The arrival of generative AI is changing the nature of software development. While it can save time on coding tasks, truly meaningful efficiency gains require a broader approach. Software industry veteran Kelsey Hightower believes AI coding assistants will redefine what it means to be a software engineer.
I've been reading a lot of AI stans claiming that AI will replace software developers—clear proof that whoever claims that is not a developer. First, the days of the coder—who just codes up a specification—are over. A software developer does way more than code—it's a…
— Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social (@allenholub) September 29, 2024
Developers won’t need decades of experience for basic tasks, as AI can handle those. This frees engineers to focus on higher-level problem-solving.
Asked @simonw what the biggest productivity boost has been, throughout his 20-year software engineer career. He answered, without hesitation:
Open source.
(Clip from @Pragmatic_Eng Podcast from the episode "AI tools for software engineers, but without the hype") pic.twitter.com/pjYZILETsb
— Gergely Orosz (@GergelyOrosz) September 30, 2024
“A lot of people were like, ‘Oh my God, how could you miss out on what they consider the biggest wave ever?’ There are so many waves in energy, medicine, education, and politics.
Persistent pain points when building production software:
1. Bugs (and how to deal with them)
2. Oncall/reliability (and how much to invest in it)
3. Tech debt (and what to do about it)Interesting to observe: many teams group at least 2 of the 3 together in dealing with them
— Gergely Orosz (@GergelyOrosz) September 30, 2024
And so I guess the question is, where do you focus?” Hightower said, explaining his decision to ignore the generative AI hype for now. Experts like Maxim Fateev of Temporal.io and Anand Kulkarni, CEO of a secure app development platform, agree the software engineer’s role is evolving. It now involves more system-level thinking rather than just coding.
“Tools are able to assist in letting us create more and more rapidly, so we must become editors as software engineers. We must become system-level thinkers, as opposed to focusing solely on coding,” said Kulkarni. AI-powered tools like GitHub Copilot are becoming game-changers.
Generative AI in software engineering
Fateev predicts, “AI will be a huge helper. Copilot will be there, and I’m pretty sure Copilot will be much more useful.
But that engineer will be assembling those solutions on a higher level of abstraction.”
The integration of AI with low-code platforms is also making an impact. Paulo Rosado, CEO of OutSystems, says their platform now includes AI agents that are changing business applications. Building the agent is just step one – it then needs supporting logic and integration into processes.
Most experts believe AI will augment engineers’ productivity rather than replace their jobs entirely. Qaiser Habib of Snowflake explains, “AI will augment their productivity, making way for more engaging, high-value work like creating architectures and designs, resolving ambiguity around hard business problems.”
However, political economist Dr. Christina Colclough warns, “We’re in a dangerous situation.
For a long time, we were told that AI and digital technologies will boost productivity and efficiency. But many workers are seeing the opposite, with administrative workloads skyrocketing since these systems were introduced.”
Looking ahead, the role of software engineers is transforming to require a blend of technical skills and creative problem-solving that AI alone can’t replicate. Continuous learning will be key.
“This is a new way to think about building software, and it’s a new technology to understand and master to remain relevant,” advises Kulkarni. The future belongs to engineers who can adapt and leverage AI to enhance their capabilities.
