No one around me has a track record of _______. Could I be that go-to builder?
How do you decide what to learn, who to meet, and what to do? This is where you need to think like a venture capitalist (VC). VCs bet on trends. They look at a corner of the work, think, What future is inevitable?, and then pick companies that will exist in this future world.
You need to do the same: look at your field, ask yourself, What future is inevitable?, and then position yourself to be indispensable in this future world.
The only issue is that whereas VCs get to invest in a portfolio of companies—so it’s okay if 99 of their investments flop if 1 becomes the next Google—you cannot: you can only pick one job/field at a time.
(2) Next, pull aside a mentor you trust (perhaps a SME!) and ask them:
1. “I feel like I’m getting to a point in my career—especially in the era of AI—where I ought to position myself as a subject matter expert. What do you think? Am I thinking about this the right way? How would you suggest I think about where to focus my energy?”
2. “What projects can I join to build more of this knowledge base / skillset? (What would it take for me to join _______, for example?)”
3. “Is there anyone else you could introduce me to get more involved?”
The “question behind the question” in this conversation? “Can you help me build this expertise as part of my day job?” (The best way to build skills is not to take 3 months and do it theoretically in your living room, but to do it in real life and ideally when you’re getting paid.)
This is one person’s opinion, though! And since no one has a crystal ball, I’d love your thoughts. Simply reply to this email!
See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,
—Gorick
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