Today was the first day i actually felt like i was managing agents, not just using them.
There's still this friction. It feels wrong to output AI slop. You feel the need to rewrite things, to inject your voice. The structure, the tone, the way you'd phrase it for your generation. The details beyond necessity. Knowing the other person's threshold for information and matching their communication style.
But here's the thing: it enables you to be on top of things better.
The System
i started a flow: one directory per EPIC or project. Everything that happens gets dumped into an OpenCode session within that directory. New Slack messages, new emails, all of it. A running record of status. Always current.
i have a locally scoped agents.md with /init-project and /resume-project commands. i can jump into any context instantly. Dump anything work-related. Pick up exactly where i left off.
This has been doing wonders for onboarding to a service at massive internal scale. We're taking it over from the previous team and starting on-call rotations soon. The previous team only had it for a short period before handing it off. Their knowledge transfer wasn't useful because they barely understood it themselves.
Without this system, every day would've been a constant stress point. Tracking down documentation. Scraping Slack and wikis for context. Asking the same question twice. Figuring out the same context twice.
Instead, i can trust the system to hold what i need, where i need it, when i need it.
The Feeling
i can mentally separate things better because i can trust the system. When i feel tension in my chest, it's a sign that the system isn't optimized or there's a gap. An open loop that hasn't been closed.
This lets me context-switch without losing the thread. i don't need to keep onboarding and signing off from each task within a project before moving to something else.
Right now i'm managing two things in parallel:
- An API migration that has to be done ASAP before a sunset. Hundreds of thousands of users will lose critical info if we miss the deadline.
- Creating an extensive wiki for a service i started onboarding to recently.
Without this system? i'd be in at least low-grade panic about both.
With it? i feel like i'm just managing a project. Checking in with colleagues. Delegating tasks. Retrieving updates. Managing multiple tasks. Making progress effectively. Compartmentalizing effectively.
i feel capable.
L5 → L6
i feel like i'm operating at L6 scope right now. Three weeks in.
This system is a cheat code that lets me punch above my weight. It makes any L5 engineer capable of transitioning to L6 and handling projects. Not by appearing more capable, but by being more capable. You can hold more complexity in view at once.
It also helps for performance reviews. Making a good impression on your manager.
But call it what it is: i just started recently. The gap between L5 and L6 for me is time and promotion cycles, not capability.
Reps and Discernment
Volume negates luck. Enough reps make anyone good enough.
The question is: do people care to put in the reps? And do they have the discernment to know what is worth putting reps in for?
For me, the discernment comes from long-term goals. i know the tools that will get me to understanding quicker. i'm willing to abandon old ways of doing things for new approaches.
My long-term goal is still the same: frontier AI/ML lab. This is a stepping stone for that shift.
What This Role Is Teaching Me
This role isn't the destination. It's the dojo.
What does a frontier lab care about that this system is teaching me?
- Agency and self-awareness
- Willingness to adapt
- Speed and pace in a high-level, high-expectation environment
i want to be in a place where my work pace is normal, not exceptional. Where everyone else is also running systems like this, or their equivalent.
i want to be in a place where i learn at work. Where everyone is trying new things. Where the job itself is at the forefront of what's going on. Where i can learn practically at work rather than just using what i learn outside of work at work.
Right now i'm in import mode. Learning outside, applying inside. My X/Twitter feed and convos with friends like Yasin about how they're implementing new tech in their actual money-making workflows feel like the edge i can only attain outside of work.
i want to be in a place where the work is the frontier, not a place i bring frontier techniques to.
Proof of Work
That's why i'm focusing on publishing content about my thinking processes and what i'm working on. Proof of work, publicly, with my face so it brings authenticity with it.
Frontier labs hire based on proven work and research, not just interview performance. Three months of "here's how i shipped X with agent orchestration at scale" is a much stronger signal than "i think i could do this."
This role is the training ground. The public content is the resume.
So that's where i am. Early days. Managing agents. Feeling capable. Building the proof.
The system works. Now i just need to show everyone else how.