I stopped coding.
I had to. Meetings, roadmaps, the business of the business.
I became a conductor. Waving a baton at the people who do the real work.
Until now. AI assistants gave me my instrument back. They are the keyboard, translating my ideas directly into code. It lets me tweak, ship, and fix. No excuses about being rusty.
This isn’t about shipping faster. It’s about empathy.
Empathy comes from feeling the grind. Understanding the constraints. Seeing the elegant solution up close. You’re not just asking “Why is this late?”; you’re seeing why it’s hard.
You don’t have to be the best coder on the team. You just have to be in the game.
Stop directing. Start making again.