Hard agree that these developments shift focus to architecture and what I would summarize as product management. Engineers with product skills will have even more of a leg up (it was always a useful skill).
I would also say the goal of software engineering was never to write code. It's actually to solve a user's problem with the minimum amount of code. It's more expensive to maintain code than to write it. I don't have a good intuition yet how this changes with AI assistance. Current coding models seem to have a bias towards writing more code and I regularly trim model output by a lot. Maybe this verbosity won't matter in the long run if the AI is maintaining the code, who knows.
More emphasis on the what and why of building something, rather than just how to build it. It's a mix of similar skills that make a good traditional PM: user empathy, user research, metrics collection & interpretation, basic grasp of UX design (or API design if the product is mainly backend)
Great breakdown. This really highlights how AI is amplifying engineers’ impact without replacing the creativity and strategy that only humans bring.
I talk about the latest AI trends and insights. If you’re interested in practical strategies for thriving alongside AI in software development, check out my Substack. I’m sure you’ll find it very relevant and relatable.
Hard agree that these developments shift focus to architecture and what I would summarize as product management. Engineers with product skills will have even more of a leg up (it was always a useful skill).
I would also say the goal of software engineering was never to write code. It's actually to solve a user's problem with the minimum amount of code. It's more expensive to maintain code than to write it. I don't have a good intuition yet how this changes with AI assistance. Current coding models seem to have a bias towards writing more code and I regularly trim model output by a lot. Maybe this verbosity won't matter in the long run if the AI is maintaining the code, who knows.
Agree! Can you elaborate more on what you mean by product skills?
More emphasis on the what and why of building something, rather than just how to build it. It's a mix of similar skills that make a good traditional PM: user empathy, user research, metrics collection & interpretation, basic grasp of UX design (or API design if the product is mainly backend)
Great breakdown. This really highlights how AI is amplifying engineers’ impact without replacing the creativity and strategy that only humans bring.
I talk about the latest AI trends and insights. If you’re interested in practical strategies for thriving alongside AI in software development, check out my Substack. I’m sure you’ll find it very relevant and relatable.
“The focus has shifted from writing code to defining the problem and architecture.”
I like that, it’s exactly where it’s all going! In a couple of years, we’ll be focusing more on the “why” part and less on actual coding.
Adam misspoke, what he meant was "coding is done" not software engineering.