The Tsunami of Mediocrity | Pensero [Let's talk](../book-demo) [Login](/auth/login/) [Login](/auth/login/) [Let's talk](../book-demo) [Login](/auth/login/) [Blog](../blog) / Article ## The Tsunami of Mediocrity AI is making it dramatically easier to produce work. The challenge is learning to recognize what is actually valuable. ![](/framerusercontent/images/LngTLt5NVKfOF2orV8iw4WUo9xw.png?width=1600&height=900) ![](/framerusercontent/images/NkiThIEDcY7u0hU9E3jSSObfmhw.png?width=400&height=400) Dave Garcia · Founder and Co-CEO ![](/framerusercontent/images/UE5vTBVvPOEWzwjRHvK1gfF4.png?width=2048&height=2048) Carles Font · Q-tech Founder Sep 22, 2026 ## We have misunderstood what productivity looks like One of the most interesting consequences of artificial intelligence has very little to do with artificial intelligence itself. Most conversations today revolve around productivity. We compare how many lines of code developers generate, how many presentations consultants prepare, how many reports analysts produce or how much faster almost every knowledge worker has become over the last two years. The numbers are impressive, and in many cases they are real. Teams are shipping more software, documenting more processes and generating more content than at any other point in recent history. The mistake is assuming that higher production automatically translates into higher value. For a long time, that assumption was reasonably safe because producing knowledge work was expensive and writing software required time. Preparing a strategy document meant gathering information, structuring arguments and reviewing every conclusion before sharing it. Even sending an email involved stopping for a moment to think about what was worth saying. The effort required to produce something acted as a natural filter. If creating another document took hours, people tended to ask themselves whether that document actually needed to exist. Artificial intelligence removes much of that friction. Producing another presentation, another report or another thousand lines of code has become almost effortless. When production becomes almost free, production stops being the scarce resource. ## Scarcity used to protect us from mediocrity Every technological revolution changes the economics of production: - The Industrial Revolution reduced the cost of manufacturing physical goods. - The internet reduced the cost of distributing information. - Cloud computing reduced the cost of building software. Artificial intelligence is reducing the cost of producing knowledge work itself. Like every technological shift before it, this creates enormous opportunities, but it also removes many of the constraints that previously helped people make better decisions. **When producing something was expensive, quantity naturally had limits and** **time forced prioritization.** Today that constraint has largely disappeared. This is where the conversation around AI often loses perspective. We celebrate that we can create more, but we spend remarkably little time asking whether more was ever the objective. ## More output does not necessarily create more impact Years ago, one of the most exciting consumer technologies was the 3D printer. The promise sounded extraordinary. Suddenly anyone could manufacture almost anything from their desk. It felt like the beginning of a manufacturing revolution. What actually happened was much less spectacular: Most people printed keychains (ourselves included). A very small number of companies produced precision components that solved real engineering problems. Artificial intelligence is following a remarkably similar path. **The companies that create disproportionate value will be the ones applying these new capabilities to problems that genuinely matter.** In other words, AI amplifies execution, but execution only creates value when it is directed by good judgment. ## Authenticity becomes more valuable when perfection becomes free There is another consequence of this abundance that is beginning to appear almost everywhere. As AI-generated communication becomes more common, people are becoming surprisingly good at recognizing it: Perfectly structured emails, flawless LinkedIn messages and beautifully formatted reports often feel strangely interchangeable. They may be technically correct, but they rarely communicate that someone has invested real thought into the conversation. **Paradoxically, small imperfections have started to signal something valuable.** A message that clearly reflects someone's own reasoning, even if it is shorter, simpler or less polished, increasingly feels more authentic than something that has been optimized into perfection. **Because authenticity is becoming harder to manufacture than grammar.** The same applies to engineering, product development and almost every other knowledge profession. Producing something quickly is no longer particularly unusual. Producing something original, thoughtful and genuinely useful is becoming significantly more difficult, precisely because everyone has access to the same extraordinary tools. ## Organizations need a different definition of productivity Most performance systems were designed for a world in which effort and output were closely connected. More code usually meant more work. These relationships were never perfect, but they were directionally useful because creating output required meaningful effort. Artificial intelligence weakens that relationship when almost anyone can generate enormous amounts of activity. The difficult questions are different. *Are we solving better problems? Are customers receiving more value? Are engineers spending less time repeating work? Are decisions improving because better information is available? Are teams becoming more capable of delivering meaningful outcomes rather than simply generating more artifacts?* These questions are harder to answer, but they are also much closer to what organizations have always wanted to understand. ## The companies that stand out will probably produce less than they could The temptation created by artificial intelligence is to use every new capability simply because it exists. However, history suggests that this is rarely how competitive advantage is built. Artificial intelligence gives every organization an extraordinary ability to create more than ever before. The companies that benefit most from it will probably be those with the discipline to create less than they could, while making sure that everything they do create solves a real problem. **The future will belong to the organizations that remain capable of distinguishing signal from noise, value from activity, and meaningful progress from what Carles described during our conversation as “*****a tsunami of mediocrity.”*** In a world where almost everyone can produce, that distinction may become one of the strongest competitive advantages any company can develop. ### About Dave García Dave García is Co-founder of **Pensero**, the AI-era engineering performance and Agentic Deployment Intelligence platform. Pensero brings together real signals from GitHub, Jira, AI coding tools, agents and the systems engineering teams already use to understand how work actually happens. By connecting delivery, quality, collaboration and AI usage, it helps leaders measure performance objectively, understand the ROI of their AI investments and guide their AI transformation, deciding where work is best performed by humans, augmented by AI or delegated to agents. ### About Carles Font Carles Font is Founder of **Q-tech**. For more than 25 years, *Q-tech* has helped technology companies build exceptional engineering organizations through executive search, leadership advisory and talent strategy. Working alongside startups, scaleups and large enterprises, *Q-tech* helps organizations identify, attract and develop the people who will shape the next generation of technology. Total delivery Points delivered 3.3kpts 10% The AI-era engineering performance platform Pensero gives leaders objective visibility into delivery, quality, and AI impact across the organization. [Let's talk](../book-demo) ## Get months of engineering performance data now Stop deciding on gut feel. 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