I use Claude Code for about 80% of my work.
Not 80% of my coding work - I’m not a developer, (at least not in the traditional meaning of the word).
80% of everything I do on my Macbook.
This morning, it helped me organize 27 emails and draft responses to the ones that needed my input. I used it to research the data behind the first draft of what you’re reading right now. It analyzed expense data from three different sources and flagged the anomalies I needed to look at.
I used it to design and build fiftyplus.co, the site you’re on. It helped me draft client proposals for 6 Seeds. It created content calendars for Ask Ditto. It organized research for an upcoming keynote in Atlanta. It helped me prep for my next Ivey Business School lecture.
This month, it’s managing my content publishing workflow, tracking business metrics across multiple ventures, researching data for thought leadership content, and automating operational tasks that used to eat hours.
I’m not exaggerating when I say 80%. I’m probably being conservative.
This week, The Wall Street Journal published an article writes about what they call getting “Claude-pilled” - the moment when engineers discover Claude Code and witness what they describe as “shocking capability.”
They focused on software engineers spending holiday breaks building in a week what would have taken them a year. One CTO said it felt like playing a Vegas slot machine. Endorphin rushes with every run.
But buried in that article was the part that hit me: more and more non-engineers like myself are using Claude Code for everything. Health data analysis. Organizing expenses. Building their first software program without ever having learned to code.
That’s what I’ve been experiencing. Except I don’t think of it as a vacation experiment, I think about it as the way I work these days.
What the Engineers Are Afraid Of
The WSJ article quoted a CEO who’s been coding since middle school: “I spent my whole life developing this skill, and it’s literally one-shotted by Claude Code.”
They describe people feeling “awe followed by sadness.” The realization that this tool can replicate expertise they built over an entire career.
I get that feeling.
But here’s what I’ve learned using Claude Code every day for months: it doesn’t replicate your expertise.
It amplifies it.
The difference matters.
What Claude Code Actually Can’t Do
Claude Code created the code for this website.
But it didn’t decide that experienced professionals need a voice countering ageism in AI. It didn’t know what message would resonate with people in their 50s feeling pushed out. It didn’t figure out which topics matter vs. which ones are just hype. It didn’t tell me how to position myself differently from consultants who’ve never actually run a business in a traditional industry.
It didn’t know what tone would feel authentic.
Claude Code wrote the first draft of this article.
But it didn’t know which angle would land. It didn’t choose the personal examples. It didn’t decide where to push back on the narrative vs. where to validate it.
Claude Code organized my expenses.
But it didn’t know which anomalies were mistakes and which were strategic decisions. It didn’t interpret what the spending patterns meant for my business.
Every task I give Claude Code requires me to know what matters and why.
What 30 Years Experience Actually Gives You
Pattern recognition. I’ve seen enough business cycles to know signal from noise. I can look at data and spot what’s changed, not just what’s different.
Judgment. I know which problems are worth solving and which ones just sound impressive. I know what “good” looks like because I’ve shipped work for three decades.
Context. I understand how different parts of a business connect. Which decisions have downstream effects that aren’t obvious.
Relationships. I know how to communicate with different stakeholders. What clients need to hear vs. what makes them tune out.
Priorities. I know which tasks move the needle vs. which ones are busy work.
Claude Code is phenomenally capable. But it needs someone to point it in the right direction. Someone to evaluate its work. Someone to know what questions to ask.
That’s where experience becomes the unfair advantage.
The 25-Year-Old Problem
A junior professional with Claude Code can write code, design websites, analyze data, draft content.
That’s real. That should make anyone 50+ pause.
But here’s what they can’t do:
- They don’t know which features will get used vs. which ones sound cool but solve no problem.
- They haven’t seen enough failed projects to recognize warning signs early.
- They don’t have the pattern recognition to know when conventional wisdom is about to fail.
- They haven’t built the relationships and credibility that open doors AI can’t.
- They don’t have the judgment to know what’s worth building in the first place.
- The 25-year-old can execute brilliantly. They need someone to tell them what’s worth executing.
That’s you. That’s me. That’s everyone who spent decades learning what actually matters.
Why This Matters for Traditional Industries
I spent 16 years building Nourish Marketing. Traditional industry. Slow-moving sector. Companies that have been around for generations.
Claude Code would have been transformative. Not because we needed to write code, we were a marketing agency.
