How technologists can step into the new era of AI + Web3?

Original title: “Web2’s Vanishing Security: How Technologists Can Enter the New Era of AI + Web3”

1. Current State: The Anxiety and Crisis of Web2 Technologists

I’ve noticed a growing trend: more people are reaching out to me, asking how to pivot into Web3.

Some are fresh graduates, others are engineers with three to five years of experience, and many are mid-career professionals like me—ten-plus years in the industry and now feeling uneasy about the future.

Almost everyone asks the same questions:

“Is there still opportunity in Web3?”

“Is it too late for me to start learning?”

“Most practically—how can a newcomer land a job in Web3?”

This anxiety is no coincidence. For the past decade, Web2 offered technologists a “world of certainty”: stable roles, predictable career paths, and platform-driven gains. But as of 2024, that certainty is collapsing at speed. The internet industry has reached a structural turning point, and the AI wave is making it irreversible.

1. The End of the Technology Dividend

Global internet growth is slowing. In the first half of 2025, tech companies worldwide announced nearly 94,000 layoffs—the highest in three years (according to Observer, July 2025). This is not a cyclical blip but a fundamental shift in industry dynamics.

Microsoft’s moves are especially telling:

In July 2025, Microsoft let go about 9,000 employees, roughly 4% of its global workforce; just two months earlier, it cut over 6,000 more. At the same time, the company mandated employee use of AI tools, integrating them into performance reviews.

Even the most stable and resource-rich tech giants are proactively using AI to reshape their workforce. The “job security” once found in Web2 tech roles is being systematically eroded.

2. The Replacement Effect of AI

AI’s rise isn’t just a tool upgrade—it’s redefining what technical work means. Stack Overflow’s 2025 Global Developer Survey reveals 52% of programmers use AI tools (Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) every day; 18% say AI has significantly changed their job duties.

Put simply, AI is now integral to development—it’s not optional.

Where it once took 10 people to build a product, now 3 people and AI can deliver the same results.

The competitive edge is shifting from “who codes best” to “who collaborates with AI most effectively.” For traditional Web2 engineers, this is a silent “middle management collapse”: AI-native engineers are rising, while pure execution roles are increasingly sidelined.

3. The Double-Edged Sword of Platform Reliance

Web2’s boom depended on platform ecosystems. Technologists relied on the App Store, Google, WeChat, TikTok, etc.—but such dependency means individual output lacks autonomy and asset value. SensorTower data shows that, after Apple App Store policy changes in late 2024, global independent developer earnings dropped about 12%, instantly cutting off major revenue streams for many small teams.

This risk is pervasive in Web2:

• Platform policy changes can directly impact personal livelihoods;
• Creators’ data and works belong to the platform;
• Account or service bans can mean total loss.

In this system, no matter how hard you work, it’s tough to build transferable, accumulable assets.

4. Restructuring Skills and Income

LinkedIn’s “Future of Skills 2025” report shows AI, blockchain, and data analytics as the fastest-growing skill sets, while traditional web front-end skills have slowed to just 0.3% growth. Meanwhile, Levels.fyi reports that by late 2024, average FAANG engineer pay fell about 8% year-over-year, while AI/LLM-related roles surged 20%+.

The tech dividend is moving from “platform development” to “intelligent systems + decentralized tech.” Skill migration is no longer a bonus—it’s a survival necessity.

5. The Shaking Roots of Security

The data add up to this reality:

• Web2’s organizational stability is gone;
• AI is blurring job skill boundaries;
• Income and growth paths are decoupled from platform logic.

More engineers, designers, and product managers are asking:

“Do my skills still have long-term value?”

“If I don’t rely on platforms, does my work still have meaning?”

The source of security is shifting from “company and platform” to “individual capacity for self-evolution.”

This is the core logic of “Web2’s Vanishing Security”:

Certainty is migrating from organizations to individuals.

The next generation of technologists must rebuild certainty for themselves at the intersection of AI and Web3.

2. Inflection Point: The Era of AI and Web3 Integration

If the last internet wave (Web2) “connected people,” this new wave (AI + Web3) is reconstructing the nature of those connections—shifting from “platform-centric” to “agent and individual-centric.”

1. Overlapping Technology Cycles

AI and Web3 aren’t isolated phenomena—they’re the convergence of two exponential curves:

• AI: Generative intelligence, led by LLMs, is automating cognition;
• Web3: Decentralized infrastructure, led by blockchain, is automating value.

Their intersection creates a new era:

Intelligent agents can now have on-chain identity, assets, and agency.

McKinsey’s “The Economic Potential of Generative AI” (2025) estimates AI could add $4–7 trillion annually to the global economy. Electric Capital’s 2025 report cites over 23,000 monthly active Web3 developers still building. While their pace differs, both ecosystems are entering a phase of usability and fusion.

2. AI: From Tool to Agent

2023–2025 marks the “personification” phase of AI. From ChatGPT and Claude to agent-focused platforms like Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex, AI has evolved from helper to autonomous executor.

AI is no longer just a coding assistant—it’s a collaborator that can:

• Automatically draft and deploy smart contracts;
• Interact with on-chain protocols, execute transactions, and manage assets;
• Self-learn and optimize based on incentive models.

This evolution introduces a new concept: the AI-native Builder.

Individuals use AI to scale output, and on-chain protocols to anchor results.

The “developer” of the future is not just a person, but a hybrid of human and agent.

3. Web3: From Speculation to Structural Infrastructure

In parallel, Web3 is shifting from speculation to core infrastructure. The focus is moving away from “token prices” to “protocol capabilities”—the foundational systems that will sustain the digital economy.

