I would describe "where the industry is heading" and has been heading as becoming infiltrated by imposters. There is tremendous value to be created by writing

I would describe "where the industry is heading" and has been heading as becoming infiltrated by imposters. There is tremendous value to be created by writing software, and the high salaries in tech reflect that. That wealth attracts all sorts of imposters. We see this most straightforwardly as the cat and mouse game that is hiring qualified engineers. Top of funnel to bottom of funnel ratio has never been higher. Less obviously, there are now entire "Imposter Roles" like Product Manager, scrum master, etc. Once they're in, they bring more because there is safety in numbers. Smart people, capable of innovating, now have to hand-hold a cast of incompetent characters through the experience of creativity, innovation, research, discovery, engineering, etc. Often because these incompetent characters have the final say on what the smart folks are allowed to spend their time on. Maybe you've been in a meeting where the engineers spend the first 10 minutes talking and know how to fix the customer's problem, then the product managers come in round-robin to get hand-held to the same conclusion? That's what this looks like.