I've been in lifecycle marketing for a while now, and I'm seeing the exact same shift in my own field. A few years ago, I was manually segmenting lists and writing nurture flows by hand. Now, half the work is training the models to do it better and faster. If you're not comfortable getting your hands dirty with LLMs and automation, you'll be the one left behind - or, as you said, start something of your own.
For data analysts specifically, I think the job doesn't vanish, but it morphs. Instead of just pulling reports, you become the person who designs the AI that pulls the reports. Companies are desperate to cut costs, so they'll keep a few people who can build and maintain those systems, then let the rest go. The analysts who survive will be the ones who can talk to the business and also tweak the algorithms. That's a rare combo.
Honestly, I'm already seeing it with my own clients. They want the insights, but they don't want to pay for a full-time data team. They'd rather hire one person who knows how to hook up all the APIs and train a model to do the heavy lifting. The rest of the team? Shrinking.
So yeah, I'd agree - learn the AI tools now, or prepare to pivot. Starting your own thing is definitely a route, but it takes a lot of nerve and cash. Most people will need to upskill fast before the wave catches them.
