Career Planning in the Age of AI

A couple years ago, working as a software developer, I remember feeling a knot in my stomach every time I read about the latest AI breakthrough. It seemed like machines were getting smarter by the day, and I worried that soon they’d be able to write code better and faster than I ever could. Would I still have a job in five years? Ten years? It was a scary thought.

But then, something shifted. I realized that my value wasn’t just in writing lines of code—it was in understanding the problem, designing an elegant solution, and making strategic decisions about how to implement it. AI could help with the coding, sure, but it couldn’t replace the human insight and creativity that shaped the bigger picture. That’s when I started to see AI not as a threat, but as a tool to enhance my work—and my career.

This experience led me to identify three key disciplines that define the value we bring to our jobs: what we do, what we know, and what we think. These layers build on each other, and understanding how they work together is essential for thriving in the age of AI.

The Three Disciplines: Do, Know, Think

Let’s start with what we do. This is the hands-on part of our work—the tasks we tackle every day. For a developer, it’s writing code. For a product manager, it’s drafting specifications. For a graphic designer, it’s creating visuals. These are the concrete outputs that keep things moving.

But doing alone isn’t enough. What makes it effective is what we know—the expertise we bring to the table. A developer who knows multiple programming languages and understands algorithms can write cleaner, faster code. A product manager with a grasp of market trends and customer behavior can craft smarter strategies. A designer versed in color theory and user experience can produce more impactful designs. Knowledge fuels better doing.

Then there’s what we think—the higher-level reasoning that ties it all together. This is about solving problems, making decisions, and innovating. A developer might pick the best architecture for a project. A product manager might prioritize features based on business goals. A designer might devise a creative solution to a tricky brief. Thinking is what directs our knowledge and actions toward meaningful outcomes.

The Compounding Effect

Imagine a rocket powering through the cosmos, aimed at a distant goal. Its success doesn’t come from one piece alone—it’s the way every element builds on the others, amplifying the whole.

This is the compounding effect in action: doing, knowing, and thinking stacking together to drive exponential value in your career.

• Doing is the fuel. It’s the raw energy—the tasks you tackle, the code you write, the work you put in. Fuel gets the rocket off the ground, but without more, it’s just burning energy with no purpose.
• Knowing is the engineering. It’s the expertise that shapes how you do things correctly—your skills, techniques, and understanding. With solid engineering, the rocket doesn’t just blast off; it flies efficiently and stays on course. Knowledge turns raw doing into precise, effective action.
• Thinking is mission control. It’s the strategic layer that decides which thing to do is correct—setting the trajectory, adjusting the plan, and aiming for the right target. Even with great fuel and engineering, without mission control, the rocket could veer off into nowhere. Thinking gives direction and meaning to your knowledge and effort.

Here’s where the magic happens: each layer doesn’t just stack—it multiplies. Better engineering (knowing) makes the fuel (doing) go further and hit harder. Sharp mission control (thinking) ensures the engineering solves the right problems. Together, they don’t just add up—they create a system where the whole outstrips its parts.

Now, throw AI into this rocket. It’s like strapping on next-gen tech:

• AI tunes the fuel, making your doing leaner and faster.
• It upgrades the engineering, deepening what you know with insights from vast data.
• It enhances mission control, sharpening your thinking with predictive power and clarity.

The result? A rocket that doesn’t just fly—it redefines what’s possible. In your career, that’s the compounding effect: doing made smarter by knowing, knowing made purposeful by thinking, and all of it supercharged by AI.

More Than Just Automation

When we first consider how to leverage AI in our work, our gut instinct often pulls us toward a simple solution: automate the repetitive tasks that eat up our time. It’s an understandable impulse—hand off the tedious, mechanical parts of our jobs to machines so we can focus on what feels more rewarding. But that narrow focus is shortsighted. AI isn’t just a tool for offloading grunt work; it’s evolving at an astonishing rate. What begins as basic task automation quickly scales into something far more powerful—handling complex decisions, synthesizing knowledge, and even contributing to strategic thinking that we once considered uniquely human. If we limit our approach to just automating the “doing” part of our jobs, we’ll soon find ourselves outmatched by AI’s expanding capabilities. To stay ahead and truly harness AI’s potential, we need a broader perspective that encompasses not only what we Do, but also what we Know and Think.

How AI Transforms Each Discipline

So, where does AI actually come in? It’s reshaping all of these disciplines, starting with what we do.

In the realm of doing, AI automates the repetitive stuff. Developers can use tools like GitHub Copilot to churn out code snippets in seconds. Product managers can lean on AI to analyze data or draft documents. Designers can tap AI for templates or style suggestions. By handling the grunt work, AI frees us up for the creative and strategic tasks that matter most.

Next, in what we know, AI supercharges our expertise. It sifts through mountains of data to deliver insights we’d never uncover alone. Research tools can summarize industry trends in minutes, keeping us sharp and informed without drowning in information overload. AI becomes our knowledge amplifier.

Finally, for thinking, AI steps in as a decision-making partner. It can run simulations, spot patterns, and offer data-backed suggestions. But here’s the catch—it doesn’t replace us. The final call still needs our judgment, creativity, and ethics. AI enhances our thinking, not the other way around.

The big takeaway? AI isn’t here to steal our jobs—it’s here to make us better at them. It’s like a tireless assistant that handles the basics, digs up insights, and helps us wrestle with tough choices.

Looking Ahead

Career planning in the age of AI means embracing these three disciplines—doing, knowing, and thinking—and leveraging AI to elevate them all. By understanding how they interlock and how AI can amplify each one, we can stay ahead in a world that’s changing fast.

So, what about you? Think about your own role. What do you do every day? What knowledge drives your work? How do you solve problems or make decisions? And most importantly, how can AI help you shine in those areas?

Don’t fight AI—partner with it. Let it take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on what makes you uniquely valuable: your ideas, your insights, your human touch.

Here are some questions to chew on:

• How is AI already changing your role, and how can you use it more effectively?

• What skills will matter most in an AI-driven future, and how can you build them?

• How can your team blend AI’s power with human creativity and judgment?

The future of work is here, and it’s ours to shape. By mastering what we do, know, and think—and teaming up with AI—we can ensure we’re not just relevant, but indispensable.