The most critical trend for solopreneurs over the next 3-5 years
According to Microsoft, Gartner and McKinsey.
If there’s one thing all experts and solopreneurs are worried about in 2026, it’s that AI will make them obsolete.
But the obsolescence timeline matters.
There’s a real difference between skills becoming obsolete in 2 years versus 10 years. Even if everything eventually gets automated, the people who position themselves correctly in the next 3-5 years will have accumulated enough capital, reputation, and client relationships to adapt again. You’re not solving for forever. You’re solving for the next viable chapter.
So what’s the next viable chapter according to the reports of Microsoft, Gartner and McKinsey?
Tim O'Brien spent four years at the University of Virginia learning to write code. His engineering program was rigours but “CS programs across the country treat writing as a soft skill, an elective, something the humanities people worry about. The implicit message is clear: your job is to write code. English is for emails, and emails are overhead.
Nobody made me read literature. Nobody taught me how to build a sustained argument across ten paragraphs. Nobody explained that clarity is a structural achievement that requires crafting a narrative — that it comes from understanding your own thinking well enough to sequence it for someone else.”
Or for AI.
The most critical trend for experts over the next 3-5 years is the transition to Human-AI Agent Teams, where professionals (including solopreneurs) shift from performing tasks to designing and managing AI-driven workflows, as outlined in the Microsoft 2025 Work Trend Index.
This sounds technical but it isn't. To be able to build a highly productive and competitive solo business in 2026 and beyond, you don’t need technical skills. In fact, 70% of the top skills needed in the workforce today are human-centric, not technical.
So what do you need to adapt and thrive? How do you work with AI Agents and how difficult is it? What’s most important and what’s noise?