Protect your rate of learning

The question high schoolers should be asking the colleges they're touring is the same one professionals should be asking their employers.

What AI tools do you actually provide for daily work?

I don't talk about this much, but I've served on Vanderbilt University Department of Computer Science's External Advisory Committee for four years now. Vandy changed the course of my life with a scholarship and an unexpected move to CS, so it's extra special to me to be able to help shape the program as the industry evolves. Questions like this one have come up among us more than once.

Look, AI can get you started, but it can't develop your taste. That happens when someone with real expertise in your domain pressure-tests what you produce. In college, that's professors. At work, it's senior peers and managers. Without expert eyes, you just produce slop faster and learn to perform expertise without actually becoming an expert. Trust me, it's obvious :)

My top advice to folks is always this: Protect your rate of learning fiercely.

Tools are only one signal of an environment that grows you, alongside coaching, mentorship, and opportunity. But they're increasingly visible. Right now, what AI tools an organization provides isn't just a good-to-have, it's a symptom of how seriously they invest in their people.

Employers and learning institutions that answer this question well will pull ahead. The ones that don't will fail their people.