Why Adaptability Is Your Best Backup Plan in the Age of AI – Part One
Updated: May 15
Written by Smrita Jain, Creative and Experience Director
Smrita Jain is an award-winning Creative and Experience Director, Senior Product Designer, Agentic AI Consultant, and founder of The Aquario Group, a Brooklyn-based design and experience consultancy focused on strategy, UX, product design, brand storytelling, digital transformation, and business growth.
AI is not just something to fear, debate, or watch from a distance anymore. AI is already changing how we work, how we create, how we make decisions, and how we think about the future of our careers. Whether AI takes your job or not, adaptability is your backup plan. In this article, I am sharing what adaptability has taught me through economic collapse, career reinvention, product design, agentic AI, and building a business in a world where artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday work. I will also share a few practical ways professionals can start using AI without losing their human judgment, creativity, and voice.
I graduated from my master’s program at Pratt Institute in 2010 and walked across the stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It should have felt like the beginning of everything. But the economy was bad, companies were barely hiring, and the creative industry felt uncertain. I needed sponsorship to work, and I remember a creative director slamming my portfolio in front of me and asking me to leave the office in the middle of the interview the moment I mentioned that I needed sponsorship.
Yet, I survived that economic collapse by finding a $10-per-hour paid internship in a mom-and-pop design studio. That was where I gained true working knowledge. I also established my own design firm that same year, in 2010.
Then came 2020. During the pandemic, I lost my freelance work and many direct client projects. Like many people, I had to quickly rethink what stability meant. That same year, I found a full-time role as a Senior User Experience Designer, and without question, I adapted from a creative and branding role and became ready to incorporate product design, SaaS environment skills, and a new thinking process.
I got my first UX job with no certifications and completed my certifications on the job. The job itself paid off for my certifications. Not only was I adjusting to a completely different workstream, but I was also adjusting to a change in my own skill set, my thinking process, and the way I use everyday digital products.
Now, in 2026, I am learning and using AI every day to rebuild my own business. I do not know how much I will survive, but nevertheless, it is a different year and a different crisis, with the same lesson: adapt. And I am trying.
New York City taught me adaptability before AI did
One thing I have learned from living in New York City for the past 18+ years is that adaptability is not just a nice personal quality. It is a survival skill.
I lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 10 years with lavish views of downtown New York City, then moved into a small studio apartment where I only see walls through one large window. The change was difficult. It felt like I was shrinking a life I had carefully built. But I adapted.
That is what we do more often than we realize. We adapt to smaller spaces, bigger bills, career changes, family responsibilities, uncertain economies, new technology, and the emotional weight of starting over.
So, when people ask, “Will AI take my job?” I understand the fear. But I also think the better question is: “How willing am I to adapt before I am forced to?” or “What can I do to use AI to make me stronger and better in what I do before AI replaces parts of what I do?”
Why adaptability matters in the AI era
Adaptability matters because AI is no longer a future conversation. It is already here, inside companies, workflows, tools, hiring conversations, creative processes, customer service systems, and business decisions.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030. Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report also reported that 78% of organizations used AI in 2024, up from 55% the year before. To me, these numbers confirm what many of us are already feeling. AI is not simply replacing tasks. It is changing the value of skills.
Some work will become automated. Some roles will evolve. Some skills will become less important, while other skills, such as judgment, creativity, communication, strategy, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, may become even more valuable.
So when I say “adapt,” I do not mean panic. I mean prepare. Learn the tools. Understand the systems. Question the outputs. Know where the machine is useful and know where human judgment still matters.
5 ways to build your AI backup plan without losing your human voice
I do not believe people need to become AI experts overnight. But I do believe we need to stop watching from the sidelines. Adaptability becomes easier when we practice it before we are forced into it. Here are five ways I think professionals can begin:
1. Start with a real workflow, not a shiny AI tool
Do not begin by chasing every new AI tool. Start with one workflow that already exists in your life, work, or business. It could be writing, research, UX documentation, content planning, customer follow-up, support tickets, or sales leads.
Then ask yourself: Where is the friction? Where am I repeating myself? Where am I spending time organizing information instead of making decisions? That is where AI may be useful.
2. Treat AI like an early critique surface
AI can show you options, gaps, and directions, but the final call still belongs to the person who understands the context.
As a designer, I would never treat one round of critique as the full solution. I see AI the same way. It can give you a starting point, a structure, a summary, or another way to look at the problem. But the final judgment still needs to come from the person who understands the work, the audience, and the situation.
AI can sort the noise, but humans still need to name what matters. AI-generated content and responses can also become outdated quickly. Tools, facts, business needs, audience behavior, and cultural context keep changing. That means there will always be a constant need to review, update, and reinterpret what AI produces. This is where human thinking, perception, and lived experience still matter.
3. Decide what needs speed and what needs care
Not every part of work needs to become faster. Some parts need slowness, taste, emotional intelligence, and human review.
A spreadsheet summary may benefit from AI. A sensitive client conversation may not. A first draft may benefit from AI. A final brand voice still needs a human point of view. A workflow can be automated, but trust still needs to be earned.
The real skill is not only knowing how to use AI. It is knowing where not to remove the human hand.
4. Build a manual button into your work
Every AI-assisted workflow should have a place where a human can step back in. Someone should be able to review, stop, correct, approve, or redirect the system.
This applies to design, customer service, sales, operations, and product workflows. If something goes wrong, the human should not be locked out of the process.
The manual button is not old-fashioned. It is responsible design.
5. Learn before the crisis arrives
In 2010, I had to adapt because the economy forced me to. In 2020, I had to adapt because the pandemic forced me to. In 2026, I am trying to adapt before AI forces me to. That is the difference I am trying to practice now.
If you are exploring how AI, UX, product thinking, and human-centered strategy can come together in your business, I invite you to connect with me and continue the conversation.
Read more from Smrita Jain
Smrita Jain, Creative and Experience Director
Smrita Jain is an award-winning Creative and Experience Director, Senior Product Designer, Agentic AI Consultant, and founder of The Aquario Group, a Brooklyn-based design and experience consultancy focused on strategy, UX, product design, brand storytelling, digital transformation, and business growth. With more than 18 years of multidisciplinary creative experience, including 7+ years in UX/UI and product design and 1+ year in agentic AI-orchestrated workflows, Smrita has built her career at the intersection of design, technology, storytelling, and measurable business impact.
