What got cheap
The other half is a draft now
Migrations, forms, handlers, tests for cases you already named — those got cheap. That used to mean a second person. Now the gap closes in short slices, if you already own one side of the stack.
The move, not a course
Own the feature, all the way through
AI just cheapened the half of the stack that wasn't yours. Fullstack did not become “know everything.” It is running one feature through the screen, the contract, the table, and the deploy — and calling the shot on where the model helps and where it does not get a vote.
What stayed expensive
Judgment at the seam
Which entities to store, which response is embarrassing to show a human, whether the feature even deserves a model. AI writes confident average code for a blurry ask. The jump breaks when nobody can check the result.
How hiring looks
The unit of work is a slice
Small teams hire the person who can take a piece to a live link. Depth from your old lane is not baggage and not something to hide. It is what keeps fullstack from meaning mid at everything.
“Fullstack in the AI era is not a framework encyclopedia. It is the person who will not hand off the seam between the screen and the database.”
Screen
Interface
API
Contract
Table
Data
Deploy
Ship
Model
AI line
The bar for the jump is “I ship it” on every pillar — not “I can break it on purpose” everywhere at once. You do not retrain your strong side. You name it out loud.
Where you are coming from
Eight lanes. Switch anytime — the plan rebuilds, and checks on shared modules stay put.