Why Brickyard Was Started

The Backdrop of The World Today

We are at an unprecedented time in history. The age of AI has already introduced society-altering effects in the form of layoffs, changes to corporate budgets, and pushback from those sectors of the economy that have already felt AI eating away at their edges. It’s worth taking a step back and acknowledging that we’ve seen upheavals of the economic order before:

• The Advent of Agriculture: People began to centralize around collective, stationary societies. Skills in hunting, gathering, and nomadic herding were supplanted by agriculture and the means to track and account for production and the exchange of goods, ushering in advanced writing and mathematics.
• The Industrial Revolution: Repetitive physical tasks were swiftly replaced by machines as steam power became commercially viable. Those skilled with the manufacture of textiles and other necessary goods shifted their focus to the use of machines for these same purposes. A class of engineers and machinists emerged.
• The Computer Revolution: The use of electric circuits to receive, process, and store information flipped the economy on its head, allowing the world to forgo a long list of skills in favor of an even greater number of opportunities.

But now, the looming spectre of AI threatens not just the physical and rote mental labor of humans, but core aspects of our work - our creativity, our experiences, and our ability to make connections across disparate subjects. Things that help define us as humans.

Innovation is unpredictable, and it is very difficult (perhaps for good reason) to imagine a world where human input is not required for the economy to continue to grow and for our standard of living to continue to improve. For the foreseeable future, a few things can be certain:

1. Companies will continue to invest in AI systems with the promise of increased productivity and shareholder value.
2. Individuals will continue to adopt these tools in an attempt to improve their work and their lives.
3. Corporate jobs will continue to become more competitive, pushing perceived high performers up and perceived low performers out.

What Drove the Creation of Brickyard

Consulting companies in particular are eyeing the changing economic landscape. I doubt there’s a single one that hasn’t at least discussed purchasing or implementing some form of AI tool. The shockwaves in the economy are not leaving these companies unscathed. So far, we already see several things happening:

1. Consulting companies are freezing hiring and laying off employees.
2. Skilled employees are becoming more and more confident of their abilities as they employ AI tools to increase their productivity.
3. Services are easier to deliver (i.e., commoditized) as more tools become available. In the security and compliance space, SOC 2 reporting and penetration testing come to mind.
4. Companies are increasing prices to justify their “human-first” value proposition and to combat rampant inflation.

This is all happening at a time when larger consulting companies were already undergoing large changes (moves up market, private equity investments, new entrants etc.), with serious effects on company culture. More layers of beauracracy and decisions by higher-ups that consultants believe are ungrounded in reality are leading to both layoffs and employees voluntarily quitting to escape a perceived toxic culture.

So what do you get when you have a skilled security consultant lose or quit their job while these AI tools promise 2x, 3x, 10x benefits to individuals’ work? In many cases, we see consultants choose to take their skills to the free market as independent contractors or small firms. And it makes sense. Many security and compliance projects can be completed effectively by one or two people. A consultant skilled in the healthcare insurance industry, for example, feels they could easily take on several clients in that space over the course of a year and make just as much if not more than they did at their job, all while enjoying the freedom of working for themselves.

In exchange, these consultants risk losing many benefits of working for larger organizations. Things like contract templates and report templates that were honed over thousands of engagements. Or perhaps in-house tools used to aid in the delivery of work. Maybe they see a reduction in their network of peers to bounce ideas off of and sharpen their skills. And of course, the most gut-wrenching one - losing the assurance of a steady paycheck.

This is where Brickyard wants to support.

Brickyard’s Mission

We love these people. The ones that say, “I have something to offer the world,” and choose to do it on their own terms. Looking ambiguity and uncertainty right in the face and charging ahead anyway. And while they may be able to provide top-notch services, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to deal with legal terms, payment collection, and client prospecting without any support.

This is why Brickyard aims to create a marketplace where these independent service providers can be connected with clients that need their exact skill sets, and where they can work on their terms to provide clients with exactly what they need. All while being supported by an experienced back-office that can support them through the entire lifecycle.

We hope you’ll join us for this journey. Whether you’re a service provider, a client in need of services, or just someone who loves the mission, we want you around. Together we will develop and deploy security and compliance talent where it's needed most and improve the lives of everyone involved.