When digital cameras killed film photography, Kodak went bankrupt. But Fujifilm? They pivoted into skincare and thrived. Here’s why that matters for developers right now.
The Pivot That Saved Fujifilm
Facing extinction in the early 2000s, Fujifilm did something smart. Instead of panicking, they asked: “What are we actually good at?” Turns out, they’d spent decades perfecting chemicals that protect film from UV damage and oxidation. Their scientists realized those same antioxidants could fight skin aging.
Today, Fujifilm’s skincare line makes serious money. They didn’t abandon who they were—they just got creative about applying what they already knew.
Your Skills Are More Valuable Than You Think
With AI churning out code, it’s easy to feel replaceable. But here’s the thing: you’re not just someone who types JavaScript or PHP. You’ve developed deeper skills that most people don’t have.
You break complex problems into pieces. Give you a messy feature request, and you instinctively chunk it into logical steps. That’s systems thinking, and it’s valuable everywhere—product management, business strategy, operations.
You think about maintainability. You don’t just make things work; you make them understandable. You consider the developer six months from now. That’s long-term thinking and stakeholder empathy wrapped into one.
You’re a detective. Debugging taught you to form hypotheses, test systematically, and trace problems to their roots. That troubleshooting mindset works in any field that involves solving real-world problems.
You learn fast. Remember picking up React Native after PHP? Documentation was a mess, nothing made sense at first, but you figured it out. You’ve trained yourself to learn new things quickly, and that meta-skill is gold in a fast-changing world.
Where Creativity Beats AI
AI is amazing at pattern matching. It can generate code based on what it’s seen before. But creativity—the real stuff—comes from unexpected connections. The Fujifilm execs who looked at film chemistry and saw skincare weren’t following a formula. They were thinking sideways.
You do this too. Every time you borrow a pattern from one domain to solve a problem in another, every time you refactor and find a cleaner solution, you’re being creative. AI can help you execute, but figuring out what to build and why? That’s still human territory.
So What’s Your Skincare Product?
What’s the unexpected way you can apply your developer skills?
Maybe it’s technical writing—using your clarity of thought to explain complex topics. Maybe it’s product management, leveraging your systems thinking to define what should be built. Could be developer advocacy, technical sales, or something that doesn’t have a name yet.
The trick is seeing yourself clearly. Don’t think “I’m a React Native developer.” Think “I break down complex systems, learn quickly, and solve problems methodically.” Those skills open way more doors.
You Have Time
Fujifilm started diversifying in the 1980s, well before the crisis hit. By the time film died, they’d already built new revenue streams.
You’re in the same position. AI is here, but it’s early days. You have time to figure out your next move. You don’t need to quit coding—just expand what it means to be a developer.
The Real Lesson
Fujifilm succeeded because they understood themselves deeply enough to see possibilities others missed. As developers, we focus on the next framework, the latest tool. But maybe the most important thing is understanding what we already know at a fundamental level and getting creative about where else it applies.
The AI age doesn’t make developers obsolete. It just makes us rethink what being a developer means. And honestly? That’s kind of exciting.
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