I used to be a musician at work. Now I'm just a conductor.

I used to be a musician at work. Now I'm just a conductor.

Every project meant working the problem myself. Research. Talking to people until I actually understood what was going on.

Playing with the data until I saw an angle no one else had.

I used to pride myself on writing the complicated documents so clearly nobody needed a follow-up question.

Now I point at agents and decide what gets played next.

Every week I add another musician to the orchestra.

The music is bigger than anything I could make alone. Work I couldn't have shipped solo a year ago.

But I stopped playing.

My day is reviewing, steering, cutting the notes that don't work. I'm choosing from what's already in front of me, not thinking on my own.

I lead a data and BI team that's rebuilt itself around agents this year.

And somewhere in that trade, the joy of playing left the room.

This isn't unique to me. It's coming for everyone working with agents, some sooner than others.

Nobody warned us that getting more done would feel like doing less.