Ema’s highlighting the importance of side projects as a ‘Plan B’ in one’s career

Just back from the Boye 26 conference as both a speaker and a participant. I’m leaving with plenty of questions about where our industry is heading.

My session explored what happens when experience, capability and seniority no longer develop at the same speed.

At 22, sharing my perspective with a room full of people with such varied experience felt like a big step. A big thank you to Janus Boye and Peter Dahlstrøm Andersen for giving me the push. Also it’s not easy to come up with original topic when everybody talks AI…

I wanted to make space for the uncomfortable parts too… the pressure on juniors to prove themselves, and also the uncertainty experienced seniors face.

What stayed with me most were the conversations afterwards. People at different career stages told me they recognised themselves in the talk. Some said it challenged assumptions about their own position. Others were surprised to hear this perspective from someone my age.

And then there were the invitations to get coffee if I ever visit their city. Those meant a lot!

Being in the audience gave me just as much to think about. Julian Mills’ “meat proxy”that’s what I experience now daily: a human passing AI-generated work along without adding the expertise or judgment needed to make it valuable.

Julian’s presentation ‘The meat proxy problem: When humans become AI’s weakest link‘ at Boye Aarhus 26 conference

Thank you Boye & Company team for trusting me with a place on the programme, and to everyone who listened, shared their perspective or continued the conversation afterwards.

I’m proud of this one!