topic Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day? in Generative AI

How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:11:11 GMT

Community, I'm genuinely curious: Describe your workday two years ago vs. today in a sentence or two.

I'll go first: then, I spent half my day context-switching between Drive, Sheets, Docs, and Slack just trying to find what I needed. Now, I vibe code small apps with friendly UIs that surface exactly what I need, when I need it. No more scavenger hunts.

The productivity gain hasn't been incremental for me, it's been profound. And that kind of shift compounds fast. So what does your before/after look like? Bonus points if the change surprised you.

Is this becoming the norm out there or am I further out on this than I think?

Please share your thoughts, I'm genuinely curious!

Cheers, Lou.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Ashwin_DSA — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:46:29 GMT

Two years ago, I was working in a Presales capacity. My workday was often defined by a reliance on others (close to the customer) to provide customer context and a struggle with the hazy procrastination that comes from starting complex slide decks without a clear structure. Today, that friction has vanished. I now use AI as a non-judgmental partner to instantly synthesise client needs and generate initial frameworks that serve as a springboard for my own creative execution.

This shift also extends to my personal life, where I’ve traded calls to a handyman for real-time, photo-based DIY guidance that allows me to solve problems and explore creative ideas on my own..

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Kirankumarbs — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:09:49 GMT

A couple of years ago, I used to hesitate a lot when it came to quick experiments or small spikes. I felt that even small tasks had to go through tickets, planning, investigation, and documentation. All of that takes time, so trying things quickly wasn’t always easy.

For example, investigating a performance issue in a microservice can mean collecting thread dumps, heap dumps, analyzing observability metrics, digging through logs, and sometimes refreshing your knowledge about newer JVM features or libraries. It’s quite a process.

Since generative AI tools came along, things have changed quite a bit for me. I often spin up a few AI sessions to help with research or analysis while I focus on building on top of that. It has made the whole process much smoother.

I also use these agents as assistants for quick checks, things like best practices, security concerns, performance bottlenecks, language rules, or even detecting potential PII in code using different skills or plugins.

To be honest, it feels like my productivity has multiplied. I’ve also started building small apps for myself whenever I need something, simple things like a todo app or a tax tracking tool, just because it’s now so easy to experiment and create.

Regards,
Kiran

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:32:16 GMT

Love this — anything that clears the deck so we can spend more time with customers is a win.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:33:47 GMT

Kiran, this nails it. The biggest unlock isn't that AI writes code for you — it's that it collapses the friction between "I wonder if..." and actually trying it. Cheers, Lou

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Kirankumarbs — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 11:05:23 GMT

Exactly! Sometimes i wanted to try out things but procrastinated due to a lot of manual work!

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Fabricio_Mattos — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:51:43 GMT

At least five years ago, I spent a lot of time writing code for the data engineering area, and that's normal. We would review the code to check if everything was correct before putting it into production. It was fun, but it really took longer. Now, with AI-AI, everything is much easier. You don't need to type the code; it's done for you. You enter another phase, the verification phase, to see if that code makes sense, is correct, and is ready for production. Productivity has really increased a lot.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

AskNate — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:26:35 GMT

Great thread, Lou. I'll do you one better, forget two years ago, try two months ago.

Two months ago, I was occasionally using AI to help with writing or brainstorming ideas. Useful, sure, but still just a tool I'd pull out now and then.

Now? My AI assistant and I do everything together. Schedule audits, data analysis, drafting customer comms, building internal tools, answering complex questions across a dozen systems, all in real-time conversation. It's not a tool I use; it's a partner I work with.

The shift from "sometimes helpful" to "how did I function without this" happened almost overnight, and honestly, that's the part that surprised me most

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

jade_lauzon — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:15:10 GMT

Then: When learning and building I would search for resources, watch multiple videos, read documentation, and try to build out the connections in my brain. Confusion, blockers, and troubleshooting would be spent with a large investment in time and frustration with an eventual workaround or work through. Then chatbot AI came and I learned how to engineer prompt and kept documents of prompt which help me by answering questions and building connection helping to remove long standing blockers. However, I was still physically performing brainless and repetitive tasks that took time to execute and were done while on the phone or watching tv.

Now: I use AI still to build knowledge and connection but, it is better, and I am better. I now have skills to customize and formalize my repetitive asks. AI has tools and many of those repetitive tasks can be completed with a couple of clicks and in parallel. I can now spend my time asking for what I want, refining the results, and adding my improvements. Easier tasks are allocated to the "can a skill be built to do that list" and I focus on adding value. From a different perspective there is also a new appreciation for human value that has joined the AI appreciation.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

jamesl — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:10:26 GMT

Two years ago I was mostly using AI via chatbots like ChatGPT for knowledge lookup or research, which I still do today. The difference now is that the AI coding tools have become so good that I can perform any manual computer/desktop task more efficiently, but also create net new projects and apps that would have been unthinkable previously.

I haven't ventured much into the world of automated agents, claws, or teams of agents and sub-agents running 24/7, but perhaps that's knowledge work is headed for all of us who sit in front of screens all day. You should have an agent post this question every month (or less?) to see how people's AI usage and responses evolve 🙂

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Ale_Armillotta — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 02:26:09 GMT

Hi @Louis_Frolio . Nice question 😉

Two years ago, I was already using AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, but mostly as thinking partners to explore ideas and reason through the best solution. Before that, everything was manual: I spent hours searching through documentation, forums, and error messages with no real support.

