Emerging Technologies Skill

Quick Reference

Technology	Timeline	Demand	Entry Point
Prompt Engineering	2-4 wk	Very High	Any developer
AI Agents	4-6 wk	Very High	Python developer
AI Red Teaming	6-8 wk	High	Security background
Product Management	3-6 mo	High	Any engineer
Engineering Management	3-6 mo	High	Senior engineer

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Emerging Tech Paths

Prompt Engineering

[1] Basic Prompting (3-5 days)
 │  └─ Clear instructions, context
 │
 ▼
[2] Few-shot Learning (3-5 days)
 │  └─ Examples, patterns
 │
 ▼
[3] Chain-of-Thought (3-5 days)
 │  └─ Step-by-step reasoning
 │
 ▼
[4] Structured Output (3-5 days)
 │  └─ JSON, schemas, validation
 │
 ▼
[5] Optimization (ongoing)
    └─ Evaluation, iteration

Key Techniques:

Technique	Description	Use When
Zero-shot	Direct instruction	Simple tasks
Few-shot	Examples provided	Pattern matching
CoT	Step-by-step	Complex reasoning
Role-based	Persona assignment	Expert behavior
Structured	Format constraints	Integration

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AI Agents (2025 Hot Skill)

[1] LLM Fundamentals (1 wk)
 │  └─ Tokens, embeddings, context
 │
 ▼
[2] Tool Calling (1 wk)
 │  └─ Function definitions, execution
 │
 ▼
[3] Agent Architecture (2 wk)
 │  └─ Perceive-Reason-Act loop
 │
 ▼
[4] Error Handling (1 wk)
 │  └─ Retries, fallbacks, guardrails
 │
 ▼
[5] Production Deploy (ongoing)
    └─ Monitoring, evaluation

Agent Architecture:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            AGENTIC LOOP                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1. PERCEIVE: Observe, gather context   │
│         │                                │
│         ▼                                │
│  2. REASON: LLM decides next action     │
│         │                                │
│         ▼                                │
│  3. ACT: Execute tools/APIs             │
│         │                                │
│         ▼                                │
│  4. REFLECT: Evaluate, update strategy  │
│         │                                │
│         └─► Loop until goal or max      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Design Patterns (Anthropic 2025):

Pattern	Description	Best For
Prompt Chaining	Sequential fixed steps	Predictable workflows
Routing	Classify and dispatch	Multi-domain tasks
Parallelization	Concurrent subtasks	Speed optimization
Orchestrator-Workers	Central delegation	Complex decomposition
Evaluator-Optimizer	Generate + critique	Quality-critical

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AI Red Teaming

[1] LLM Security Basics (1-2 wk)
 │  └─ Attack surfaces, vulnerabilities
 │
 ▼
[2] Adversarial Prompting (2 wk)
 │  └─ Jailbreaks, prompt injection
 │
 ▼
[3] Bias Testing (2 wk)
 │  └─ Demographic probes, fairness
 │
 ▼
[4] Safety Evaluation (2 wk)
    └─ Guardrails, alignment testing

Techniques:

Category	Method	Goal
Jailbreaking	Bypass safety	Test guardrails
Prompt Injection	Hidden instructions	Test input handling
Bias Testing	Demographic probes	Find unfair outputs
Adversarial	Edge cases	Find failure modes

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Leadership Paths

Product Management

Timeline: 3-6 months transition

Core Responsibilities:

1. Vision & Strategy
2. User Research
3. Feature Prioritization
4. Roadmapping
5. Success Metrics

Key Skills:

Skill	Why Important
Communication	Align stakeholders
Data Analysis	Evidence-based decisions
User Empathy	Build right features
Prioritization	Focus on impact
Technical Literacy	Credibility with eng

Frameworks:

• Prioritization: RICE, MoSCoW, Kano
• Discovery: Jobs-to-be-Done, Design Sprints
• Metrics: AARRR, North Star

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Engineering Management

Timeline: 3-6 months transition

Responsibilities:

1. Hire & develop engineers
2. 1:1s and feedback
3. Remove blockers
4. Set goals and vision
5. Team culture and health

Key Skills:

Skill	Why Important
Delegation	Scale yourself
Feedback	Grow your team
Strategic Thinking	Long-term planning
Emotional Intelligence	Handle people issues
Technical Literacy	Maintain credibility

Common Challenges:

• Letting go of coding
• Difficult conversations
• Managing former peers
• Up vs down management

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Developer Relations

Timeline: 2-3 months transition

Responsibilities:

1. Community engagement
2. Content creation
3. Developer advocacy
4. Feedback gathering
5. Trust building

Content Types:

Type	Platform	Effort
Blog posts	Dev.to	Medium
Tutorials	Docs	Medium
Videos	YouTube	High
Talks	Conferences	High
Examples	GitHub	Low

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Career Transitions

From	To	Difficulty	Key Bridge
Dev → PM	Medium	Product sense + communication
Dev → EM	Medium	Leadership + people skills
Dev → DevRel	Low	Communication + community
Dev → Architect	Medium	System design + strategy

Leadership Ladder

Individual Contributor (0-2 yr)
         │
         ▼
Lead / Senior (2-5 yr)
         │
         ▼
Manager (5+ yr)
         │
    ┌────┴────┐
    ▼         ▼
IC Track   Management Track
(Staff,    (Director,
Principal) VP, CTO)

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Troubleshooting

Want to transition to PM?
├─► Build product sense: analyze products you use
├─► Get experience: side projects, internal transfers
├─► Learn frameworks: RICE, user research
└─► Network: talk to PMs, understand their day

Want to become a manager?
├─► Start mentoring: lead projects, help juniors
├─► Build soft skills: communication, feedback
├─► Understand: you're not coding anymore
└─► Talk to: your manager about the path

AI agent not working?
├─► Tool definitions clear? → Improve docs
├─► Context window full? → Summarize
├─► Looping forever? → Add max iterations
└─► Wrong tools called? → Improve routing

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Common Failure Modes

Symptom	Root Cause	Recovery
PM rejected by eng	Too many requirements	Fewer, clearer asks
Team not performing	Micromanaging	Delegate more
Agent loops forever	No exit condition	Max iterations
Community not engaging	Wrong content	Ask what they need

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Next Actions

Specify your interest area (emerging tech or leadership) for detailed guidance.