Executive Summary
This document synthesises the core themes from a keynote given by our CEO, Padraig Coffey, at RebelCon 2025 on navigating a career in the software ecosystem amidst the rise of Artificial Intelligence. The central argument is that while AI presents a seismic, potentially disruptive shift, it should be embraced as a “force multiplier” that enhances human capability rather than simply replacing it. Padraig suggests that a dystopian future of mass unemployment is not inevitable; instead, AI offers a path toward more creative, high-impact work, greater work-life balance, and the rise of more nimble, human-scale organisations.
Key takeaways include the critical importance of human adaptability, underscored by concepts like neuroplasticity and historical resilience (Sisu). The future of professional relevance lies not in competing with AI on automatable tasks, but in cultivating uniquely human skills: deep industry-specific experience, strategic thinking focused on business value, creativity, building trust and relationships, and networking. A significant generational challenge is emerging, where younger cohorts are becoming “power users” of AI, and professionals must strive for a similar level of high-frequency interaction (50-100+ times per day) to remain competitive. The presentation concludes that while a market correction for AI valuations is likely, the technology’s long-term impact will be more revolutionary than any in human history, fundamentally reshaping expertise, work, and society.
The Transformative Impact of AI on Work and Society
Padraig frames AI as the “most interesting challenge of our time,” a technology with a profound and unpredictable impact on companies and individuals. His core message is to actively engage with this change rather than resist it.
A Tale of Two Futures: Dystopian vs. Optimistic
Let’s dive into the two most polarised future scenarios driven by AI’s proliferation:
- The Dystopian View: A grim outlook where AI “hollows out the economy” by eliminating knowledge jobs, eroding the tax base, and accelerating income inequality. This could lead to a breakdown of global order and reduced opportunities for social mobility and personal fulfillment. While acknowledging this as a risk to be mitigated, we don’t believe it is the most likely outcome.
- The Optimistic View: A more probable future where AI empowers professionals by removing “repetitive drudge tasks,” allowing them to focus on high-impact, creative, and strategic elements of their roles. This view includes several key benefits:
- Lowered Barriers to Entry: Nimble, efficiently capitalised AI-native startups can challenge incumbents, delivering comparable capabilities at a fraction of the cost.
- Greater Work-Life Balance: Automating repetitive workflows can lead to more pleasant and sustainable work lives.
- Rise of Human-Scale Organisations: AI can enable smaller, more efficient teams (2-10 people) to scale significantly, avoiding the inefficiencies often seen in large corporations (over 1,000 employees).
The AI Force Multiplier and Corporate Adaptation
We view AI as a ‘force multiplier’ rather than a replacement; a tool that makes individuals far more effective in their work. In our company, at Zartis, we use tools like ChatGPT, Claude (a current favourite), and Llama daily for a range of tasks from parenting advice to work collaboration and general knowledge. We have a strong preference for AI companies that prioritise safety, and ethical use.
This perspective is mirrored in the corporate strategy of Zartis, a 300-person tech company – advocating for technological change. In his talk, Padraig uses a hurling analogy that reflects this view neatly: “if you stand back you’re probably going to get a full swing of a hurl somewhere in your body… but if you lean in and you get much closer to the action, you’re actually much safer.”
Not every AI initiative is a success, but each one is a learning opportunity. At Zartis, our initial, more deliberate attempts at AI transformation through committees yielded mixed results, while the latter refined AI Strategy empowered the team for more organic adoption. As our expertise increased, we also made huge strides in building proprietary AI-native applications for customers. The secret is to keep trying, learning, growing and evolving.
The Case for Human Adaptability and Resilience
One of the core arguments Padraig makes is that humans are equipped to adapt to the profound changes brought by AI. This optimism is founded on biological, cognitive, and psychological evidence.
- Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability, understood since the 1990s, to expand its cognitive capabilities well into adulthood, countering the old belief that cognitive function was fixed after youth.
- Cognitive Improvement: A cited data point from The Economist states that a 70-year-old in 2022 had the same cognitive function as a 53-year-old in 2000, suggesting a collective trend of “getting smarter.”
- Sisu: A concept described as “extraordinary determination in the face of adversity.” In his keynote, Padraig points to the widespread resilience shown during the COVID-19 pandemic as evidence of an intrinsic human capacity to persevere through difficult circumstances.
The Fallibility of Technological Prediction
You should also not forget to approach predictions with a healthy dose of scepticism. Definitive predictions about technology’s impact have proven wrong many times. Let’s not forget:
- The Economist‘s 2017 prediction that driverless cars would create “oceans of angry unemployed drivers” in the US. In contrast, there is currently a shortage of drivers, with signing bonuses being offered.
- 1990s geography lessons in Ireland predicted that factory automation would worsen already high unemployment. Instead, the 2000s saw a period of unprecedented prosperity and record-low unemployment.
Evolving Dynamics of Technology, Business, and Labour
While long-term futures are hard to predict, several near-term trends are identified as highly probable.
Jevon’s Paradox and the Future of Software Development
Jevon’s Paradox is the concept that as a technology becomes more efficient and economical, the net demand for it increases. Applied to AI and software, this suggests that even if AI automates large portions of development activity, the total volume of software development will increase dramatically because it has become cheaper and more accessible to produce.
The Intrinsic Human Need for Meaningful Work
We argue that work is a fundamental source of meaning, structure, and self-actualisation.
- Innate Desire to be Useful: Humans are “intrinsically wired” to be useful, a trait observed even in very young children, stemming from an ancestral need for collaborative problem-solving.
