Navigating the New Wave: The Rise of AI and the Tech Innovator’s Path
I recently finished watching OpenAI’s Developer Day, and I would like to share my thoughts on how young technologists like myself should position ourselves for the imminent future.
- There was a time when websites became crucial, and every company or individual eventually had their own. Similarly, there came a period when mobile apps surged in popularity, with everyone developing an app for various purposes.
- During those two periods, people profited by creating websites and apps that were in high demand.
We are now entering the era of AI, where everyone will begin developing AI tools. These tools will become as common as the mobile apps we see on the Play Store and App Store today.
In the website or mobile app booms, the technical complexity meant only a handful of technologically adept individuals could create these products and dominate the market.
This era, however, is somewhat different. The leading AI firms are concentrating on establishing the infrastructure and platforms that enable virtually anyone to build powerful AI tools.
One example is what OpenAI introduced today with GPTs.
Soon, anyone will be able to construct their own custom ChatGPT and distribute it on the GPTs store, which I anticipate will mirror the functionality of an app store. I believe that the other key players in the AI revolution will soon launch their AI tools stores where users can create and sell their custom AI tools.
If everyone can build tools, who will use someone else’s? This question might occur to many of you, so let me address it.
The truth is that even with such creative power available to everyone, we all have different needs and ways of spending our time. Not everyone has the capability to develop ideas into finished products, nor does everyone desire to engage in that process. Thus, there will always be two categories of people: producers and consumers.
As a young person in tech, I advise you to choose to be a producer. Don’t just consume what others create; build something for others to consume.
The iPhone excels at photography, yet iPhone users still hire professional photographers. Why is that?
What advice do I offer to you and myself?
Since technical expertise will no longer be a significant barrier to entry in the next tech revolution, we must identify factors that can truly distinguish us in this new era.
For me, the key differentiator will be the ability to analyze problems and devise innovative solutions, despite the risk that others may replicate your ideas. More crucially, mastering the art of persuading people to adopt your solution is vital. Therefore, the ability to foster an engaging community around a product that addresses real-world issues in an innovative way will be the hallmark of success.
Another significant factor is the first-mover advantage. Hence, learning to think quickly and act swiftly is crucial. By being the first to offer a product that addresses a widespread issue, you may capture a significant market share.
So, what is the path forward?
- Stay abreast of technological advancements.
- Cultivate innovative thinking and problem-solving for real-world challenges.
- Learn how to build communities around your products.
- Master the art of persuasion.
Dr. Ehoneah Obed (Pharmacist, Software Engineer, Health Informatician, Founder)
My work focuses on identity engineering, which is the deliberate process of designing and updating who you are, personally and professionally.
Most people experience identity as something fixed or accidental. It is shaped by parents, early success or failure, education, and society’s definition of what a “good life” looks like. They adapt to it rather than questioning it. What most people do not realize is that identity is not just something you discover. It is something you can actively engineer.
Personal identity engineering is about gaining control over how your beliefs, values, and self-concept are formed and reinforced.
Professional identity engineering is about translating that internal identity into skills, work, leverage, and visible contribution in the world.
When people feel stuck, it is rarely because they lack motivation or talent. It is because they are trying to change outcomes while leaving the underlying identity system untouched. Careers stall. Confidence collapses. Direction feels unclear. The system keeps producing the same results.
I learned this by rebuilding myself multiple times.
I trained as a pharmacist for six years. While working in hospitals, I began learning to code alongside my job. That led to building real software, selling products, transitioning into software engineering, completing a master’s degree in health informatics at the University of Toronto, and now building startups and systems full time. Each transition followed the same pattern. My identity did not change because I thought differently. It changed because I took specific actions that produced new evidence, and that evidence forced a new story about who I was capable of being.
That is the core mechanism behind identity engineering.
Identity updates when you intentionally generate evidence that contradicts your old self-image, then compound that evidence until the old identity can no longer run the system.
This blog is where I document that process. I write about how to design identity experiments that are small, controlled, and reversible. How to build proof-of-work that changes both how you see yourself and how the world responds to you. How to move forward without waiting for clarity, confidence, or permission.
This is not motivation and it is not coaching. It is systems thinking applied to human change.
I also write The Ledger, a weekly record of systems and experiments for building a life you own.
And I built the Identity Audit, a diagnostic tool that helps you understand your current identity state before you attempt to change it.
I am not presenting a finished theory. I am engineering this in real time, using my own life as the test environment. If you want more agency over who you are becoming, both personally and professionally, you are in the right place.
