The AI Era, Big Tech, and the Illusion of Job Security (And What to Do About It)

Climbing the ladder in tech looks different now

Lately, it feels like we can't escape AI at every turn. But honestly? We've been a version of

here before.

Internet. Mobile. AI.

Three massive inflection points in my lifetime and in my career. Each one felt disruptive in the moment and each one quietly reshaped everything we thought we knew about work, identity, and security.

Last week, I was sitting with a client who works in Big Tech. On paper, he's crushing it. But somewhere in our conversation, a harder question surfaced: how secure is any of this, really?

When Jack Dorsey announced he was cutting 40% of his workforce citing AI, people acted shocked. I wasn't. This has been happening quietly since 2023: voluntary packages, smaller layoffs, restructures that never quite make the news cycle. The difference now is that it's accelerating, and it's visible.

Half of my coaching practice works inside Big Tech- AWS, Google, OpenAI, Meta, and others. What I'm hearing as a pattern is that using AI is now table stakes. Innovating and thought leadership with AI is the new expectation. This is on top of an already demanding job and rising expectations overall. The old perks, the strong culture, the sense of job security that made Big Tech feel like a destination for ambitious high performers- that era is over. 

What I'm seeing instead: continuous layoffs, political volatility, and cultures that shift with every reorg.

This calls for a real reckoning. We talk a lot about generative AI, but what this moment actually demands is that we become generative ourselves. Not in a panicked way. In a deliberate, human way.

Here's the shift I'm coaching people through right now:

Your identity and career can no longer be anchored to one company, or even one industry. This isn't failure. It's evolution. But it requires you to think deliberately about your personal brand and how you package your skills for movement and change.

Two sets of questions I’ve been using:

On readiness:

• If you were laid off tomorrow or your industry changed overnight, what would you do next?

• If you were interviewing in 1-2 years, what skills would you want to be able to highlight? How are you taking steps to get those skills in your current role/company?

On personal brand: (credit to Andrea Wojnicki for this framing):

• If you left the room, what would people say about you?

• What would they predict you'd do next?

These aren't scare tactics. They are an invitation to take back some agency.

The most resilient professionals I work with aren't the ones who see every disruption coming.  They are the ones who stay curious, build transferable skills, balance short and long term thinking AND invest in an iterative career plan.

Try sitting with these questions this week. At the very least, they'll make for interesting dinner conversation.

Interested in some coaching?  I have two spots opening up at the end of March! Reach out and book a discovery call.

#leadershipcoach #AILeadership #AI