The industry’s true focus is now on several fronts:

These combined trends show:

Web3 is evolving beyond financial innovation to become the trust layer of the next internet—a base where AI, individuals, and real-world economies can collaborate freely under trust mechanisms.

4. What Happens When AI and Web3 Merge?

We’re witnessing a new system: AI generation + Web3 settlement + personal ownership. This structure enables three levels of transformation:

In short, AI makes production more efficient, Web3 makes results more sustainable. Together, they drive the rise of individual economies.

AI gives one person a hundredfold capacity; Web3 lets that output be certified, monetized, and reused. This is the logic behind the rise of “one-person labs” and “one-person companies.”

5. Structural Opportunity: From Platform to Protocol Dividends

Every technology cycle shift rewrites production relationships. From PC to internet, mobile to platform economics, the center of dividends shifts. Now, dividends are moving from “platform” to “protocol”:

• Platform dividends: Depend on giants, monetize traffic;
• Protocol dividends: Build open systems, join value distribution.

Now, those who build with AI and secure their output on Web3 will become the next wave of “micro production nodes.” Whether developer, designer, or independent creator, new certainty awaits.

6. The New Era Thesis

“AI + Web3 is an inflection point” is not just a slogan—it’s a real structural trend:

• Production tools have fundamentally changed (AI);
• Value systems have fundamentally changed (Web3);
• The technologist’s role is shifting from passive execution to active creation.

This isn’t just a skill upgrade—it’s a paradigm shift.

This is the essence of “AI + Web3 Integration”:

AI redefines productivity; Web3 redefines ownership.

When productivity and ownership overlap at the individual level, a new era for technologists begins.

3. The Way Forward: From Job to Node

As the technology dividend fades and platform certainty breaks down, new questions emerge:

“How do I pivot?”

In the age of AI and Web3, technologists shouldn’t just “switch jobs,” but should rebuild their production model—moving from passive platform participation to becoming an “individual node.”

1. From Job-Based to Systems Thinking

In Web2, technologists’ value was tied to roles: coding, architecture, project management. AI automates tasks; Web3 opens value sharing.

The new competition logic:

It’s not about how many tasks you complete—but how many systems you create.

Systems may include:

• Automated development pipelines (AI + DevOps)
• Smart contract protocols (Web3 app layer)
• Knowledge and tool products (Notion templates, agents, API services)

These systems aren’t platform-dependent—they’re self-sustaining, driven by individuals, powered by AI, and anchored by protocols.

This is what I aimed for with BlockETF and BlockLever at Soluno Lab: making every project a reusable, asset-building system unit.

Technologists must move from “doing tasks” to “building machines,” letting systems work for them.

2. Stage One: AI Productivity Upgrade

The first step in any transformation is mastering the AI tool stack—it’s the foundation for “hundredfold productivity.”

• Text and cognition: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity—for thinking, analysis, decision-making, writing;
• Code and development: Cursor, Claude Code, Codex—for code generation, debugging, documentation, testing;
• Creativity and expression: Midjourney, Runway, Figma AI, ElevenLabs—for visual and multimodal creation.

My workflow mirrors this system. Building BlockETF and BlockLever, I use Claude Code daily for complex contract logic; ChatGPT helps polish my writing. AI hasn’t replaced me—it lets me focus on architecture and creation.

The goal isn’t to show off, but to embed AI into your personal workflow: requirements → code generation → automated testing → documentation → publishing. Achieve this, and you become an “AI orchestrator,” not just an executor.

3. Stage Two: Web3 Tech and Asset Thinking

Once you produce efficiently with AI, next is making your output certifiable, profitable, and sustainable—Web3 thinking.

• Learning: Master smart contracts (Solidity), EVM logic, wallet interaction, on-chain deployment;
• Product: Understand token models, protocol mechanisms, oracles, governance systems;
• Mindset: Realize your code, models, content can all become asset units.

Technologists are now asset issuers, protocol designers, node operators. AI enables efficient creation; Web3 enables ownership and monetization. Together, you gain the blueprint for a personal, sustainable system.

4. Stage Three: Productization and Personal Branding

Once you can produce, certify, and iterate, you reach the stage of individual productization—building your own “micro-ecosystem” that stands apart from any job.

Typical paths:

• Personal brand products: tech blogs, courses, consulting, SaaS tools;
• On-chain products: micro-protocols, NFT series, AI Agent-as-a-Service;
• Community economy experiments: solo company DAOs, tokenized memberships, income-sharing models.

Your edge isn’t just technical mastery—it’s about:

Can you distill your knowledge, algorithms, and experience into a reusable structure?

Individuals become nodes; nodes become brands. When you own your protocol, codebase, product matrix, and user network, you no longer need a company to define your value.

5. Establishing New Internal Certainty

In Web2, certainty came from organizations; in AI + Web3, it comes from self-consistent individual systems.

AI gives you “productivity leverage,” Web3 gives you “value-distribution leverage.” Together, you gain the ability to survive, create, and accumulate value in any environment.

This is the essence of shifting from “job” to “node”:

You’re no longer a part of the system—you’re its creator.

Summary

The AI + Web3 wave won’t eliminate everyone, but it will eliminate those who lack systemic self-upgrading abilities. For technologists willing to learn, build, and adapt, this is the best era yet.

Notice:

1. This article is reproduced from [Keegan Xiaogang], original title “Web2’s Vanishing Security: How Technologists Can Enter the New Era of AI + Web3,” copyright belongs to the original author [ ** ]. If you have concerns about this repost, contact the Gate Learn Team ) and the team will address your inquiry according to standard procedures.
2. Disclaimer: The views and opinions in this article are solely those of the author and do not constitute investment advice.
3. Other language versions are translated by the Gate Learn Team. Unless referenced on Gate.com, translated articles may not be copied, distributed, or plagiarized.