Between us, we've lived three versions of early career engineering: before AI tools, the transition to using them, and onboarding with them from day one. The difference is night and day. Claude Code let us ramp up on complex codebases in weeks instead of months, take on cards we would have avoided, debug infrastructure issues independently, review senior engineers' code with confidence, and turn toil — like parsing a chaotic SharePoint to usable cost data — into real business value.
We also found the trap: when you let AI do the work without doing the learning, speed becomes an illusion. This talk shares the workflows that made us productive, the moment we realized we were leaning in too hard, and the simple habits that keep AI as a tool instead of a crutch. You don't need to be an AI expert to walk away with something you can use Monday morning.