In So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport shatters the feel-good myth that passion alone leads to success. The real path, he says, is building rare and valuable skills — becoming so good that the market has no choice but to recognize you. In 2025, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) reshapes everything from BPO to financial services, that advice isn’t just useful — it’s critical for survival.

We’re already seeing it happen: chatbots now handle basic BPO customer service better, faster and cheaper. In banking, machine learning is rewriting risk models, processing loans and flagging fraud in seconds. The jobs being displaced aren’t disappearing because of a lack of passion; they’re disappearing because they became predictable and automatable.

This is where Newport’s call to build “career capital” rings loudest. In the BPO industry, the human agents thriving are those who can resolve escalations creatively, build rapport beyond a script, and sell value, not just products. In financial services, it’s those who blend deep financial acumen with data fluency — who can guide clients through uncertainty, where AI can only crunch numbers.

Now, this challenge is being answered at a national level with a Public-Private Partnership. Last 25 April, at the General Membership meeting of the Fintech Alliance PH, the DICT led by Secretary Henry Aguda, and members of the Fintech Alliance PH, led by Chairman Lito Villanueva, signed the digital collaboration wall for their mission to reach Eight Million Digital Jobs by 2028. It’s more than a numbers game. It’s a bet that the Filipino workforce can evolve — not just to operate AI tools, but to outthink, outcreate and outlead in an AI-augmented world.

The Digital Collaboration Wall, symbolizing the unity of public and private sectors behind this goal, sends a clear message: The future belongs not to the fastest or cheapest, but to the most skilled and adaptable. This is the era of constant reinvention. No one is safe coasting on yesterday’s expertise.

So here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI is not coming for your job; it’s coming for your tasks. If your contribution is easily replicable, it will be. But if you are so good — so savvy with AI tools, so human, so valuable — they can’t ignore you, then you’re not just surviving. You’re thriving.

The AI revolution isn’t about technology alone.

It’s about talent. And it’s about time we stepped up. In the age of AI, it’s not man versus machine. It’s mastery versus mediocrity.

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Mike Calma is a technology executive with more than two decades of experience building and scaling tech ventures. He’s helped build everything from startups to growth-stage companies in IT and fintech. Mike’s been involved in market entries, large complex digital transformation projects, and, most importantly, keeping everything from falling apart while looking calm on the outside. When he’s not wrangling business problems, Mike practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where he’s discovered that getting tapped out is just part of the journey. TechTalks welcomes Mike with this, his very first column.

For comments, email him directly: michael.calma@gmail.com.