Today, tools like GitHub Copilot and Claude feel like trusted developer teammates. They help me move faster, reduce repetitive work, and focus more on design and problem-solving. This is also true in my Databricks work, where AI and Claude skills are making development much smoother. In fact, these days I’m building my own skills to speed up the creation of agents with the Mosaic AI framework combined with LangGraph.

One of the biggest wins for me is documentation and README generation, which used to be heavy, boring, and very time-consuming. At the same time, what I’m realizing more and more is that experience still matters a lot: AI can accelerate execution, but hands-on knowledge is what helps you catch mistakes, challenge weak outputs, and avoid problems the model may not fully understand.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Kirankumarbs — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 05:39:46 GMT

Spot on! Another example could be the PR Review agent can block or highligh PII related info sneaking in! That was just an example bu there are endless possibilities!

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

HyunsooRyanLee — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 08:31:44 GMT

Great question! Two years ago, I spent hours battling code errors and needed massive effort just to automate workflows across different sites and SaaS apps.

Now? I barely write code myself, but ironically I'm integrating more tools than ever. The barrier to automation has dropped dramatically. When you design agents well, one person can genuinely cover the work of 2–3 people.

The funny part is, I'm more productive than ever, but somehow busier than ever too. The efficiency gains just raise the bar for what's expected. Still, I wouldn't trade it. The scope of what I can learn and build has expanded enormously, and that's the part that excites me most.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:51:58 GMT

@HyunsooRyanLee , funny you should say "The funny part is, I'm more productive than ever, but somehow busier than ever too." Like you I am feeling the pressure to be 100x more productive when I am now 10x more productive than I was 1 year ago! Thanks for sharing.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:56:54 GMT

@Ale_Armillotta , your comment "One of the biggest wins for me is documentation and README generation, which used to be heavy, boring, and very time-consuming. " made me think back to when I did "light" software engineering (electronic medical claims submission, long before UB-92 and HCFA-1500 standards) work. I have OCD about documentation, I focused more on that than the code I had to write. Now, with the vibe code apps I develop my OCD is assuaged by the beautiful details coming out of the LLM's pen:). Thanks for sharing. Lou.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:01:20 GMT

Thanks for sharing, @jamesl I really like your idea of posting this question every month. I think there is real value in that kind of recurring prompt because it gives people a chance to reflect, compare notes, and keep the conversation moving.

That said, there is also a Gen X part of me that feels like I should do it manually and keep a human hand in it. To me, part of community spirit is the human engagement itself. That human touch matters. It is not just about getting the post up, it is about the intention behind it and the connection it helps create.

It also makes me think about the balance we need to maintain with AI more broadly. AI is incredible for so many things, and I am clearly a fan, but I also think we need to keep reminding ourselves how important real human connection is. That part should not get automated away.

Lou

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:04:33 GMT

Great feedback, @jade_lauzon.

Your line, “I now have skills to customize and formalize my repetitive asks,” really jumped out at me. Honestly, that has probably been the single biggest benefit of AI for me so far.

There are so many little things that need to get done every day, and a lot of them are repetitive enough that they should be automated or at least streamlined. That is where I have seen a real payoff. I have freed up hours in my day, and that time can now go where it matters most: focusing on our learners, who are the true beneficiaries of the fabulous training we deliver.

Lou

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:10:06 GMT

@AskNate , I tend to believe the brainstorming dimension may ultimately be where AI produces some of its greatest value. The ability to rapidly generate angles, surface adjacent possibilities, challenge assumptions, and accelerate early-stage ideation is already quite powerful.

That said, I have a serious question.

Do you think these tools can truly replace the highest form of brainstorming — that big blue sky, non-linear, exponential style of thinking that seems to come so naturally to a small number of exceptional minds? I am thinking here of people who do not simply iterate on existing ideas, but who seem to reframe the problem itself and open entirely new conceptual pathways.

In other words, can AI eventually match that level of generative thought, or will it remain strongest as an amplifier and thought partner for human thinkers operating at that level?

I am genuinely curious how you see that boundary evolving.

Cheers, Lou.

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Louis_Frolio — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:31:14 GMT

Hands-on knowledge is what lets you catch things when they feel off. Anyone can spin up an app in a few minutes these days—but if you don’t really understand what the code is doing, it’s hard to know what you’ve actually built… or what it might turn into down the line.

I’m not a coder by trade. I did some light coding 20+ years ago, but that’s about it. These days, I know just enough to get myself into trouble. And if I’m being honest, I lean on the model a lot to make decisions for me. Quick reality check—it doesn’t always get it right.

What helps is having just enough context to steer things. I can go to Claude and say, “refactor this for performance” or “clean this up,” and it’ll do it. But there’s always that small pause after—did that actually improve things, or did it quietly break something else?

Thanks for sharing @Ale_Armillotta

Re: How Much Has AI Actually Changed Your Day to Day?

Ale_Armillotta — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:43:07 GMT

Well honestly speaking. Some months ago I hadn’t a good opinion about the vibe coding and ai coding. This because I never had the chance with my job to work with it and do some experiments. But in the last month I developed a lot of stuff with not so much effort and always perfect (docs, readme, code, comments).

I think now you can develop everything you want without any kind of knowledge. But unfortunately the AI is not always updated and your knowledge is very important. Also the way how you search information and documents.

For example, some days ago claude with ai-dev-kit and a skill that developed for ai agents on Databricks, didn’t work with updated code. It didn’t know that now the agents are updated with apps and are wrapped with response. How did i fix this? Only because I knew this, with my experience.

At the end of the journey, this means that now we need more senior and unfortunately less junior. This is treu!! Also because in the consulting company the customers are expecting to reduce costs with AI in the process and as is now you need seniors to overcome difficulties.