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Hello and welcome! Today I want to explore a work trend I can’t unsee.
The story begins late last week. I’m sipping a morning coffee when I see something called “Vibe Marketing” was gaining traction on socials. My interest piqued. And then some dots connected. And by the end of my coffee, I was like, oh yeah. This is the direction. Obviously.
Because first came vibe coding. Now comes vibe marketing. Next ‘vibe ___’ will come for sales, customer support, product…
It all leads to one single point: vibe work. Humans + AI working together. And, dare I say… making work fun. Vibes.
I still find it kind of wild that people now build entire careers by:
understanding taste, feelings and culture (not just ‘hard’ skills)
being the bridge across different domains, technical languages, and ideas
having multiple income streams & creative outlets. These act as insurance for when the traditional career path fails.
using AI to do the stuff they don’t like, to make time to do the stuff they do like
Wherever you stand on the AI optimism / pessimism scale, one thing is for sure..
We’re on the AI train. And as far as I can see, there’s no stops off for a while. So we could cower in fear. Or we do what generalists do best: think 3 steps ahead. Take in the big picture. Draw a deep breathe. And solve problems.
Generalist friends, today let’s talk about: vibe work.
Screenshot your fave part and tag me on linkedin → Milly
Vibe work, defined(ish)
The cool thing about being early to trending movements is you get to write the definition. Here’s mine:
Vibe work is a labour trend where professionals leverage AI capabilities to deliver higher quality outputs in less time, allowing them to focus on uniquely human contributions
This trend isn’t a fear-based rhetoric about AI replacing you. Exploring vibe work is really just asking fundamental questions like:
What differentiated value does AI have from humans? What do both sides bring to the table?
How might an AI companion make my work better / more fun / more effective?
How does working with AI make us feel?
In traditional work, humans handled everything from strategy to execution. In vibe work, the lines blur. AI tools handle more of the production while humans focus on guidance, refinement, and adding the uniquely human elements that matter.
Humans bring the soul. The gut checks, the emotional nuance, the ability to read a room (or a market). AI brings the scale. Crunching numbers, analysing data, generating options faster than any brain could.
Together, they create a feedback loop that’s more than the sum of its parts.
I think the direction we’re headed is a world where you spend more time on the parts of work you enjoy and less on the parts you don't.
For example: let’s say your boss comes needs you to drop everything to create a detailed competitive analysis for a client meeting tomorrow.
In 2020 you might have spent 6 hours researching, formatting slides, making charts, and then 2 hours on Indeed searching for another job because why does he always drop these things on you last minute?! Not vibes.
In 2025 you might spend 10 minutes telling perplexity what to research, what format you need, and what insights matter most. Take a long walk. Catch up with a pal. Then you’d spend 90 minutes refining and adding your unique human perspective. And finally, get to your kids soccer game on time. Vibes.
The traditional approach gives you one deliverable in a day. The new approach could give you three or four—with less stress and better results.
I think, in its essence, this is vibe work: humans = heart, AI = hustle.
Vibe work, seems to me, an inevitable shift in how work gets done.
How to position yourself in a vibe emerging market
Most of us were taught to market ourselves by highlighting our technical skills in each domain rather than the outcomes we create. People buy outcomes, and the more clearly you can paint this picture for them, the better chance you have of being hired. But when we’re talking about Vibe Work, you’re competing not just among other professionals, but super computers.
Sell the outcome. Sell your figure-it-out-ability. Sell your past results.
For example:
🚫 "I can code your app and also write your marketing copy and do a little customer support."
✅ "I’ll identify why your product feels disconnected from your target audience, then fix both the product experience and messaging. Let me tell you how I did this for ___ and the results were ____”
^ The first position makes you seem like separate specialists. The second positions you as someone with unique integrative insight. Adding in proof points really helps!
Nail your career positioning in ~3 hours (and reap the reward for years)
If you need extra help with positioning, we created this guidebook to get your super clear on your strengths and positioning statements.
Five quick job predictions we’ll see by 2027:
Culture audits ($1,500-3,000) Review a company's customer experience and identify where it's culturally misaligned. I see this SO often; company messaging just, err, missing the zeitgeist and loosing customer loyalty.
Trend consultant ($2,000-5,000/month) Help companies understand (at the human level) movements, opportunities and shifts relevant to their industry.
Chief Generalist ($10k+ month) Act as the glue between teams and technology. Focus on driving growth / people / revenue outcomes.
Cultural pattern workshops ($3,500-7,000) Teach teams how to develop their own organisational cultural awareness. Boost retention significantly.
XIR (expert in residence) ($5-10k/month) Drives growth at the intersections (eg: marketing, sales, partnerships, events).
Attention-catchers this week:
Build in public is back (did it ever really leave? 😎 )
I think the cornerstone skills of the next 10 years are going to be communication, relationship building and being a fast, adaptable learner. This essay made me more bullish:
A scenario that represents a best guess about what AI might look like in 2027. It’s informed by trend extrapolations, wargames, expert feedback, experience at OpenAI, and previous forecasting successes.
Shoutout to Jordan and Greg for the Vibe Marketer launch! 🎉 they’re kicking off a community here.
What’s your take? How does ‘vibe work’ make you feel? What are you most worried / excited about? Join the conversation here 🙂
Till next time, stay curious!