This week hit in the AI world hit me hard.

I've been tracking AI for long, but the last few days felt like a turning point. Maybe it was Google's Veo 3 generating film-quality videos from simple prompts, or another "quiet restructuring" at a Fortune 500 company, or LLMs bribing developers. Or maybe it was the conversation I had with a friend who's been "meaning to learn AI" for months, and just not getting to it (or my offer of helping).

This might sound dramatic, but what I saw this week scared me a little. Not because AI is taking over, but because of how many people still think they have time to figure it out later.

They don’t.
The disruption isn’t coming — it’s already quietly replaced them.

The gap between what's possible and what people are actually doing is getting wider every day.

AI Isn't Overhyped. You're Just Late. AI fluency isn't optional. It's how companies decide who stays and who goes.

The Lie of "I'll Figure It Out Later"

Take Google's Veo 3. Anyone can now create cinematic-quality videos using plain language prompts. No camera crew. No post-production.

Just type: "Third person view from behind a bee as it flies really fast around a backyard barbecue."

Seconds later, it's on your screen—stylised, haunting, beautiful.

(I did it and then played around and my mind was 🤯.)

The short film Prompt Theory which is entirely AI-generated. went viral. Characters realise they exist because of a prompt, and their reality is bound by it. It's eerie, existential, and visually stunning.

This got to me… Not because it’s perfect, but because it makes you realise: we are now writing “people” into existence — one prompt at a time.

One person. One prompt per scene. A few hours. Done.

While you're thinking about learning AI "someday," someone else just created a film.

What looks like the beginning is already the middle. We're deep in the second act, where power shifts have already begun. Job descriptions are being rewritten—quietly. hey don't fire you anymore. They reorganise you into irrelevance.

Pay, relevance, and opportunity are being redistributed—not noisily, but surgically.

The Real Problem Isn't Tech—It's Overwhelm

Most people treat AI like a fancy Google search. They use it to write bland emails or summarise documents, then marvel at the results like they've discovered fire…And then post a LinkedIn victory lap like they've solved world hunger.

Meanwhile, they're missing the real story.

What seemed impossible in January becomes routine by May. New capabilities drop weekly. The gap between what's possible and what people actually use grows wider every month.

Even working in AI, I fall behind weekly. If I feel this, imagine how overwhelmed someone with a full-time, non-tech job feels.

They can't spend hours testing new tools or reading research papers. They're drowning in possibilities with zero guidance on what actually matters and where to start.

Here's the kicker: The cutting-edge models you hear about? Labs finished building their upgrades months ago. OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic test systems 12-18 months before public release.

You're not just behind the curve—you're behind the curve's older sibling.

The Career Acceleration Effect

Here's what changes everything: Workers with AI skills earn 56% more than their peers.

Not because they're AI wizards—because they learned to work with these tools effectively.

PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer reveals:

• AI Fluency: prompting and chatbot fluency will be required in nearly every job within the next 12 months.

• 69% of CEOs say AI will require massive workforce reskilling. External hiring is too slow, too expensive.

• AI-skilled roles offer up to 56% higher salaries (more than doubled from 25% just last year)

• Productivity is 5x higher in AI-exposed sectors

• Promotions are going to those who can automate, not just operate

Power is shifting from tenure to fluency. Ten years of experience doesn't help if someone with ten good prompts does your job in ten minutes.

Companies can't hire their way out of this. There aren't enough AI-fluent workers, and paying everyone a 56% premium isn't financially viable.

The Survival Stakes for Everyone

If you're an employee… 

…and your company blocks AI tools, makes excuses or isn't reskilling you? You're being quietly left behind. It's like being denied internet in 2002.

Push your company for licenses and training. Show them what you can do. When you demonstrate that you can cut meeting prep time in half, suddenly AI investment becomes obvious, not optional. Don't wait for permission—start with free tools and prove the value. Your career depends on building these skills, whether your company supports you or not.

If you're a company…

…that thinks AI adoption can wait, you're about to lose your best talent. Top performers won't stay at organisations that feel like dinosaurs. They'll move to companies that give them the tools to excel and advance their careers.

The companies that embrace AI training and tools will attract the talent that drives growth. The ones that don't will watch their best people walk out the door to work somewhere that actually invests in their future.

Two Types of People Are Emerging

(Note: This is for the “average” knowledge worker - yes, you!)

