Are software engineers becoming redundant?
The rapid advancement of large language models has significantly changed the software development landscape since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022. In 2023 I moderated panel with the participation of Maxim Fateev, co-founder and CEO Temporal IO a “robust” open-source runtime system for application development, and Anand Kulkarni, CEO Crowdbotics ,platforms for secure application development using systematic,code reuse. Both shared their views on the impact of AI on the role of software engineers.
A year later, we reconcile their perspectives as LLMs and AI development tools continue to change the way software is built. We spoke to several experts to understand these changes: including Paulo Rosado, founder OutSystems ; Andre Shojai, Founder and CEO HumanLearn ; Kaiser Habib, head of Canadian engineering at Snowflake and Dr. Christine Colclough, Founder The Why Not Lab a political economist and expert on the impact of AI on work.
Are Kulkarni and Fateev's perspectives correct today? We look at how generative AI has evolved a year later, delving into the landscape of software development, AI integration, organizational change, and the broader effects of technological progress. And, from 10,000 feet up, what does this mean for what will happen to jobs in different sectors?
The Changing Nature of Software Development
Maxim Fateev, CEO of Temporal.io, saw in 2023 that the role of an engineer was becoming increasingly complex. He explained that as technology has evolved, they have spent a lot of time trying to improve deployments in operations, noting: “Systems today can deploy 10 times more processes at faster speeds, but the core business abstractions have not changed. We started creating more distributed services. So every developer is now a distributed systems engineer… And that means life has become more difficult for developers because you don't have transactions anymore. You need to call all these APIs. Consistency is an issue.”
In 2023, Kulkarni highlighted the changing role of the engineer, recognizing the dramatic changes that are forcing the engineer to think about where their role lies in the software development process. He reflects: “In the past, you might have just had to be an architect or a creator involved in developing individual lines of code and individual features. Now, because tools can help us create faster and faster, we must become editors like software engineers. We must become system-level thinkers, not individual thinkers… [где] manual keyboard is the most important [ролью]. And it's an amazing shift.”
Today, Andre Shojai, founder and CEO of HumanLearn, with a background in artificial intelligence and organizational change, echoes this sentiment, noting: “Software engineers, once thought of primarily as coders, are now expected to work at a higher level of abstraction , requiring a combination of creativity, critical thinking and problem solving that artificial intelligence alone cannot replicate.”
AI tools are changing the rules of the game
In 2023, Fateev and Kulkarni recognized the growing importance of AI-powered tools such as GitHub Copilot. Fateev predicted: “AI will be a huge help, Copilot will be there, and I'm pretty sure Copilot will be much more useful. But this engineer will assemble these solutions…at a higher level of abstraction.”
Qaiser Habib, Head of Engineering Canada at Snowflake, agrees and shares: “As a starting point, Snowflake CIO Sunny Bedi asked his development team to evaluate how much of the code they were currently writing could be processed by an AI tool, and the consistent response was 30 percent. This assessment only scratches the surface when considering how AI-generated code can also be used for reuse, sharing, testing and quality assurance.”
Today, Shojai notes, “Tools like GitHub Copilot or AI-powered code completion and review systems are becoming commonplace, helping developers but also changing the skill sets required. As their roles evolve, engineers and technologists are finding that their responsibilities are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, requiring expertise in AI ethics, systems design, and even business strategy.” This expansion in scope, Shojai points out, ensures that the engineer's expertise remains relevant as AI becomes increasingly capable of performing routine tasks.
The growing urgency of low-code and no-code AI integration
In 2023, Kulkarni was skeptical about the impact of low-code and no-code solutions on building complex software systems, stating: “The promise of low code, no code was great. We had the idea that we could get non-technical people to create powerful software systems and applications. And all engineers know that this is something of a myth. It has been proven that we can create simple things using little code. But no great product has ever been built on low-code or no-code systems. Never”.
However, the integration of AI with low-code platforms in the development of enterprise systems has opened new horizons. Paulo Rosado, founder of OutSystems and a pioneer in low-code software development, states, “We're condensing projects from four years to seven months.” He elaborates on the impact of AI integration: “We are implementing AI, especially generative AI, to improve our products. Our platform now includes various AI agents and general AI technologies. What's particularly interesting is how business applications are changing with AI agents in the middle. Traditionally, digital systems were built with components such as portals, workflows, logic engines, business rules, and data warehouses. We are now exploring where to integrate AI agents into this architecture to transform the way digital systems are built.”
