4 ms·

> The flip scenario: AI unlocks massive demand for developers across every industry, not just tech. Healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and finance all star

> The flip scenario: AI unlocks massive demand for developers across every industry, not just tech. Healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and finance all start embedding software and automation. Rather than replacing developers, AI becomes a force multiplier that spreads development work into domains that never employed coders. We’d see more entry-level roles, just different ones: “AI-native” developers who quickly build automations and integrations for specific niches. This is what I expect to happen, but why would these entry-level roles be "developers". I think it's more likely that they will be roles that already exist in those industries, where the responsibilities include (or at least benefit from) effective use of AI tools. I think the upshot is that more people should probably be learning how to work in some specific domain while learning how to effectively use AI to automate tasks in that domain. (But I also thought this is how the previous iteration of "learn to code" should be directed, so maybe I just have a hammer and everything looks like a nail.) I think dedicated "pure tech" software where the domain is software rather than some other thing, is more likely to be concentrated in companies building all the infrastructure that is still being built to make this all work. That is, the models themselves and all the surrounding tools, and all the services and databases etc. that are used to orchestrate everything.

pphysch 9mo ago
An AI-enabled developer is still a full-time job that requires SWE expertise. I think the quoted portion is correct, but it will be a gradual change as CTO/CIOs realize the arbitrage opportunity in replacing most of their crappy SaaS subscriptions with high-velocity in-house solutions. The savvy ones, at least.
- sanderjd 9mo ago
  This is true if you want to build professional software. But what I foresee is a lot more tasks being accomplished with task-specific tools created by the people responsible for doing those tasks. Like how people use spreadsheets to get their jobs done, but with a much broader set of use cases. Once it is easier to just make almost anything yourself than it is to go through a process of expressing your requirements to a professional software development group and iterating on the results, that will be a popular choice.
  - jimbokun 9mo ago
    That works until it’s important enough to secure, monitor, operate, debug, and have people on call in case it breaks. At that point it gets handed over to the engineers.
    - sanderjd 9mo ago
      Yes, but I think the reason things become that important is when they are used by a lot of people. People (or small teams) building purpose-specific tools for themselves don't require any of that.
      - jimbokun 9mo ago
        Depends. If it touches private customer data, you better have security right from version 1.
broochcoach 9mo ago
[dead]

pphysch 9mo ago

An AI-enabled developer is still a full-time job that requires SWE expertise. I think the quoted portion is correct, but it will be a gradual change as CTO/CIOs realize the arbitrage opportunity in replacing most of their crappy SaaS subscriptions with high-velocity in-house solutions. The savvy ones, at least.

sanderjd 9mo ago
This is true if you want to build professional software. But what I foresee is a lot more tasks being accomplished with task-specific tools created by the people responsible for doing those tasks. Like how people use spreadsheets to get their jobs done, but with a much broader set of use cases. Once it is easier to just make almost anything yourself than it is to go through a process of expressing your requirements to a professional software development group and iterating on the results, that will be a popular choice.
- jimbokun 9mo ago
  That works until it’s important enough to secure, monitor, operate, debug, and have people on call in case it breaks. At that point it gets handed over to the engineers.
  - sanderjd 9mo ago
    Yes, but I think the reason things become that important is when they are used by a lot of people. People (or small teams) building purpose-specific tools for themselves don't require any of that.
    - jimbokun 9mo ago
      Depends. If it touches private customer data, you better have security right from version 1.

broochcoach 9mo ago

[dead]