We worried that Millennials were glued to screens. We worried Gen Z was addicted to TikTok. Now, we should worry if we can keep up with the generation that treats intelligence as a utility.
Inspiration: The “Intern” who runs the corporate Twitter account, and the 12-year-olds building Python apps without knowing how to code.
Every new generation gets a bad rap. It’s a pattern as old as time.
Boomers thought Millennials were lazy for using email instead of “walking down the hall.” Gen X thought Gen Z was useless for staring at their phones all day.
Spoiler alert: They weren’t lazy. They were efficient.
They had natively adopted a technology that compressed time and space. They didn’t see the point of a 30-minute meeting when a 30-second text did the job.
We are about to see the biggest leap yet.
The “AI-Native” generation isn’t just using a new tool; they are operating with a completely different cognitive architecture.
They don’t “search” for answers. They “synthesize” solutions.
Part 1: The Speed of the Digital Native & The Attention of the Social Native
Let’s look at the history tape.
The Digital Natives (Millennials): They brought the internet to work. Remember the “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) era? Corporate IT fought it tooth and nail. They wanted everyone on Blackberries and locked-down servers.
But eventually, the speed of the smartphone won. The “Junior Analyst” could do research in 10 minutes on their iPhone that took the Senior VP a full day in the corporate library. Speed killed the old process.
The Social Natives (Gen Z): They brought “Attention Economics” to work. Look at content production. A 19-year-old with a ring light and an iPhone (the MrBeast model) began outperforming multi-million dollar corporate studios (the NBC/Netflix model) in pure engagement.
The lesson? They didn’t need the “permission” of a broadcast tower. They understood that Authenticity > Production Value.
Part 2: The AI-Native (Capability)
Now, meet the AI-Native.
This is the generation (currently in school or just entering the workforce) that has never known a world without ChatGPT/Gemini.
The shift here is massive. It’s the move from “Search” to “Solve.”
The Old Way (Us): We have a problem -> We Google it -> We read 5 articles -> We synthesize an answer -> We write the email.
The New Way (AI-Native): They have a problem -> They describe the outcome they want to an AI -> They critique the result -> They ship it.
This creates the Polymath Workforce.
For an AI-native, “I don’t know how to do that” is no longer a valid sentence.
They aren’t limited by their degree. A writer can generate code. A coder can generate marketing copy. A strategist can generate UI designs.
We are moving from a world of specialized Departments (Marketing, Dev, HR) to specialized Individuals who can execute an entire project alone.
Part 3: The “Possibility” Expansion
We used to talk about the “10x Engineer.” The AI-Native is the 100x Creator.
I hear the fear all the time: “They won’t learn the basics! They won’t know how to write code from scratch!”
Did we forget how to do math because of the calculator? No, we just started doing harder math. We stopped wasting brain cycles on long division and started focusing on calculus and physics.
This generation won’t waste brain cycles on syntax or grammar. They will spend 100% of their brainpower on Strategy, Taste, and Curation.
They will build companies with 3 people that generate $100M in revenue. They aren’t replacing the workforce; they are compressing the corporation.
Conclusion: Get Out of Their Way
Here is my final take.
If you manage these people, do not force them to work the “old way.” Do not ban ChatGPT/Gemini on the work network. Do not force them to “show their work” like it’s 1995.
The companies that win in 2030 will be the ones that let the AI-Natives rewrite the playbook, just like the companies that won in 2010 were the ones that let the Millennials put Slack on their phones.
The future isn’t coming. It’s already typing.