Capabilities
When AI connects dots better than humans — what's left to connect?
Prediction
By 2027, AI will pattern match better than most knowledge workers. The capability that remains irreplaceable isn't connecting information. It's connecting with people.
| AI Connects | Humans Connect |
|---|---|
| Data | People |
| Patterns | Meaning |
| Information | Consciousness |
| Dots | Hearts |
It's not what you know, but who you know you can trust that matters more than ever before.
Capability vs Skill
A skill is what you do. A capability is what enables you to do it.
| Capability | Skill | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Broad, transferable | Specific, contextual |
| Durability | Decades | Years (tools change) |
| AI impact | Amplified | Often automated |
| Example | Pattern Recognition | SQL data analysis |
| Example | Prompting | Midjourney v7 syntax |
| Example | Selling | Cold calling |
Skills get commoditised as AI absorbs them. Capabilities appreciate—they direct how skills are applied.
This matters for biological and phygital agents working together: humans bring capabilities that can't be replicated—judgment, taste, presence, trust. AI brings skills that deploy at scale—speed, consistency, volume, recall. The combination is greater than either alone.
The T-Shape
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ← HORIZONTAL: Distribute transformative messages
┃
┃ ← VERTICAL: Deep knowledge across domains
Wide enough to reach people. Deep enough to build what they need.
| Bar | Type | Examples | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal | Soft | Selling, storytelling, negotiating, networking, writing | Gets value to people |
| Vertical | Hard | Coding, engineering, designing, building, producing | Creates value |
Neither alone is enough. Build something nobody sees = waste. Sell something that doesn't exist = fraud.
The intersection is matrix thinking—extracting the meta from the matter, connecting domains AI treats as separate.
Beyond the T
The T-shape grows into a tree:
| Dimension | Knows | Can Do | Builds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | Industry, customers, problems | Talk to users, identify JTBD | Empathy |
| Build | Software, systems, AI tools | Ship product, automate, iterate | Execution |
| Value | Business models, unit economics | Price, measure, prove ROI | Judgment |
| Strategy | Positioning, competition | Prioritize, say no, find leverage | Focus |
Knowledge Types
| Type | Where It Lives | Can AI Copy It? |
|---|---|---|
| Know-how | In your head | Hard — requires experience |
| Codified | In systems, manuals, code | Easy — AI excels here |
| Embodied | In practice, relationships | Hard — compounds over time |
Most education focuses on codified. Most value comes from know-how. Most leverage comes from embodied.
The Agency Formula
Agency = Knowledge x Understanding x Capability x Intention x Execution
| Without... | You Are... |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | Blind |
| Understanding | Mechanical |
| Capability | Just wishing |
| Intention | Just skilled |
| Execution | Just planning |
Most ideas die not because they're bad, but because the idea-haver stops too early in the chain.
Building Capability
1. Hit a wall → Find something you can't do but need to
↓
2. Copy blindly → Do exactly what someone successful does
↓
3. Break things → Modify until it breaks, understand why
↓
4. Fix things → Make it work again, but differently
↓
5. Build things → Create from scratch using what you learned
↓
6. Teach things → Transfer capability to others
Steps 2-5 are where capability lives. Most tutorials stop at step 2.
Credibility Chain
| Concept | What Is It? | How Earned? | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | What you can do | Demonstrated performance | Foundation |
| Credibility | Belief others have | Reputation, outcomes | Multiplier |
| Credentials | Official proof | Certificates, licenses | Gatekeeper |
| Credit | Trust extended | Past reliability | Lever |
What if we hired based on what people built, not where they studied?
