Giving a talk today at the Arkansas IT Symposium in Little Rock. Proud to represent Simmons Foods and emphasize our Be Curious values.
I looked back at my original outline a couple weeks ago. It’s wild watching the narrative shift over the last three to six months. The conversation moved from “AI users replace non-AI users” to “curious users beat complacent ones.”
When someone on my team asks if they should still go after their CCNA, AZ-104, or CKA, my answer is still yes. But the caveat that used to be a suggestion is now a requirement. They’ve got to lab it.
AI exposes those that memorize. The cert isn’t the point and really never should’ve been. Break things in a homelab. Experiment. Use the AI as a tutor, not a crutch. This remains why I still look back at my AWS and OSCP (+ Hack the Box) journeys as more fun than a chore.
Ask Claude to quiz you. Use Gemini and NotebookLM to generate podcasts that hit the topic from a different angle. Ask the model to explain something three different ways. Have it throw you scenario problems where you have to debug what’s wrong.
Do the work. And seriously, be curious.