AI is Coming for Data Jobs

AI is coming for your job and mine.

That's what everyone is saying and I don't want to believe it. Unfortunately, I think it's true. Data careers are in this weird place where data professionals are still needed but the technology is making our technical skills obsolete by the day.

I don't think the data industry and the jobs within it will disappear, but I think the contents of our day-to-day responsibilities are going to change.

Data teams need to do more

Take the Analytics team that I lead right now.

Recently my boss, the CTO, gave me full responsibility of the data lake in Databricks.

Historically, my team would write the analytics code to support analyses, metrics, and reporting. We would hand-off other data modeling and data engineering work to the data engineering team. But now, my team is also the data engineering team.

We are now responsible for data modeling, working within the dbt project, and building data pipelines, along with all the other analytics work we usually do. We will be forced to use AI to expand our capability to meet the new expectations of the industry.

You will need to do the same thing for your career.

I'm afraid to lose my job

One of my biggest fears is losing my job and not being able to get another one.

I'm doing everything I can to make sure that's not the case. There are no guarantees that I won't lose my job, but I'm guaranteed to be in worse shape if I'm not proactive. If I'm slow to learn AI and adapt to changing technology, I'm setting myself up to be in a rough spot if the worse case scenario hits me.

So I'm on a journey to grow and build a resilient career that helps me sleep at night.

Modern Data Leaders

I believe the path forward in the age of AI is to be a Modern Data Leader.

Modern because we must adapt to any new tools and technology, including AI.

Data because that's our expertise, using data to provide business value.

Leader because that's how we maximize our impact and build timeless skills.

When we put these together, we get a resilient career that adapts to change and maximizes our job security.

I'm going to share everything I learn on the MDL journey in this newsletter.

But I'm also building a community with more hands-on coaching, workshops, and resources that are helping myself and others become Modern Data Leaders.

I hope you'll join us.

Check it out here: Modern Data Leaders Community