“I feel late.” These were the words of Andrej Karpathy, one of the architects of modern AI, last week.
Andrej Karpathy is not an observer of technological change. He is one of the architects. A man who helped build Tesla’s Autopilot, co-founded OpenAI and trained some of the most skilled engineers of our time admits he can’t keep up.
It’s not uncertainty or fatigue. He is a leader who recognizes that the pace of technological change has outpaced even those who built it. Boris Cherny, principal engineer at Meta for seven years and now head of Claude Code at Anthropic, said, “I start tackling a problem manually, then I have to remind myself that Claude can probably do it.”
When those who laid the foundations of modern technology speak in such terms, it is a warning to the world. If even architects feel overwhelmed, what does that say about the fact that nations are still debating whether innovation matters?
In many emerging economies, time is not only passing, it is also taken. While others set the rules, build the systems, and claim leverage, hesitation turns to capitulation. Delay is no longer neutral. It is a decision to relinquish influence, control and economic power to those who advance faster. The world scene is being written in real time and those who arrive late will inherit systems they did not build.
In 2011, I discovered Bitcoin. I read the code, traced each line and felt the thrill of a revolution. I understood its power – and yet I waited. I told myself it was early. I told myself to be careful. By the time I took action, the future had already moved on without me. Knowledge alone has never been enough. The courage to act is what defines those who shape history.
Looking at today’s wave of innovation, I feel the same sting of déjà vu, but on a much larger scale. The signals are blazing and impossible to ignore. Most noticed. Few people really understood. Across much of the developing world, the importance of technological progress is increasingly recognized. Awareness alone is no longer enough. History does not forgive hesitation. It devours those who wait while others build, innovate and seize the future.
The era of the junior developer as we knew it is quietly ending. Software is no longer built line by line. Today, engineers increasingly describe results rather than instructions. Systems generate code, test it, refine it, and deploy it. The developer’s role shifts from construction to orchestration, managing intelligent systems, agents, workflows, and feedback loops.
Boris Cherny recently spent weeks working without opening a traditional development environment. The models did the job. He supervised. Yet in many emerging economies, the system still prepares students for roles that are rapidly disappearing. The talent is ready. Opportunity is lagging behind. The gap is widening. The junior developer is dead. The future belongs to those who can act decisively and shape history before it is written for them.
The scale of the investment and impact is staggering. Industries, economies and entire nations are being rewritten in real time: McKinsey estimates that innovation could add $4.4 trillion per year to the global economy. Goldman Sachs estimates that nearly 300 million jobs could be affected worldwide. Meta is investing $35 billion in infrastructure in 2024. Microsoft and OpenAI are planning an investment of $100 billion this decade. NVIDIA reported $47 billion in data center revenue last year.
This is not business competition. This involves national infrastructure on the scale of railways, electricity networks and nuclear capacity. Countries that fail to build will not just fall behind. They will matter decisions, ideas and productivity. They will give up their strategic autonomy. Most political discussions miss this. Analysis, prediction, and execution accelerate faster than decision-making frameworks. Tools can already generate solutions faster than humans. Decision-making and responsibility remain uniquely human.
The problem is not a lack of options but a lack of judgment, courage and commitment. The AI cannot choose. He cannot take responsibility for it. As capabilities increase, the burden of human decision-making intensifies. Those who act decisively and responsibly will define the future. Those who hesitate will inherit systems shaped by others.
Many governments announce strategies, form committees and hold conferences. Real preparation is based on three pillars: calculation capacity; technical talent; and institutional speed. In much of the developing world, gaps remain between the three pillars. Advanced infrastructure is largely imported. National research is fragmented. Decision-making in the public sector moves more slowly than progress itself. Technology accelerates while institutions remain immature. Capacity grows faster than the structures meant to guide it.
By 2024, global investment in AI highlights the widening gap: the United States has invested $109 billion, 24 times more than the United Kingdom, the third largest investor. Pakistan is only beginning to embrace AI, moving cautiously as the world accelerates. Among developing countries, only India and China attract significant investments. We are not simply falling behind. We are spectators of our own erosion. Every progress happens elsewhere while we debate and delay. Our children will inherit systems that we did not build. Our economy will be shaped by hands we cannot control. This is a slow national capitulation.
Pakistan produces thousands of IT graduates every year, but few of them experience the breadth and depth of modern innovation: capable resources remain limited; training in collaboration and strategic thinking is rare. As a result, talents go abroad or remain idle. Ambition without opportunity breeds frustration, and talent without infrastructure leads to a slow hemorrhage of national capabilities.
These are fractures that weaken the nation, leaving the next generation to inherit a world they did not shape. The solution is clear. Build world-class AI hubs locally, combining cutting-edge infrastructure with strategic innovation mentorship. Empowering talent to stay, create and lead, transforming ambition into national capability and giving Pakistan a seat at the table where the future is written.
Emerging economies need execution. Priority should be given to national facilities capable of supporting world-class research; public-private hubs to exploit collective innovation; regulatory frameworks that encourage experimentation; programs to retain and repatriate talent; and governance that adapts to change. Today, authority is achieved by setting priorities in abundance, excluding plausible alternatives, acting without guarantees, and openly accepting consequences. The future will not be shaped by those who predict best, but by those who are willing to take responsibility for decisions that cannot be proven correct in advance. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, warns that risk is not power. It is the immaturity of institutions to exercise it responsibly.
When Karpathy says he feels behind, and I watch my country struggle in the same way, we are facing the same crisis from two angles: one personal, the other national. In 2011, I ignored Bitcoin. I understood his signals but hesitated. By the time I acted, the opportunity had passed. I did not fail through ignorance. I failed because of the delay. Today, the stakes are much higher.
Karpathy’s words are a warning. When one of the architects of change feels overwhelmed, it shows how far the frontier has progressed and how far behind we already are. This is not alarmism. It is a call for clarity, courage and decisive action. Pakistan still has room for maneuver, but it is shrinking. Every day of hesitation deepens the dependence and erodes the influence. The question is no longer whether we understand the issues. It’s about whether we are prepared to act decisively, responsibly, and now.
Beyond national policy, the private sector plays an equally decisive role. Every large and growing company must now ask themselves a simple question: How does artificial intelligence improve our efficiency, decision-making and competitiveness? AI adoption can no longer be seen as an IT upgrade. It is a strategic function.
One of the most practical steps is for serious companies to appoint a Director of AI or an equivalent position – ideally a young, technically savvy builder who understands modern tools, experimentation and rapid iteration. Someone integrated into leadership, not isolated in a back office. In many cases, this person will be under 30, proficient in emerging development workflows, comfortable with automation, and focused on execution rather than theory. Their mandate must be clear: rethink processes, eliminate friction and turn technology into a measurable advantage.
For forward-looking businesses, this could prove to be one of the most profitable investments they’ve ever made. Not in software, but in institutional adaptability. In an era where intelligence is becoming an essential part of production, companies that fail to integrate it at the management level will gradually lose relevance, regardless of their past success.
Arnold Toynbee warned: “Civilizations die not by murder, but by suicide.” Hesitation, inaction and the inability to adapt are the suicide of nations. History does not honor those who planned to adapt. It pays tribute to those who built the rails while others debated the route.
The writer is the Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA).
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies of PK Press Club.tv.
Originally published in The News