🧠 People in the know: They try new tools monthly, test capabilities, choose the right model for each job, and understand what's actually possible. They have credible sources to know what tools are worth trying. They are starting to automated their workflow .

🐢 People arriving late: Waiting to hear about AI from their uncle who read about it in last month's newspaper. They're getting filtered, watered-down information while someone else is already building a workflow to replace them. People who haven’t used deep research or canvas in ChatGPT…They play with AI, write a report, and feel like they’ve entered the Matrix They're getting yesterday's news about tomorrow's technology.

The gap between these groups isn't just growing—it's becoming the difference between thriving and being obsolete (and replaceable).

The New AI Literacy Test

Companies across industries are now filtering for AI fluency.

Zapier's hiring framework. (89% of Zapier employees are already using AI daily in their workflows)

Be honest: where would you fall on this spectrum today? More importantly — where would your team land?

• 🔴 Unacceptable – Individuals at this level resist or dismiss AI tools entirely, showing no interest in learning or adoption.

• 🟡 Capable – These users are beginning to experiment with popular AI tools for basic tasks but have limited experience or integration.

• 🟠 Adaptive – Adaptive individuals actively embed AI into their workflows, tuning prompts and automating processes to increase productivity.

• 🟢 Transformative – Transformative users leverage AI to reimagine strategies and develop innovative solutions that weren’t previously possible.

Check out Zapier’s Hiring Framework. Rate yourself… Would Zapier hire you?

Goldman Sachs now requires AI training for all new analysts. McKinsey screens for prompt engineering skills. Deloitte won't hire consultants who can't demonstrate AI workflow integration.

Stop Drowning in AI Tools (or avoiding real AI)

The overwhelm is real. New AI tools launch daily. Features multiply weekly. Everyone's screaming about the latest breakthrough while you're still figuring out ChatGPT.

Here's the truth: You don't need to learn everything. You need to learn what works.

Think art gallery, not warehouse. A gallery doesn't show every painting ever made—it curates the pieces worth your time and presents them in an order that makes sense.

We don’t need another newsletter shouting “10 tools you must use this week.” We need someone to say, “Use this one — and here’s how to make it count.”

That is our approach to AI Capability Building: “Skill, Knowledge and Mindset” Curation and the “Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly” Framework.

We've spent thousands of hours on tools that promised everything and delivered nothing. Gone down rabbit holes that led nowhere. We have the luxury to make every mistake, experiment, fail, reimagine… so you don’t have to.

We give you the roadmap…

That's why we built our programs differently. We test hundreds of tools and read countless articles to give you the 3-4 that will actually change your Tuesday. Not to impress you with AI magic tricks, but to show you the difference between using AI as Google 2.0 and using it as a career accelerator.

The Skills That Actually Pay

Workers with AI skills earn 56% more than their peers. Not because they're AI wizards—because they learned to work with these tools effectively.

Two skill sets matter:

AI Fluency (The Technical Stuff):

• Effective prompting: Learn to communicate clearly with AI models

• Understanding capabilities: Know what today's tools can and can't do

• Daily experimentation: Regular hands-on practice (and trying things) with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (or other tools)

• Workflow optimisation: Identifying where AI can improve your existing processes

Human Superpowers (What Machines Can't Touch):

• Critical thinking: Question AI outputs instead of blindly trusting them

• Strategic judgment: Make complex decisions with incomplete information

• Genuine empathy: Build genuine relationships and navigate emotions

• Creative problem-solving: Solve problems that don't exist in training data

• Adaptability: Adapt quickly when everything changes

The winning combination: AI handles research, analysis, and first drafts. You handle strategy, relationships, and decisions.

This is an investment in your future. The marketing manager who lets AI research competitors but applies human insight to positioning. The consultant who automates data crunching to spend more time understanding client needs.

The Reality

Companies are making hiring decisions based on AI fluency right now. Performance reviews include automation skills. Promotion lists favour people who can adapt.

Most people need a guide who's already made the mistakes, not another tool to figure out alone.

Start building these skills now, or spend next year explaining why you're behind.

Your choice. But choose quickly.

Want to see what AI fluency really looks like in your team?

The question isn’t if your people will learn AI — it’s whether they’ll learn it with you, or somewhere else.

👉 Let’s talk. Book a free consultation and start building the future workforce — before someone else does.

👉 Schedule a free consultation and let’s get started.

If you forget everything else, remember this…