By Archetype
| Archetype | Top Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Dreamer | Creativity, Visualisation, Storytelling, Optimism, Selling |
| Engineer | Systems Thinking, Planning, Pattern Recognition, Memory, Writing |
| Realist | Critical Thinking, Listening, Pattern Recognition, Negotiation, Presenting |
| Coach | Questioning, Listening, Empathy, Presenting, Negotiation |
| Philosopher | First Principles, Critical Thinking, Questioning, Writing, Pattern Recognition |
Go Deeper
| Category | Capability | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking | Systems Thinking | See how parts connect |
| First Principles | Reason from fundamentals | |
| Critical Thinking | Evaluate without bias | |
| Pattern Recognition | See what others miss | |
| Planning | Turn vision into steps | |
| Communication | Storytelling | Narrative that moves |
| Writing | Clarity in text | |
| Presenting | Presence and delivery | |
| Listening | Understand before responding | |
| Questioning | Unlock better answers | |
| Prompting | Direct intelligence systems | |
| Reading | Absorb and synthesize | |
| Languages | Connect across cultures | |
| Connection | Empathy | Feel what others feel |
| Selling | Trust transfer | |
| Negotiation | Find mutual value | |
| Orchestration | When to think vs delegate | |
| Foundation | Focus | Direct your scarcest resource |
| Memory | Retain what matters | |
| Taste | Know good from good enough | |
| Creativity | Generate options | |
| Visualisation | See futures | |
| Optimism | Persist through setbacks |
Tools Matrix
Which horizontal tools amplify which capabilities?
| Capability | Tool | AI % | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storytelling | Video Production | 60% | Orchestrate |
| Writing | Writing Tools | 70% | Orchestrate |
| Systems Thinking | Diagrams | 30% | Lead |
| Selling | CRM | 40% | Lead |
| Planning | Project Mgt | 50% | Orchestrate |
| Pattern Recognition | Analytics | 65% | Orchestrate |
| Presenting | Pitch Deck | 45% | Lead |
| Questioning | AI Interface | 35% | Lead |
| Prompting | LLMs, Image Gen | 25% | Lead |
| Focus | Time blocking, distraction blockers | 15% | Lead |
| Taste | Curation tools, quality benchmarks | 10% | Lead |
Lead = High human edge. Orchestrate = Direct AI effectively.
See Work Charts for how these shifts play out activity by activity.
The Human Edge
| Human Core | AI Augments | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| User empathy & taste | Data synthesis | AI can't feel the problem |
| Judgment under uncertainty | Pattern recognition | AI needs clean signals |
| Trust & relationships | Research & analysis | Trust requires skin in game |
| Ethical navigation | Code generation | AI has no stakes |
| Narrative & meaning | Testing & iteration | Stories need a storyteller |
Compound Effect
Single capabilities are commodities. Combinations are moats:
| Combination | Creates |
|---|---|
| Writing + Coding | Documentation that actually helps |
| Design + Engineering | Products people want to use |
| Sales + Building | Things that actually sell |
| Teaching + Doing | Knowledge that transfers |
| Domain + AI | Solutions others can't see |
Distribution
Capability without distribution is worthless. The most valuable capability isn't technical—it's the ability to distribute what you build.
Mediocre builders with great distribution beat great builders with no distribution. Every. Single. Time.
The Curriculum
What should education actually teach?
| Capability Type | How to Develop | AI Can't Replace |
|---|---|---|
| Connecting | Coaching, masterminds, collaboration | Consciousness meeting consciousness |
| Shipping | Projects with deadlines, ship protocol | Judgment under uncertainty |
| Predicting | Games, sports, markets | Intuition from embodied experience |
| Character | Heroes journey, friction, failure | Integrity under pressure |
Traditional education inverts the priority—maximizing codified knowledge (AI's domain) while neglecting connecting and character (human's domain).
Practical Path
Stop collecting knowledge. Start building capability:
| Week | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pick one thing to build (not learn—build) |
| 2 | Build it publicly, let others see you fail |
| 3 | Ship it broken, perfect is the enemy of shipped |
| 4 | Fix it live, learn from real feedback |
| 5+ | Build the next thing, each builds on the last |
Where is your point of difference?
Context
- Players — The crew you coordinate with
- Human Beings — Mentors who exemplify capabilities in action
- Phygital Beings — AI agents with T-shaped capabilities
- Archetypes — Which mind are you developing?
- Culture — What remains when capabilities are commoditized
- Social Glue — Bonds that make coordination possible
- Games — The cave where pattern skills develop
- Education Industry — The capability curriculum in context
- Work Charts — Track AI impact on activities
- Horizontal SaaS — Tools that amplify capabilities
- Character — Trust that can't be faked