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The second law of thermodynamics says that in any closed system, disorder increases over time. Things break down. Energy disperses. Without active maintenance, everything moves toward a lower state.

Your career is not exempt from this.

I've been thinking about this since Naval posted: "What you really want is a challenge at the edge of your capability." I replied that you're either moving forward or regressing, basically saying that the middle people think they're sitting in doesn't exist. Over 24 people agreed took to the comments to agree (which honestly blew me away). But the real point isn't about ambition. It's about physics.

When nothing is actively pushing a system forward, it degrades. And that's not some "guru" language. That's how systems work.

Here's what makes 2026 different: the rate of degradation just sped up.

The Entropy Gap

Think of it this way. Imagine two tracks.

Track A: Someone who spends one focused hour a week learning what AI can actually do inside their job. Testing it. Applying it. Getting reps. Not chasing tools: building real, compounding skill.

Track B: Someone who uses ChatGPT for email rewrites, decides they've "done AI," and moves on.

Six months ago, the gap between those two tracks was modest. Today it's noticeable. Twelve months from now, it may be unbridgeable.

This isn't theory. This week I watched it play out three times in public.

One: Ben Cera posted that Polsia (a company run by one founder and zero employees) just raised $30 million at a $250 million valuation and is approaching $10 million in annual run rate. The AI ran the fundraising, and founder showed up for signatures. Six months ago that sentence would have read like science fiction or a reckless experiment. This week it reads like a press release with a value in the millions...

Two: The CEO of ClickUp announced he's doing a major layoff. Not because the company is struggling. Because he wants to build a team of 100x players (people who are extremely confident and multiplied out by AI) and pay them what they're actually worth, including million-dollar salary bands. Fewer people. More capable. Higher ceiling. Lower floor.

Three: Meta laid off 8,000 people the same week they reached out to hire engineers externally. The middle is not shrinking. It's being removed.

Clearly there is money to be made and there is also tons of money and jobs to be lost, but where do people like you and I sit in all of this?

What This Has to Do With You

You're probably not the founder of Polsia. You're probably not on ClickUp's executive team. You're working inside a company, managing complexity, translating things between departments, trying to stay ahead.

Here's the most practical thing I can tell you:

The best job security in the next two years is not your title. It's your reputation inside your team as the person who understands what AI can actually do.

This doesn't require a side project. It doesn't require learning to code.

It means being the person on your team who:

• Brings one AI-assisted workflow to a team meeting per month
• Is the first to ask "could we do this differently?" when a repetitive process comes up
• Has a real opinion on what's possible, not theoretical, not from a podcast, from actual use

That's the micro-brand play. Build it inside your org before the reorg happens. The people ClickUp is keeping aren't necessarily the most senior. They're the most multiplied.

The entropy gap is real. The question is which track you're on.

What are you doing inside your org right now to position yourself as the go-to AI person?

I'm genuinely curious, reply and tell me!

And if you know someone sitting on Track B, send this to them. Sometimes people need to see the physics before they feel the urgency.

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