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Issue #35 | 2/4/2026
From the Editor
Hey fam!
Quick one this week—because Google just proved that more agents, more certifications, and more hustle isn't always the answer.
The rare role that pays you to build something meaningful (and why "Data for Good" isn't just corporate PR)
Why Google researchers found that adding more AI agents can tank performance by 70%—and what that means for your career strategy
The reframe that turns "I'm a doer, not a leader" from a weakness into your biggest positioning advantage
Here's what's inside:
Enjoy today’s issue!
Phedra Arthur Iruke
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Job Board
🦸 Hero Role of the Week
380+ jobs pulled. One stopped me cold.
Sr. Program Manager, Data for Good @ Databricks | Remote
Databricks processes data for over 50% of the Fortune 500. But this role isn't about enterprise dashboards—it's about applying data and AI to humanity's most pressing challenges: climate action, crisis response, health outcomes, education. You're not executing someone else's vision. You're building Databricks for Good from the ground up—defining the mission, success metrics, and long-term strategy.
No spoilers. Go find it. Filter on jobs posted in the last 7 days and hit Apply Now.
👉 Browse this week's top roles 👇
New roles added daily.
Professional Development
💡 Micro-Tip of the Week
How to know if you're building the right thing
❝ Before adding another tool, process, or agent—ask: "Does this make us faster, or just busier?" The system doesn't need more parts. It needs fewer decisions.
Industry News
A few things from Big Tech & business leaders that you can steal in 10 minutes
Touch grass often
Source: Google Research
Google researchers tested 180 AI agent configurations and found something counterintuitive: "More Agents Is All You Need" is often wrong. On tasks requiring sequential reasoning, every multi-agent system degraded performance by 39-70%. The takeaway? Architecture matters more than headcount.
Read more → Here
Nvidia's $100B OpenAI Deal "On Ice"
Source: Wall Street Journal
The mega-deal announced in September is being rethought. Discussions now include an equity investment of "tens of billions" as part of OpenAI's current funding round instead. What this signals: even at the highest levels, partnerships require constant recalibration.
Read more → Here
X Is Down (Again)
Source: The Verge
After multiple outages in January, X kicked off February with another one. If you're building anything that depends on a single platform for distribution, this is your reminder to diversify.
Read more → Here
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In case you missed it
Community Pulse
The PM community is buzzing about Business Acumen, AI Adoption, and Strategic Transformation while the tech world debates agent architecture and coding tools.
Hot discussion: PMI’s 2025 Pulse of the Profession report reveals that project professionals with high business acumen consistently outperform their peers across major project performance metrics, achieving higher rates of business goals met, schedule adherence and budget adherence . The research shows these professionals use nearly three additional factors to measure project performance. Read the full report
PM industry trending:
∙ AI use in project management nearly doubled in just two years—jumping from 36% in 2023 to widespread adoption in 2025, with 82% of professionals using AI more frequently than anticipated . APM survey findings
∙ PMI announced a refreshed PMP exam launching July 2026, with emphasis on adaptive approaches and agile methods over predictive approaches . What’s changing
Tech community debates:
∙ “Towards a Science of Scaling Agent Systems” is generating buzz on Hacker News —Google research shows “more agents” often hits a ceiling and can degrade performance. HN discussion
∙ “What I learned building an opinionated coding agent”—practical lessons on context management and tree-based conversation flows. HN discussion
∙ “List animals until failure”—an oddly addictive game testing your animal knowledge against Wikipedia. Try it | HN discussion
What’s on YOUR mind this week? Hit reply and tell me.
Energy
🎤 Phedra's Take
This week's theme: Strategic Restraint
Here's my take: We've been sold the "more is better" myth for too long. More certifications. More skills. More responsibilities. More agents. Google just proved what experienced operators already knew: adding more moving parts often makes things worse.
What I've learned: The people moving up aren’t the ones who list a 1000 skills on LinkedIn. They’re the ones who’ve mastered saying no. Strategic restraint? That’s leadership. Building one thing exceptionally well beats shipping ten half-baked projects every time. That’s the difference between 0→1 thinking and just staying busy.
Your move this week: Look at your current projects and ask Google's question: "Does adding more here make us faster, or just busier?" Then cut one thing that's adding coordination overhead without adding value. Your future self will thank you.
That’s it for this week.
Keep showing up, keep cheering each other on.
How I can help?
The Delivery Career Decoder is the first comprehensive career transformation system designed specifically for delivery professionals, program managers, and technical operations experts who are ready to break through the "execution ceiling" and step into strategic leadership roles. This is a proven methodology that leverages your unique strengths as a delivery professional while systematically building the strategic positioning, executive presence, and communication skills that open doors to VP, Director, and C-suite opportunities.
The Business of Delivery Team
P.S.
You got this!