The Power of Yet in the Age of AI

How one keynote on reinvention changed the way I think about careers, AI, and the future of work.

The word that stayed with me after Kripa Venkatachalam's (VP Technical Field Organization) talk was not AI. It was "yet."

The first time I heard Kripa speak, it was during one of our Cadence Toastmasters meetings for a Women's Day celebration. She spoke about growth mindset, but one simple phrase stayed with me long after the session ended:

"I can't do this... yet."

That tiny word, made famous through Carol Dweck's work on growth mindset, changes the meaning of failure. It turns a dead end into a work in progress. It reminds us that learning is never finished.

Months later, at Voices India 2026, held in Bangalore from August 14–15, I heard Kripa speak again. This time, the topic was AI. But what she really spoke about was something broader and more urgent: how professionals can keep evolving when the ground beneath them is shifting.

By the end of the session, I realized that yet is not just a word for learning. It may be one of the most important words for the AI era.

The Ground Is Moving Faster Than Ever

Kripa opened with a few numbers that made the pace of change impossible to ignore.

Generative AI reached 100 million users in just two months. The internet took seven years. Social media took four. Mobile phones took two. Those numbers are impressive, but they are also unsettling. Every week seems to bring a new headline about jobs changing, skills becoming obsolete, or AI rewriting the rules of work.

Then Kripa asked the question that changed the tone of the talk:

What isn't changing?

Quoting IBM Fellow Frances Allen, she said: "The programmer's job is to do something the tool is still not able to do."

That line reframed everything. AI may change the tools we use, but it does not remove the need for judgment, curiosity, creativity, or problem solving. In fact, it makes those qualities more valuable. The question is no longer whether AI will matter. It is how we will continue to matter alongside it.

Learning to Walk on Moving Ground

One image from the keynote has stayed with me. Imagine walking across a children's bouncy castle. The surface shifts under every step. You pause, adjust, find your balance, and move forward carefully. You do not stop walking. You simply become more deliberate.

That is what this moment feels like. As Kripa said, "The change is so monumental... you have to be very deliberate... and reinvent yourself."

Whether we work in engineering, writing, marketing, finance, or management, the ground is moving. But reinvention does not mean erasing everything we already know. It means learning how to use what we already have in a new context. In that sense, reinvention is really another form of yet. We are not done. We are still becoming.

Reinvention Isn't Starting Over

One of the most reassuring messages from the keynote was also one of the simplest: "Reinvention is not starting over."

That matters, because many people hear the word reinvention and think it means beginning from zero. Kripa's point was the opposite. Reinvention means carrying forward your experience, judgment, relationships, creativity, and analytical thinking, and applying them differently.

Then came the line that drew smiles across the room: "Remember, the legs are the same. The ground is moving, and you still know how to walk."

That line landed because it was both practical and comforting. We may need to adapt our tools, but we are not starting from nothing. We have already built skills that still matter. The challenge is not to abandon them, but to rethink how we use them.

Are We Defining Ourselves Too Narrowly?

The part of the keynote that stayed with me longest was not about AI at all. It was about identity. Kripa described two verification engineers.

One says:

"I verify chips using Tool XYZ."

The other says:

"My job is to uncover bugs that no one else thought to look for."

The first identity is tied to a tool. The second is tied to a purpose. That difference matters more than ever. Tools change. Platforms change. Entire workflows change. But purpose endures.

As I listened, I found myself reflecting on how often professionals define themselves by the systems they know rather than the problems they solve. It is easy to say, "This is what I do." It is harder, but far more resilient, to say, "This is the value I create."

Holding our identity loosely, as Adam Grant suggests, is not about lacking confidence. It is about staying open to growth.

Looking around the room, I noticed heads nodding as people quietly recognized themselves in that example. Later, over coffee, conversations kept circling back to the same question: Are we defining ourselves by the tools we use, or by the problems we solve?

It was one of those moments when a keynote continued long after the speaker had left the stage.

It is another way of saying: "I may not know this... yet."

An Unexpected Advantage

One story from the keynote drew a quiet but thoughtful reaction from the audience.

Kripa spoke about Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, and what she observed while watching young students learn programming. The boys often asked for help while they were still experimenting. Many of the girls waited until they believed their work was "good enough" before showing anyone. At first glance, it sounds like another story about perfectionism. But Kripa offered a different perspective.

The habits often associated with women in technical fields, such as checking assumptions carefully, seeking consensus, questioning conclusions, and thinking critically, are not weaknesses in an AI-driven world. They are strengths.

As she put it, "The habits that AI-augmented work rewards most are the ones women in technical fields have been developing for years."

That idea stayed with me because it challenged the way many of us think about our own strengths. The qualities we sometimes mistake for hesitation may actually be exactly what this new era demands.

Three Ideas I'm Taking Back to Work

I left Voices India 2026 carrying three ideas that I'm still thinking about.

Invest in What AI Can't Replace

Technology will keep evolving. Tools will change. Workflows will change. But first-principles thinking, judgment, creativity, systems thinking, and empathy remain deeply human capabilities.

As Kripa reminded us, when AI reaches the limits of what it has learned, people who understand the fundamentals are the ones who can move things forward.

AI does not reduce the value of expertise. It changes what expertise looks like—yet again.

Make Learning Visible

One of the most useful suggestions in the talk was also one of the most uncomfortable:

Instead of waiting until we have mastered something, we should share what we are learning while we are learning it.

Kripa encouraged us to document not only the prompts we give AI, but also why we ask those questions, what assumptions we are testing, and how our own experience shapes the outcome.

"Visible learning signals intellectual engagement. It doesn't signal incompetency."

That idea matters because in a fast-changing world, curiosity may be more valuable than certainty. People do not need to pretend they know everything. They need to show that they are thinking, experimenting, and learning.

Don't Reinvent Alone

The final reminder was simple but powerful: "Change is never a solo sport."

Learning happens faster when people learn together. Whether it is colleagues experimenting with AI or mentors challenging our thinking, progress is rarely a solo effort. Technology may accelerate change, but people accelerate growth.

More Than an AI Keynote

Months ago, one word from Kripa's Toastmasters talk stayed with me:

Yet.

At Voices India 2026, I realized it was more than a lesson about growth mindset. It was a blueprint for navigating one of the biggest technological shifts our industry has ever experienced.

AI will continue to evolve.

Our tools will continue to evolve.

Our roles may evolve, too.

But if we stay curious enough to say, "I'm not there... yet," reinvention becomes less intimidating and far more possible.

Perhaps that's the real power of "yet." It doesn't promise that change will be easy. It simply reminds us that we are never finished becoming.

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