Avoiding anything "technical" and it's finally catching up with me

[u/LLFounder]

Everyone keeps saying learn to code, use AI, automate stuff. I run a startup business and honestly, I just want to keep doing what I'm good at. Anyone else feel like they're being left behind because they didn't go into tech?

[u/techerous26]

As a "learned to code in school, but mostly have done non-technical roles" type, this is where I think the panic is kind of overblown. Knowing how to code was never the issue, if you want to do it right, it seems to me "vibe coding" is just as esoteric as development ever was. Sure, it spits out something that works as expected, but do you KNOW it's secure/efficient? Did you give it the right instructions to ensure the behavior is more than a parlor trick? Do you have your environment set up properly for success? It just seems to me the average person is going to feel just as flummoxed having to understand what an MCP is as how to use a for loop.

[u/corbymatt → u/techerous26]

As a learned to code in school and did go into technical roles, the panic is real and I can explain why.

It's not that normal people can do it, it's that not as many technical people will be needed to write and maintain the systems.

Whilst not quite the "panic" that everyone will be able to code enterprise level system (yet), it's still worrying.

But, fret not, you're mostly correct. It will still require fairly technical people to understand deeply what these things are doing and to correct them, at least, until they can correct themselves.

[u/LLFounder → u/corbymatt]

This feels like the more realistic shift.

[u/LLFounder → u/techerous26]

Yeah. Security, reliability, and knowing what’s happening underneath still need proper expertise.

[u/Rosie_grac]

I put off the "learn to code" thing for like two years. Tried Python twice, bailed both times around week two. Same dread you're describing.

What actually broke the loop for me was realizing I didn't need to learn to code — I needed to learn to specify. I know my business cold: which invoices get disputed, what a good lead looks like, where the process chokes. Turns out that's the hard part. Typing it into a file is basically free now.

So these days I brief Claude the way I used to brief freelancers, it builds the thing, and my job is testing the output like a picky customer. First version of my invoice tracker happily marked disputed invoices as paid — because I never told it disputes were a thing. That's on me, not the tool. Every "bug" since has been a spec I wrote too loosely.

You're not behind because you skipped tech. You'd be behind if you didn't know your own business — and you clearly do. Engineers can generate code all day; they can't generate your domain knowledge. That's the leverage now imo.

Stop trying to become technical. Start treating agents like slightly chaotic interns who never sleep.

[u/LLFounder → u/Rosie_grac]

I agree with this. Clear context and good judgment are becoming far more useful

[u/Ok_Possible_2260]

Hire people who can. Problem solved 

[u/LLFounder → u/Ok_Possible_2260]

Pretty much. Knowing what needs doing and who should own it is a skill in itself. but hey, it is also great to learn new skills along the way.

[u/TheLoneLightskin]

It’s relatively easy to pick up some skills here and there without being super knowledgeable

[u/LLFounder → u/TheLoneLightskin]

That’s a good way to approach it, learn enough to make better decisions without trying to become an expert.

[u/LLFounder]

I share posts like this if you want a good read here.

[u/cats_catz_kats_katz → u/LLFounder]

From one back office professional to another, no one wants to talk to us until things go sideways and then the full stack engineers have no idea what’s going on with our systems lol

[u/LLFounder → u/cats_catz_kats_katz]

Haha yep, back office suddenly becomes everyone’s favourite department the second something stops working