On any project, there is a point where adding more people will slow down the project as you seek to onboard them to the work everyone else is doing.
It takes time to bring a new person up to speed – sometimes estimated in months when it needs to be a few days or weeks.
If you are someone who comes up with a toolbox, learns in advance where the project is at and where the team is having trouble, and knows the tech stack (or is early learning it), your onboarding can drop to those mythical days and low-cost weeks and start creating value for the project.
Being a strong onboarder requires flexibility, dedication, and a willingness to put in the extra time to get up to speed before being asked questions – not things everyone has time for and/or is able to do.
Right now, AI has mastered learning the tech stack skills to write code quickly and securely – it can learn and absorb the stack faster than you can (and make pretty pictures from it) – but knowing the problem, knowing the process, coming in with your own tools – that will always set you apart. And having AI in your toolbox is a great example of not trying to beat it but leveraging it in the work you do.