- The Peril of Unlimited Leisure: Citing studies on lottery winners, Padraig argues that humans do not thrive with unlimited leisure. Fulfillment comes from structure, challenge, and contribution.
- Responsibility as a Source of Meaning: The moments of greatest engagement and happiness often pertain to delivering something of value for oneself, family, community, or society.
A Strategic Framework for Career Relevance
Padraig’s presentation at RebelCon 2025 also provided actionable advice for professionals seeking to “future-proof” their careers in the software industry.
Core Pillars of Future-Proofing
Based on insights from Zartis’s CTO, Angel Benito, the following strategies are essential:
| Strategy | Description |
| Deepen Industry Experience | Technology evolves rapidly, but deep, industry-specific experience remains valuable. This is distinct from mere knowledge. Aligning with a sector one is passionate about is a key to career longevity. |
| Invest in Capabilities | Continuously develop personal and professional skills to adapt to the changing landscape. |
| Cultivate Your Network | Actively participate in the professional community. The value of getting “out of the house,” seeing colleagues, and attending events like Rebelcon is emphasised as crucial for extracting value and fostering community. |
The Shifting Landscape of Software Roles
- Role Convergence: Software roles are likely to merge into hybrid “technical product type” positions.
- Code Generation Flip: The ratio of AI-generated to human-generated code is expected to flip from the current ~20/80 to 80/20 in the next couple of years.
- Focus on Business Value: To remain relevant, technology professionals must shift their focus from finding the “most elegant engineering solution” to determining the “most efficient way to solve a business problem.”
The Power User Imperative and the Uniquely Human Domain
A critical challenge is the emerging generational gap in AI adoption. Younger professionals are interacting with AI 100+ times per day, while more established professionals may only do so a few times. The advice is to aim for 50+ interactions per day to become a true power user.
Even as AI automates tasks, certain domains will remain intrinsically human:
- Genuine Creativity: Citing absolutely horrible AI-generated Nirvana songs, Padraig argues in his keynote that true creation requires human inspiration. And he is not wrong!
- Strategic Ideation: Gathering insights and ideating on product visions.
- Entrepreneurship: Inventing new services, launching businesses, and the act of “doing business” itself, which Andy Warhol called “the most creative thing in the world.”
- Trust and Relationships: Building the human connections essential for business and community.
Short-Term Advice and Emerging Opportunities
- Performance: In an era of efficiency drives and layoffs, professionals should aim to be “in the top half of your team.”
- AI Titling: Professionals with “AI” in their job title or a demonstrated capability are receiving significantly more job offers.
- Disruption: Consider launching an AI-native startup to disrupt an incumbent sector at a fraction of the cost.
- Acquisition: Look for opportunities to acquire businesses from retiring Boomers who lack succession plans, as creative financing for management buyouts can be found.
Key Market and Industry Considerations
Insights from the Q&A session provide further context on the broader market and its challenges.
- The AI Market Bubble: The current market is compared to the dot-com era, with “frothy overvaluations” (e.g., 60x revenue). A short-term correction or crash is seen as likely. However, like the internet, the underlying technology will persist and ultimately revolutionise society more profoundly than any predecessor.
- The Infrastructure Challenge: The massive energy and compute power required for widespread AI adoption is a serious concern. This includes building data centers and the power grid (potentially including micro-nuclear reactors) to support them. Ireland’s historical difficulty with large capital projects is noted as a significant national hurdle.
- Future of Junior Talent Development: There is a “very significant risk” that the automation of simpler tasks will stifle the development of junior engineers. A 50% reduction in graduate intake at a Big Four consultancy is cited as evidence. The landscape is seen as mixed, with fewer traditional entry-level roles but new opportunities for ambitious young people to become founders.
- The Redefinition of Expertise: AI will redefine not only expertise but “what it means to be human.” Fields that relied on “gatekeeping knowledge,” such as the legal profession, are being reshaped. Future success will likely require a combination of “deep domain expertise combined with great generalist skills.”
Conclusion
The rise of AI represents a fundamental inflection point in the history of work, one that demands both clear-eyed pragmatism and bold action. While market corrections and short-term disruptions are inevitable, the long-term trajectory is clear: AI will reshape expertise, redefine professional relevance, and fundamentally alter what it means to contribute value in the software ecosystem and beyond.
Padraig’s message at RebelCon 2025 was not one of passive acceptance, but of active engagement. The dystopian future of mass unemployment is not predetermined; it is one possible outcome among many, and one we can actively work to prevent. The optimistic alternative, where AI serves as a force multiplier that elevates human capability rather than replacing it, is within reach—but only if professionals choose to lean into the change rather than stand back from it.
The path forward requires a deliberate recalibration of how we think about professional development. Depth of industry experience, strategic business thinking, genuine creativity, and the cultivation of trust and relationships will become the differentiating factors in an increasingly automated world. The generational challenge posed by “power users” interacting with AI 100+ times per day is not a distant concern – it is happening now. Professionals must urgently close this gap, aiming for 50+ daily interactions to remain competitive.
Above all, this moment calls for resilience – the kind of Sisu that has carried humanity through countless transformations. Our brains are plastic, our capacity to adapt is proven, and our intrinsic need for meaningful work remains undiminished. The future belongs not to those who resist change, but to those who embrace it with curiosity, strategic intent, and a commitment to continuous learning.
The revolution is here. The question is not whether AI will transform our world, but whether we will rise to meet it.