Some personal reflections on AI

I started off studying CS at uni, but I was never a good coder
I took a corp finance class my junior year and aced it, I was far better at finance than coding so I switched majors
But I always had an inferiority complex towards people who could really code
I knew they could run circles around me when it came to building anything and I was at their mercy for technical dependencies
So I stuck to my Excel models and PowerPoints as my edge
Then working as a consultant at Goldman I met some real finance quants
Most of them could code AND they knew finance
Once again I felt inferior - I was good at math but these quants could run circles around me
And I’ve carried this most of my career while honing my skills as a generalist operator
The coders and quants can still run circles around me, but I can assemble resources into value and view that as its own valuable skillset
But lately with AI, I’ve felt a bit of relief from this career long inferiority towards coders and quants
With Claude Code I can now actually code and build things, not on par with a career-long dev but enough to close the gap a bit
With Claude and a few tools I can now run quant strategies, not on par with a polymath quant but enough to close the gap a bit
My point is that AI is a great equalizer
It can complement the areas where you’re not innately skilled, and it multiplies your strengths
It can be such a powerful game changer on a personal level - you can just do things!