I find it make my job easier and more effiecient, I don't feel it reduces my level of intelligance, if anything picking Meraki in the places I use it shows more intelligance.
For example. You have 30 difference L2 network switches, Lets say you have ports on every switch set as untagged VLAN 10 and Nothing else, something chnages on your network design and these ports also need to be tagged with VLAN 11. With the old method you would have to log into each switch one by one and make the changes.
BUT because you have Meraki gear and your smart you created a TAG and set this up on all of the ports when your originally configured them so all you have to do is search for that TAG and edit all of the ports in one go......
I call that SMART!