>> AI can be extremely useful and there’s a lot of people out there who refuse to give it a proper try.
My take-away was this is exactly what the OP is targeting. Management's job is to convince you to try and help you make it demonstrate value; mandating "though shall be AI-first" does neither of these effectively - ironically some of your best developers will: require the most evidence to be convinced, fight the hardest, and have the best options to jump ship if you go far enough. It's just weak management when there's the obvious alternative. Dash is a developer relations/evangelist so it's not surprising he bristles at this approach.
My take-away was this is exactly what the OP is targeting. Management's job is to convince you to try and help you make it demonstrate value; mandating "though shall be AI-first" does neither of these effectively - ironically some of your best developers will: require the most evidence to be convinced, fight the hardest, and have the best options to jump ship if you go far enough. It's just weak management when there's the obvious alternative. Dash is a developer relations/evangelist so it's not surprising he bristles at this approach.