Each year, it feels like the world gets more unpredictable. Between escalating climate catastrophes, the rise of fascism, and declining support for marginalized communities, I’ve been doing a lot of brooding. I’m naturally pensive (the deep grooves across my eyebrows confirm it), but wow—2024 gave me plenty to think about.

These challenges inspire the urgent need to prepare myself—both personally and professionally—for the volatile times we live in. I want to equip myself with the skills and knowledge necessary to adapt and contribute meaningfully.

Navigating Technology’s Role

AI is no longer just a fun dinner conversation topic or a tech-world curiosity. It’s everywhere, shaping our lives in ways that were once seen only in the sci-fi genre. From airports scanning our faces to chatbots assisting with healthcare decisions—and yes, even helping me sort out my personal dilemmas—AI is firmly embedded in our daily reality.

But here’s the thing: I’ve realized the work I do as a technologist is not only to create and use tools made available to me, but also to investigate and question the impact that new technologies will have on the industry and on my community. Developers are not only consumers. AI has been marketed as means of advancing human potential and for increasing business revenue. These broad, consumable predictions are easy to accept as indicators of AI's bright future and success without consequence, but I think the wise thing to do is to really interrogate and understand how AI will impact the conditions of the future.

This raises big questions for me: What role should technology play in society? What’s my role in shaping it? After 25 years of life and a third of it spent surrounded by smoke, mirrors, and black boxes, I feel the weight of these questions.

In 2025, I’m looking forward to interrogating the direction that we are moving in the tech industry and solidifying my place in this rapidly changing world— as a technologist reading the health facts of the food I am being served.

Lessons from 2024

One of the most important lessons I learned in 2024 is that the path that innovation takes is not set in stone. Over the holidays, I read Joy Buolamwini’s Unmasking AI, which challenges readers to think about the biases baked into technology and to question its role in society. For most of my career, I’ve treated languages, packages, and DB's as neutral tools to achieve my goals—a means to an end. Buolamwini’s work has prompted me to rethink that mindset and consider the origins of tools that I use and it's intended vs actual impact.

I also observed the fallout from sweeping changes at tech giants like Meta and Twitter. Twitter, under Elon Musk, became a soapbox for the far-right, erasing fact-checking while silencing marginalized voices. Meta made similarly contentious moves, leading to the rise of alternative platforms. These shifts taught me that there’s a huge opportunity to create better, more inclusive, informed, online spaces—places that don’t replicate the mistakes of their predecessors.

Finally, I realized I miss building. LeetCode problems are fine for sharpening technical skills, but they don’t satisfy my itch to create interesting, meaningful products and contributions.

Goals for 2025

So, what do I want to accomplish this year?

Build Exciting Projects with New Technologies

I want to expand my skill set by learning and building with a couple of different tools. I'd like to learn python. It’s a versatile language that’s highly valued in the industry, and now feels like the right time to dive in. Next, I want to experiment with AI models in my react projects and understand the amount of energy expended when users use that in apps. Finally, also want to tackle more complex projects that challenge my backend and system design knowledge, thereby shaping me into the engineering leader I aspire to be.

Write More

This blog post is my first of 2025, but it won’t be my last. Writing helps me organize my thoughts, reflect on challenges, and share lessons from my projects. Plus, it’s a way to connect with others who share my goals and values. I would like to focus my writing projects on reflecting on the history of tech and drawing inspiration and highlight software projects that are making impacts on marginalized communities and making the world a safer and more equitable place.

Focus on Impactful Work

Whether it’s creating apps or tools for my local community, I want my work to drive positive change. I aim to stay mindful of the social implications of technology and prioritize reducing human suffering. I have a project in mind and would want to get it to the point that I can launch it publicly and conduct A/B testing on it. This will allow me to refine this project and iterate on its core features to make the project great.

Looking Ahead

2025 will be a year of action, learning, and adaptation. The world looks nothing like it did five years ago, and to thrive in this new landscape, I need to stay curious, stay informed, and stay active.

Here’s to building a future we can all feel proud of—one project, one blog post, and one decision at a time.