Nathan Fitzgerald didn't come up through tech. He spent years as a lobbyist, moved into marketing, got laid off in 2024, and treated that moment as a forcing function: how do I build a skill set that doesn't become obsolete?
That question led him to Foster's MSIS program — and to a clear-eyed view of what AI can and can't do.
In this conversation, Nathan talks about what it actually looks like to learn AI tools from scratch when you're mid-career. We discuss the concept of cognitive offloading — the risk that you let AI do the thinking for you and end up unable to defend your own work. He talks about using PRDs as a prompting strategy, managing AI like a distributed workforce, and how he built a scrollytelling website for a job interview that he couldn't have made any other way.
Nathan's perspective is useful because he's not a tech native. He's someone who had to figure out where he brings value when the tools are doing more and more of the work — and he has concrete answers.
Key Takeaways
Cognitive offloading is a real risk. If AI writes the paper, you can't defend the paper. Nathan's rule: learn independently, then bring that knowledge to the tools.
Treat AI like a workforce, not a single tool. Break projects into tasks, write a PRD before you start prompting, and think of yourself as the manager. The pre-work is what keeps the output on track.
Portfolio over résumé. You can now show your thinking, not just describe it. Nathan built a full website to demonstrate his communications framework for a single job interview. That raises the bar for what "prepared" means.
AI ready means today, not ever. When asked if Foster made him AI ready, Nathan's answer: "I am — for today." Not a destination. A posture.
About Nathan Fitzgerald
Nathan Fitzgerald is a graduate student in the UW Foster School of Business MSIS program. Before Foster, he worked in government affairs and marketing, most recently before a 2024 layoff that prompted his return to graduate school.
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Conversations on Careers and Professional Life is hosted by Gregory Heller and produced at the UW Foster School of Business.