AI Can Code in Seconds… So How Do I Compete? (Spoiler: You Don’t)

Dear Curious Minds,

Let’s talk about the question everyone whispers but rarely says out loud: “AI can write code in seconds… so how am I supposed to compete?” Here’s the truth — you’re not competing with AI at all. And as someone who works on an AI tech team, building AI agents as my main project, I can tell you exactly why. In our team, the whole point of developing AI agents is simple: reduce manual effort, speed up work, and help employees be more productive. We’re NOT trying to compete with AI to see who is the best programmer! We’re trying to use AI so engineers can focus on higher-level thinking, creative solutions, and complex decision-making. AI is a powerful tool! Still just a tool!

How I use AI day to day work: I use internal developer tools to help write, debug, and speed up my everyday coding tasks. At my previous company—back when Copilot didn’t even exist—every engineer had to manually dig through the enterprise codebase to understand how different systems worked. Trust me, it was a lot of reading. Service by service, function by function… it took time.

But here’s the bright side: going through the codebase the old-fashioned way gives you a rock-solid foundation. You learn how everything connects, why things break, and how the system thinks.

Now with AI tools, the process is much faster. Not skipped — just faster. Okurrr!!!

AI can help you navigate large codebases, summarize logic, point to relevant files, or guide you through how a specific feature works. It’s like having a supercharged map, instead of walking blind.

And let’s be honest — as a new grad, you might not instantly know all the technical terms: integration tests, unit tests, regression tests, stress tests, end-to-end flows… maybe you did, but I definitely didn’t at first!

Even my participation in code reviews was basically zero — partly by choice. I felt like I wouldn’t make a meaningful impact because I didn’t have enough experience or technical depth yet. And honestly, I stayed in that mindset for the first 2–3 years of my tech career. Why? Because there’s almost no real guidance for junior engineers on how to do a good code review. No handbook. No checklist. No “Code Review for New Grads 101.” So, like everyone else, I learned by reading other people’s comments and copying their style.

Let me tell you the honest truth!!!! To review code effectively, you need a solid understanding of fundamentals, algorithms, and how the system works. And let’s face it — not every new grad walks in with that level of mastery. We all remember that one genius in our programming class that everyone wanted in their final project group… yeah, most of us were not that person.

But if you were that person, clap, clap,clap !!!

This is where AI tools become incredibly helpful. AI can help you understand technical terminology, follow the logic of a codebase, see the end-to-end flow, and break down what a piece of code is really doing. You still have to double-check the accuracy of AI’s responses (always!), but it gives you a huge head start. And since you’re able to understand things faster, you’re less likely to constantly ping your senior engineers with basic questions. Again… productivity!!

Engineers also use AI to generate documentation and reports, which saves an unbelievable amount of time and reduces all the administrative strain that usually stacks up in engineering work. Documentation isn’t just “writing pages”—it’s explaining systems, clarifying logic, summarizing architecture, outlining decisions, and making sure the next person who touches your code knows what’s going on. AI is amazing at helping draft these pieces quickly.

This becomes even more valuable as you move up in your career. Senior engineers spend a huge portion of their time doing design doc, architecture reviews, and knowledge transfer etc. These tasks are essential, but they’re also very time-consuming.

And for junior engineers reading those documents??? AI helps break them down, explain concepts, and make dense technical content less overwhelming. So whether you’re documenting a new API, summarizing a sprint, preparing a design proposal, or simply explaining a complex flow — AI speeds up the entire process and lets engineers focus on the actual engineering, not formatting paragraphs.

Another huge benefit of AI is idea brainstorming. You can tell it your objectives, who you’re writing for, or what problem you’re solving, and it will generate a list of new ideas instantly. Even feeding it your past reports or documents can spark fresh directions and help you see patterns you might have missed. It’s like creative acceleration on demand.

For college students or recent grads trying to wrap their heads around complex systems or big codebases, AI tools can be a game changer. With AI-powered “pair programming assistants,” you can get real-time help understanding logic, tracing flows, and even debugging — things that used to require hours poring over docs or asking seniors.

That means when you're building a project or homework assignment, AI can help you grasp how functions connect, how data flows through your system, and why certain design decisions matter — not just produce the final code. This helps you learn fundamentals more deeply, instead of just copying and pasting

AI can help with job search and career prep: customizing resumes, generating cover-letter bullets, brainstorming project ideas, or mapping out internship-search plans. Many career-service experts already recommend AI for these tasks — as a boost, not a replacement. AI helps you speed up learning, deepen understanding, reduce busy-work, and boost productivity. Used the right way, it becomes a force multiplier for your growth — not a shortcut that kills your learning.

Tech companies are not trying to replace you with AI — they’re using AI to boost productivity and accelerate development. If you master AI tools instead of fearing them, you’ll likely outperform peers who ignore these new capabilities.

You’re not competing with an AI — It’s your co-pilot. Use it utilize it and be more productive in your day-to-day life.

Note: If you don’t understand a technical explanation, just ask, “Can you explain this the way you would to a 5-year-old?” Trust me — you’ll instantly have that Ahhhh, I see! moment.

Best Regards,

Until next time — stay curious!