🚀 The GPT-5 Era - Time just changed.

What This Means for Leaders, Builders, and the Rest of Us Mere Mortals

Generated by GPT5

Hey all, it’s the real john. :-) I had to write this about GPT5 because in the past 3 days, my life has accelerated so fast. I can create new websites in minutes, new web applications in hours, order new shoes that match my style, and get dinner recommendations when I want some comfort food after a long week and have it launch seamless for me to get it delivered. This shift in my day-to-day is what we all dream about. I still type more than I talk to it, but talking to it has even gotten better. I need to work on the speech side of things, but for now, I’m simply impressed at the advancedment (misspelled purposely because you know its me). Ok, on to the GPT5 revolution! Let’s get into it!

Every once in a while, something drops in tech that isn’t just an “upgrade” but a genuine shift. GPT-5 is one of those moments.

We’ve had language models that can answer questions, write emails, and spit out code snippets for a while now. GPT-4 was smart—GPT-5 feels… aware. Not in the sci-fi “your toaster wants voting rights” kind of way, but in the sense that it understands context and nuance so much better that you stop thinking of it as “using AI” and start thinking of it as “working with a ridiculously capable teammate.”

What’s Actually Different?

I’ve been hands-on with GPT-5 for a bit, and here’s where it stands out:

Multi-Step Reasoning That Holds Up

GPT-4 could do some reasoning, but ask it to juggle multiple complex conditions and it would occasionally drop a ball. GPT-5 is the first model I’ve seen that can keep all the balls in the air and still ask if you want them color-coded.

Persistent Memory (Without the Goldfish Problem)

It remembers details across conversations. Not just “facts,” but style, preferences, and ongoing projects. Think: your actual work context, not just a history log.

Real-Time Adaptation

You can throw GPT-5 into a live brainstorming session with humans, and it will pivot ideas instantly as the conversation changes—something previous models often fumbled.

Better Guardrails, Less Babysitting

It’s harder to accidentally get nonsense, and when it doesn’t know something, it’s much more likely to tell you instead of hallucinating like it’s on a bad improv stage.

Why This Matters for Leaders

This isn’t just about cooler demos—it’s about leverage.

As leaders, we spend way too much time clarifying, rewriting, and context-switching. GPT-5 is the first AI that can step into that chaos and not just take tasks off your plate, but manage the handoffs between them.

That means:

• Drafting strategy docs that actually sound like you wrote them

• Pulling insights from messy, multi-source data without your team spending three days on it

• Simulating decision outcomes so you can pressure-test ideas before they hit the real world

It’s a leadership force multiplier—if you use it right.

Why This Matters for Builders

For engineers, designers, and product people—GPT-5 is the closest thing to having a senior colleague you don’t have to onboard.

It can:

• Generate prototypes with your architectural preferences baked in

• Act as a second set of eyes on tricky code reviews

• Turn vague product requirements into detailed, actionable specs without losing the plot

The magic is in pairing it with human judgment. You’re still steering the ship—but now you have someone who can trim the sails, check the weather, and make sure you’re not headed straight for the rocks.

The Bottom Line

Like any tool, GPT-5 will be useless if it’s just “that thing you try out once and forget.” The people and companies who win with it will integrate it deeply into their workflows, processes, and even org charts.

This isn’t the end of human creativity—it’s the beginning of human creativity with the brakes cut.

So my challenge this week:

Find one process in your work that drains your energy but still needs your brain—and try replacing yourself with GPT-5 in that process. Not forever, just as an experiment. You might be surprised by how much brainpower you get back for the stuff that really matters.

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John Mann is the SVP of Napster Enterprise and founder of Startups and Code. He writes about leadership, AI, and the messy art of building things that work.