Rosado adds that creating a new AI agent is just an initial step. To be effective, the agent must be surrounded by supporting logic and software that can be easily integrated into existing business processes. His team noticed that a significant amount of work was required to create a system that was both usable and adaptable. The result is often a hybrid solution that, for example, combines a portal interface overlaid on top of an AI agent, or a set of policy rules governing the agent's access to data.
Adaptation obscures the vulnerability of work.
Snowflake's Habib isn't worried that automation will replace the work of those who develop these solutions, explaining: “AI will increase their productivity, opening the way for more fun, high-value work, such as creating architectures and designs, resolving ambiguity around complex business problems.” He suggests that data scientists are now equipped to build full-featured applications and can move from creating dashboards to LLM prompts to extract answers to questions faster: “Data scientists today have more ability to be creative and go deeper with analysis—and this can do Data science is an increasingly attractive and exciting field for young talent.”
Dr. Christina Colclough – Founder The Why Not Lab an organization that empowers workers and unions around the world by advocating for digital rights and fair policies. She has a different opinion about the illusion of productivity: “We are now in a very dangerous situation. For a long time we were told that AI and digital technologies would increase productivity and efficiency. But who actually proved this? According to my observations, many employees say the opposite. Their administrative burden has increased dramatically since these systems were introduced. Now the new narrative is that we can reduce the workforce by letting these systems take over. So the message shifted to: “Fire the people and let the systems do the work.” It's just a new twist on the same old productivity argument.”
The Future Role of Software Engineers: A Harbinger of Things to Come
In 2023, Kulkarni and Fateev emphasized the importance of lifelong learning. Kulkarni suggests, “It's a new way of thinking about building software, and it's a new technology to understand and master how it works…to be relevant.”
Shojai reiterates this point: “Despite optimism about the potential of AI to reduce the more mundane aspects of their jobs, there is a palpable concern among technology professionals about the rapid pace of technological change. This concern stems from the need to continually update skills and maintain job security in an environment where AI capabilities are constantly expanding.”
Habib agrees that AI is driving the upskilling of engineers, but argues that for those developers who have yet to develop a “deep skill set” their learning curve has become steeper, adding: “AI is great at writing a bunch of code, but for projects, drawings , strategy, and code for brain surgery still requires engineers. So the nervousness about AI replacing the engineer role concerns those who have not yet developed a deep skill set.”
Habib argues that implementing AI can give engineers back time and bandwidth by speeding up the learning process for deeper skills. He advises, “For engineering leaders, my advice is to promote professional development in the workplace, which may include implementing certification programs, making educational platforms available to everyone, and encouraging professional development initiatives.”
Shojai offers context to these trends: “Automation, especially AI, has undoubtedly accelerated the transformation of various industries. Over the past few years, roles that involve routine tasks have experienced significant displacement due to automation. However, AI has also stimulated the creation of new jobs, especially in AI development, data analysis and AI system maintenance.”
As the industry evolves, the role of software engineers is transforming. Shojai provides insight into this shift: “The evolving role of the software engineer will likely include a greater focus on oversight and management, ensuring that AI systems not only operate efficiently, but also align with human values. The challenge is maintaining a balance where AI complements human capabilities without compromising the critical role of human judgment in decision making.”
He explains: “As AI permeates more aspects of everyday life and industry, engineers will have to evolve into roles that prioritize the ethical deployment of AI and the integration of AI into complex, multi-faceted systems. This will require a combination of skills from psychology, ethics and regulatory knowledge, along with technical knowledge, to navigate the intricacies of AI in a way that benefits society as a whole.”
Colclough reminds us that science, technology, engineering and mathematics have long been considered essential subjects, with experts saying they will provide job opportunities as technology permeates every aspect of life. However, she states, “…these are also the most automatable skills.”
