How to balance open source learning and AI productivity hacks

From contributor to creator: Lessons on growth, AI, and open source.

Nick Taylor, developer advocate at Pomerium, sat down with the All Things Open team to share how open source, AI, and a structured YOLO mindset helped him learn faster, ship more, and grow as a developer.

Read more: How I use AI agents to automate my workflow and save hours

Nick’s entry into open source started as a way to learn React while working in a .NET shop, and it quickly turned into a passion. He maintained a React boilerplate project early on, and now encourages others to start small when contributing, like fixing documentation or improving setup steps, then expand gradually. Small wins build confidence and context for larger contributions.

On productivity, Nick leans on AI tools to cut repetitive work. He uses GitHub Copilot and Cursor for development, and Claude for organizing writing with its Projects feature. For content, he aggregates changelogs and docs, then uses AI to draft release notes and refine them, and for front-end work AI helps scaffold UIs so he can focus on higher level design and review pull requests rather than type every line.

His core advice is to get uncomfortable, but in a smart way. Nick calls it structured YOLO, taking deliberate, calculated risks to stretch your skills. Whether that’s learning Git after using a different version control system, contributing to a new codebase, or experimenting with AI for content and code, those small leaps add up.

Key takeaways

• Start small in open source, tackle docs or setup tasks first, then take on bigger issues.
• Use AI as a partner to remove boilerplate work, speed content creation, and free time for deeper problem solving.
• Push beyond your comfort zone with intentional, calculated risks to accelerate learning.

Conclusion

Nick’s story is a reminder that growth comes from action, community, and the smart use of tools. Combine open source contributions, AI-assisted workflows, and a habit of taking small risks, and you’ll level up your developer practice without losing your voice.

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