Running a consulting firm taught me to kill my darlings. That’s how the firm survived for 14 years and was eventually acquired.
I ran a software consulting firm through every major shift in technology. From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, hardware to cloud computing, responsive web to mobile, monoliths to microservices, and now AI.
We didn’t survive by picking the right technology. We thrived by never getting attached to one, sticking with what’s not broken, ignoring the noise around the new hotness, and staying curious instead of comfortable.
The harder lesson was applying that same discipline to the business itself. Narrowing from “we do everything” (design, development, launch, rescue missions) to doing fewer things well. Dropping services that weren’t profitable and maintaining a razor focus on client satisfaction.
Now AI is the latest wave demanding the same response. The deep framework and language knowledge that defined a senior engineer a year ago is being commoditized by AI like Claude code. The instinct is to protect what you know and hang on to what you’ve dedicated so much time to learn, but consulting beat that instinct out of me a long time ago. Tools are flings, not marriages.
The companies that treat AI the same way (learn it, use it, and be ready to move past it when the next thing arrives) are the ones who’ll still be here in another 14 years. The technology always changes. The skill that doesn’t is listening for when it’s time to let go and adapt.
What’s the biggest shift you’ve had to adapt to in your career?