mxmpawn

Yes, but you are in a better position to leverage this technology than an employee, the potential value you can extract from AI is higher. Regarding competition, software was never the moat in most cases, so I don't think more software equals more competition, at least not linearly.

AI is increasing productivity. Companies are positioned to leverage this, employees are not, as they'll still work the same hours, maybe now producing more.

The way to better leverage this is to build your own company, I know this is not as simple as saying it but the gap is widening and it doesn't look good for employees.

Plan A -> this year I've started a company on the side, planning to leave my job before the second half of 2027.

Plan B -> keep trying to get jobs in software, trying to adapt to still bring some kind of value to the table.

Plan C -> run my parents kindergarten, but the birth date drop is making this option challenging.

Plan D -> real estate broker and fix and flipper.

Plan E -> Buddhist monk

That's something I have to talk with this new customer, I'll try to start with a reduced amount of dedication and then increase it if needed as the project evolves.

Happy to chat, my mail is in the profile

Leetcode questions were never brought up in the interviews I've had for the time being. There were the kind of questions I've mentioned in the OP and some code exercises.

Yes, I'm not really thinking about doing freelancing hands on work. The only possibility would be to help them come up with a high level solution, as I had built a very similar product in the past.

Why?

Update: I've (politely) declined the offer and told them to 2x the number if they wanted to bring me in. They've asked me if I can work some hours for the rest of the year in order to help the engineering team launch the first iteration of the product and then revisit the proposal in January.

Thanks for all the comments, you're all being very helpful.