>I just can’t compete in speed and thoroughness

I certainly know engineers for which this is true but unfortunately they were never particularly thorough or fast to begin with.

I believe you can tell which way the wind is blowing by looking at open source.

Other than being flooded with PRs high profile projects have not seen a notable difference - certainly no accelerated enhancements. there has definitely been an explosion of new projects, though, most of dubious quality.

Spikes and research are definitely cheaper now.