Leaked Coaching Email: Become a Super IC in an Agentic World
Stand out by being differentiated (combine 2-3 skills into a specialization unique to you)
Hi, it’s Ethan & Jason from Level Up: Make career breakthroughs with AI-proof leadership skills.
Explore our one day workshops to upskill fast:
(May 29 & June 12) Claude Cowork 101 (for non-technical professionals): Build skills that work. A 3-hour, hands-on workshop to become a real Claude builder and save > 1 hour/day with practical automations and repeatable systems.
(July 11) High Quality Decision Making for Senior Leaders & Executives. Make ambiguous decisions quickly, reduce risk, and sell the direction you choose.
(July 12) Managing Up and Across — Communicate effectively with leaders above you. Build great relationships with bosses and key stakeholders.
A quick note: As we share more of Ethan’s true coaching interactions from calls and emails (background), we will use this random name generator to anonymize the individuals without introducing bias. The names will be completely random, but we will keep the genders of the names consistent to the original coaching client, as gender can have effects on the way we are perceived in the world and at work.
Thanks to Dave Anderson at Scarlet Ink for sharing this tool.
Presented in partnership with Hyperagent
Your AI agents should have jobs. Not just answers.
One tracks your competitors every week. One pulls your numbers every Friday. One drops a briefing in Slack before your Monday standup. You set them up once. They haven’t stopped.
Hyperagent gives each agent its own cloud environment, real integrations, and a schedule that runs without you. No code. No hosting. No babysitting.
Built by the team at Airtable.
Level Up readers get $1,000 in credits.
Here is today’s Level Up: Inside Executive Coaching scenario.
I (Ethan) recently got an email from “Rizwan” a Principal IC in Big Tech, asking a question I think will become dramatically more important over the next few years.
His basic question was:
“I want to really stand out and get paid for it — how do I become a top IC (individual contributor) in an AI world?”
He was asking this based on a prediction that I think is directionally correct, and that I have written about before as well.
The prediction is that the traditional path from IC to manager to executive will weaken as agentic AI systems become more capable. Fewer people leaders will be needed, and the leaders who remain will oversee much larger scopes.
Meanwhile, highly capable “super-ICs” equipped with AI systems may be able to create leverage that previously required entire teams.
Historically, career growth was strongly tied to the number of people you managed, but AI will change this.
A single highly capable person with strong judgment, communication skills, technical expertise, and AI amplification will soon be among the most impactful, valuable, and highly compensated people in the company.
This creates a new opportunity for those looking for career growth. And along with it, a new question:
If management is no longer your clearest path to career success, how can you become an elite, AI-enabled, “super IC?”
Below is our email exchange so you can see “Rizwan’s” question in its original form and my full response.
“Rizwan’s” email:
Hi Ethan,
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how AI and agents are going to change traditional career progression inside tech companies.
Historically, the path has been fairly straightforward: strong IC → manager → executive leadership.
But I suspect that model is going to weaken significantly over the next several years.
My intuition is that agentic systems will reduce the need for large management structures. Fewer leaders will likely oversee much larger scopes and become increasingly overloaded.
At the same time, highly capable ICs equipped with strong AI systems may be able to create outsized impact.
Because of that, I’m seriously considering staying on the high-level IC path instead of pursuing management for its own sake.
The question I’m struggling with is:
How do I continue growing scope, influence, and career value as an IC in this kind of environment?
More specifically, how do I separate myself from other top-tier ICs and create a real competitive advantage?
Technical skill alone feels less differentiated than it used to. Everyone now has access to increasingly strong tools.
It seems like communication, positioning, judgment, problem framing, and the ability to influence organizations are becoming increasingly important.
I’m trying to think through how to intentionally build a unique brand and career advantage in an agentic world where individual leverage is increasing rapidly.
Would love your thoughts.
Thanks,
“Rizwan”
Ethan’s response:
Broadly, there are two ways to outperform.