Uncommon Logic concluded from its 2023 study on the impact of LLM on the workforce that “…the models closely matched human performance on predictive thinking tests, heightening concerns about the potential impact of AI on the workforce.” And while we have recognized many major failures in language models, from inaccurate and false answers , lack of domain or context knowledge , problems with bias and fairness , lack of detailed control fight against reasoning and integration across domains to violations of consent on data privacy and laws about copyright to name a few, the capabilities demonstrated so far continue to fuel concerns about job displacement in many sectors. Colclough echoes the hype around generative AI: “So yes, some will say it's because we're in the early stages. These systems will learn, but I think there's a lot of hype and it's having a dangerous impact on the real lives of workers.”
On this diagram Below (June 2024) workers (upper right quadrant) who are at high risk of being displaced by AI are highlighted. Software developers, on the other hand, were noted as having high exposure to AI and low risk of automation. While Fateev and Kulkarni predicted significant changes in 2023, Rosado's 2024 outlook showed that the pace of change has exceeded expectations and development timelines have sharply decreased. Additionally, the shift from hands-on coding to systems thinking predicted by Kulkarni in 2023 was confirmed by Rosado in 2024, in which he sees engineers playing more strategic roles. Today's reality belies this research: software developers are not immune to the threat of automation.
Colclough echoed Shojai's sentiments, saying that “what's really needed are the skills that computers can't replicate: complex thinking, management, emotional intelligence and ethical considerations.” JP Morgan, puzzled by these restrictions, continued to roll out ChatGPT AI Assistant among its 60,000 employees .
Colclough was not surprised by the news and said: “It's a short-term, reactive approach to think, 'We can save time by using ChatGPT…' The question becomes: what's happening to innovation? What happens to skill development? What happens to the innovative thoughts that arise from conversations between people? This spontaneous reaction does not take into account the long-term consequences for creativity and progress in this field.”
Constant need for human skills
Dr Christina Colclough emphasizes the importance of what she calls “inclusive governance” in the context of AI and algorithmic systems. She argues for the need for human supervision and control, stating: “If a system cannot be explained, then of course there is no human control. It's that simple.”
Colclough advocates a collaborative approach to managing these technologies, insisting that “we need people who understand, can explain, and can manage these technologies in collaboration with the actors in the system.” She illustrates it this way:
“If it’s in the workplace, then it’s an algorithmic control system. It must be employee-driven. If it's an artificial intelligence system that's going to have a huge impact on software engineers, then they need to be at the table. If this is an algorithmic civil service system for matching jobs to the long-term unemployed, then representatives of the long-term unemployed should be at the negotiating table.”
The final argument among these software development professionals is that the software engineer role is here to stay; instead, the growing capabilities of AI will create a need for human creativity, strategic thinking, and oversight of software development. Shojai's view was optimistic: “This shift suggests that AI is less about replacing jobs and more about transforming them, making roles like software development more dynamic and efficient.”
For Colclough, the implications for society are more sobering. “The effectiveness of ChatGPT depends entirely on the quality of the tips it receives. The more you understand about a topic, the more specific and effective your tips will be, leading to better results. While it is true that you can use ChatGPT to write an essay about Einstein without having any prior knowledge about him, this does not equate to genuine understanding or knowledge.”
This will happen and research It is predicted that by 2025, 50% of digital work will be automated using LLMs, and it is estimated that LLMs will be used in 750 million applications.
As the role of technology creators, themselves, becomes more vulnerable to displacement, the worry for those whose jobs do not involve innovation is how much more vulnerable will they become? What will it mean if STEM, which was once a path to future-proof careers, falls victim to what we see today? We are constantly reminded that we are right in the midst of unpredictable change. It's still early days, and many kinks remain to be ironed out in a system that is still evolving. When problems arise, new opportunities are created. It is a symbol of the dot-com boom, which created new professions and slowly rendered others obsolete.
Colclough reminds us that we as individuals must take responsibility for the end result, and echoing Shojai's call for cross-disciplinary skills to be brought together, she insists: “We need to break down the current silos and divisions between professions and skill levels, and develop and embrace diversity of opinion and experience.” . Instead of a future that subordinates human competencies and goals, we should all strive for the flourishing of ourselves and others. If we can do this, technological developments will serve humanity rather than destroy it.”
