Will AI Take Away Software Engineer Jobs: Here’s what Industry leaders like Sam Altman are saying:

BREVITY: With the rapid rise advancement in artificial intelligence, many peoples are wondering: Will AI take over software engineer jobs? What could be the short and long term impact of AI on Software Engineering jobs. Here’s the insight of top tech leaders about this prevalent topic.

The prevalence of artificial intelligence in recent couple of years have questioned the futher need of software engineers for coding work. This advent of AI in tech sector has transformed the working ecosystem of tech companies. For example companies like Lovable are enabling non-coders to build tech businesses using AI-driven platforms, potentially reducing the need for large engineering teams. That’s why the growth in this AI sector is always accompanied by the question of job displacement. Let’s understand what tech leaders has to say about software developer job.

What Sam Altman Thinks

Altman predicts that AI will gradually decrease the need for human software engineers as it automates coding tasks. He notes that in many companies, over 50% of code is already AI-generated, and this trend will accelerate with “agentic coding” (AI autonomously handling complex tasks).

“Each software engineer will do much more for a while. Then, maybe we do need less software engineers” Altman said.

Sam Altman envisions a future where AI agents act as virtual co-workers, capable of performing tasks currently handled by software engineers. Altman predicts that, over time, the need for software engineers may decrease as AI capabilities advance. However it won’t completely replace software engineers, Altman said.

Sundar Pichai’s views

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, also chimed in and said that AI is already responsible for “more than a quarter of all new code at Google.” He said in a blog post that AI was generating a quarter of all new code. But the human aspect is still preserved in the process since the AI-generated code does undergo human engineer reviews.

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott

However, not all tech leaders are convinced that coders will become irrelevant. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott believes AI will write most of the code but human creativity will still matter.

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott says that AI could write up to 95% of code in the next five years. But instead of replacing engineers, he believes AI will help them focus on solving real-world problems and building better systems.