The Big Dumper, The Big AI, and The Big Reinvention
Well, Seattle, we’ve done it again. We’ve managed to perfectly synchronize our emotional and economic states with the trajectory of a horsehide-covered sphere.
If you’re feeling a little dazed this week, you’re not alone. The entire city is nursing a collective case of emotional whiplash. On one hand, the tech industry that built our skyline is in the midst of its "Great Reinvention," a wonderfully polite term for a period where everyone is frantically updating their skills, learning to prompt an AI, and wondering if their job title will exist in 18 months.
On the other hand, we just watched the 2025 Seattle Mariners.
This wasn't just a "good season." This was a season for the ages. We finally, finally, won the AL West for the first time since 2001. We saw our beloved "Big Dumper," Cal Raleigh, go on an absolute tear, breaking Ken Griffey Jr.'s franchise home run record and setting the all-time MLB record for homers by a catcher. It was pure, uncut bliss.
We beat the Tigers in the ALDS. We won our first home playoff game in 24 years. We were up 3-2 in the ALCS. The World Series wasn't just a dream; it was a scheduled event.
And then, in Game 7, George Springer hit a home run. And just like that, our 49-year World Series drought remains stubbornly intact. The opponent who crushed our dreams? The Toronto Blue Jays. Again.
It feels familiar, doesn't it? A spectacular, record-breaking run that changes all the rules, followed by a sudden, jarring halt that leaves us wondering, "What just happened, and what do we do now?"
Welcome to Seattle in 2025. We're all Cal Raleigh, having an MVP-caliber season right before we have to reinvent ourselves for a new era.
The parallels are almost too perfect. For the last decade, Seattle tech was the undisputed champion. We were the 2025 Mariners, winning the division, smashing records, and looking unbeatable. Now, the game has fundamentally changed. The new player on the field isn't a free agent; it's Artificial Intelligence. And it’s already in the starting lineup.
If you’re watching the World Series right now (you know, the one the Blue Jays are in instead of us), you're literally seeing AI in action. That "FOX Foresight" platform? The one feeding Alex Rodriguez real-time stats about how a batter performs against lefties on a Tuesday in October? That’s Google's AI, analyzing the game faster than a human ever could.
The game we all play—whether it’s in code, marketing, or project management—is being rewritten by the same technology. And just like the Mariners, we can't rely on last year's home run record to win next year's pennant.
This isn't a time for despair. This is a time for reinvention. It’s our "off-season." The M's can't just run back the exact same playbook and hope to beat the Blue Jays next year. They have to adapt. They have to analyze the new data, find new advantages, and get better.
So do we.
This isn't about layoffs; it's about a reshuffle. The brilliant engineer, the sharp product manager, the creative marketer—they are all still here. But now, we have to be the player and the analyst. We have to learn to use the AI, not compete against it. The new "must-have" skill isn't just coding; it's knowing how to use an AI to help you code 10 times faster.
We are a city of pioneers, not settlers. We built this place by adapting first—from timber to planes, from software to the cloud. This is just the next evolution. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating, and it’s mandatory.
The 2025 season was a painful, beautiful reminder that incredible success doesn't guarantee a championship. It just raises the stakes. Now, it’s our turn to step back up to the plate.