Because it could analyze market data faster than any analyst. Draft campaign concepts. Research competitors. Create content at scale. Automate operational tasks that consumed hours.
But only if someone with industry expertise was directing it. Only if someone knew which insights mattered. Only if someone understood what would resonate with buyers.
This is true for every traditional industry right now.
Manufacturing. Healthcare. Professional services. Finance. Education. Agriculture.
Claude Code makes projects possible that were previously impossible without hiring specialists.
But the judgment about what’s worth building? That still requires someone who’s been around long enough to know.
The Real Shift
For decades, technical skills were scarce. If you could code or design or analyze data, you had a valuable skill.
That’s changing.
What’s becoming scarce isn’t technical execution. It’s strategic judgment. Knowing what problems are worth solving. Understanding what “better” looks like. Having the pattern recognition to spot opportunities before they’re obvious.
Technical skills are becoming abundant. Strategic judgment is becoming scarce.
If you spent 20, 30, 40 years building expertise, you’re not on the wrong side of this shift.
You’re on the right side. But only if you learn the tools.
How I Actually Use It
People ask me how this works tactically.
I treat Claude Code like a phenomenally capable junior partner who needs clear direction.
- For email: I tell it what I’m trying to accomplish, what tone I need, who I’m writing to. It drafts. I edit with my judgment and voice.
- For writing: I give it the argument, the audience, the tone. It gives me structure and first drafts. I refine with the insights only I can add.
- For website design: I told it what problems I was solving, what audience I was serving, what tone I needed. It built. I directed the strategic decisions.
- For business operations: I give it data and tell it what patterns to look for. It analyzes. I interpret based on decades of knowing what matters.
I’m not using it to do my job. I’m using it to do my job better.
The work that requires my judgment? That’s what I spend time on now.
The work that just requires execution? Claude Code handles it.
That’s not replacement. That’s amplification.
The Wrong Question
Not “Will Claude Code replace me?”
But “What can I do now that was impossible before?”
Projects you’ve been putting off because they required skills you didn’t have.
Analysis you couldn’t do because it would take too much time.
Content you couldn’t create because you’d need to hire specialists.
Operations you couldn’t automate because the tools were too complex.
What becomes possible when technical execution is no longer the bottleneck?
That’s the question.
Because the answer is: a lot more than you think.
What I’m Actually Feeling
The WSJ article describes people feeling awe followed by sadness.
I get that reaction.
But here’s what I’m feeling: possibility.
For the first time in my career, I can execute at the level I’ve always been able to think.
I can build the website I know will work. Create the content I know will resonate. Analyze the data I know will reveal insights. Automate the operations I know waste time.
Not by becoming a developer. Not by learning technical skills I don’t have.
By using tools that amplify the expertise I spent 30 years building.
That’s not sad. That’s liberating.
If You’re Going to Try This
Don’t try it on a hypothetical project. Try it on real work that matters.
Pick something you’ve been putting off because it would require skills you don’t have or time you don’t have.
Give Claude Code clear direction about what you’re trying to accomplish and why it matters.
Evaluate the output based on your decades of knowing what “good” looks like.
Refine it with the judgment only you can provide.
Use your experience to direct it, not replace it.
The engineers spending holidays on “Claude benders” are discovering what’s technically possible.
Experienced professionals should be discovering what’s strategically possible.
Those are different questions. The second one is more valuable.
What This Actually Means
I use Claude Code for 80% of my work. That doesn’t mean I do 20% of the work I used to do.
It means I can do work that was previously impossible without a team of specialists I couldn’t afford and timelines I couldn’t accept.
The value I provide hasn’t diminished. It’s amplified.
Technical execution was never where my value came from. It came from knowing what was worth building and why.
That hasn’t changed. It’s become more valuable.
If you’re 50+ and worried that AI is making your expertise obsolete, you’re asking the wrong question.
The question isn’t “Can AI do what I do?”
It’s “What becomes possible when AI handles execution and I focus on the judgment only I can provide?”
For me, the answer is: I can run multiple businesses, teach at Ivey, keynote conferences, advise governments, and build thought leadership platforms.
Not by working more hours. By working with tools that amplify what I spent 30 years learning.
That’s not getting “Claude-pilled.”
That’s using experience as the unfair advantage it’s always been.
The technology just finally caught up.
