18-24 Months: The AI Displacement Tool

The Conversation

Had coffee with a friend last month. Senior engineer at a big tech company. 12 years in.

He asked what I was working on. I told him about the AI displacement stuff. The tools. The guidance work with tech workers making the transition.

He laughed. "That's not going to affect me. I'm too senior. Too specialized."

I asked him what his team was shipping lately.

"Mostly AI integrations. Automating workflows. Making things faster."

I asked who was going to need those workflows once they were automated.

He stopped laughing.

The Pattern

I've had that conversation maybe 30 times this year.

Smart people. Good at their jobs. Convinced it won't happen to them.

Then you ask a few questions. What's your company's AI strategy? How many people did your thing 5 years ago versus now? What happens when the junior work disappears and there's no pipeline feeding your role?

The confidence cracks pretty fast.

The Average

1,200 people have taken the assessment I built.

Average score: 64 out of 100.

That's "moderate to high risk." Most tech workers are somewhere in that range. Not immediate danger. But not safe either.

The ones scoring 80+ usually know they're in trouble. The ones scoring 40-60 are the dangerous ones. Comfortable enough to not act. Exposed enough to get caught.

The Timeline

The average tech worker has 18-24 months before their role is significantly impacted.

Not "AI takes your job tomorrow." That's not how it happens.

It happens like this: Your team shrinks from 8 to 5. The junior roles disappear. The work that remains is harder to define, easier to offshore, increasingly handled by fewer people with better tools.

Then one quarter the headcount target drops again. And you're the one who's been there longest. Making the most. Doing work that three people with AI can now cover.

That's not a layoff. That's a restructuring. Very different. Much more defensible. Happens to everyone.

The Dimensions

The assessment measures four things:

Role vulnerability. Some functions are in the first wave. Some are protected longer. Support, content, QA, junior dev work—first wave. Infrastructure, security, specialized domains—later waves. Where do you sit?

Company trajectory. Is your company accelerating layoffs or still hiring? The ones "streamlining operations" and "increasing efficiency" are telling you something. Listen.

Market position. If you got laid off tomorrow, how fast could you land? Your network, your skills, your reputation—what's the realistic timeline? Three weeks or six months?

Adaptation readiness. Have you made moves? Started a side project? Built skills outside your role? Or are you hoping it blows over?

Each one contributes to the score.

The Tool

I built this because I got tired of having the same conversation.

"Am I at risk?" Yes, probably. "How much?" Depends. "On what?" A bunch of things. "Like what?" Let me ask you 16 questions.

Now there's a tool that asks those questions. 3 minutes. Spits out a score. Tells you where you're exposed and where you're protected.

Here's the link: founderreality.com/tools/displacement-score

Why I Care

I saw this coming two years ago. Killed my own SaaS before it got killed. Made the transition from employee-mindset to owner-mindset before I was forced to.

Most people won't make that transition until they're forced. And by then the options are worse. The leverage is gone. The timeline is compressed.

The assessment doesn't fix anything. It just shows you the number. What you do with it is up to you.

But I'd rather know at month 0 than find out at month 18.

The Friend

Texted with that friend yesterday.

He took the assessment. Scored 71.

He's not laughing anymore. He's asking questions. Real ones. About timelines, about options, about what the transition actually looks like.

That's progress.

Try it Out

Go take it: founderreality.com/tools/displacement-score

3 minutes. 16 questions. No email required.

The number might be lower than you think.

Probably isn't.