AI is changing the work of programmers. “Aims to transform every job”
Software engineering has been transformed in recent months as AI tools have begun to take over programming tasks. Today, developers are sharing their views on which roles and industries are vulnerable to AI-driven disruption and change.
Business Insider spoke to engineers at the forefront of this transformation about what other knowledge workers can learn from their experiences.
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Since late last year, advances in tools like Claude Code and Codex have changed the way engineers do their work. While some love the new era of AI embedded in their work processes, others experience a sense of loss of identity as they adapt to the new reality.
Last week on X, Greg Brockman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, wrote that AI has significantly accelerated software engineering and “intends to bring the same transformation to every other type of computer work.”
“Increasingly, people can transform intentions into software, spreadsheets, presentations, workflows, research and businesses,” Brockman pointed out.
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Say goodbye to highly specialized roles
AI disruption could be good news for generalists.
Andrew Hsu, co-founder and CTO of AI-powered language learning startup Speak, tells Business Insider that most software startups have traditionally been divided into three functions: engineering, product, and design. Although these roles were once clearly defined, our interlocutor claims that AI is starting to blur the lines between them.
Product managers and designers now use tools like Claude Code to write code and open pull requests, while engineers take more responsibility for product and design, Hsu says.
He sees it as a microcosm of what will happen in other industries — and he says it will the type of person who will be successful is someone who can “specialize less.”
“In many ways, specialization becomes less important in these omniscient models where you can learn everything very quickly,” Hsu explains, adding that employees have the opportunity to “climb higher on the abstraction ladder” and take more agency in what they do.
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Focus on the human aspect of your work
OpenAI recently published a report that maps the short-term impact of AI on jobs, using a framework that covers over 900 occupations, covering 99.7 percent. employment in the USA.
It shows that 18 percent professions are relatively more likely to be automated in the short term. Three common features of professions with a higher risk of automation were also identified: high exposure to AI, little need for human intervention, and limited or uncertain demand growth that could offset potential job losses.
Software engineer Maahir Sharma predicts a similar pattern based on his own observations. He said he sees the possibility of replacing executive assistants with AI tools such as OpenClaw, which could handle planning and coordination with stakeholders.
Feneel Doshi, a software engineer at a startup, said many jobs involving repetitive computer work, such as help desk support, could also be replaced. He recommended that these employees use AI wherever possible.
Disruption doesn't always mean less work
Disruption may be stressful, but it doesn't necessarily mean jobs will disappear.
While engineering has undergone rapid change – with changing skill requirements and fewer recruitments at the junior level – demand has not disappeared yet. Data from analytics firm TrueUp shows that the number of job offers for software engineers in the US is at its highest level in over three years, with over 67,000. open positions.
Amit Bendov, CEO of Gong – an AI operating system for sales teams – tells Business Insider that AI's impact largely depends on the level of demand in a given field.
In industries such as tourism, where demand remains relatively constant, AI is more likely to replace jobs – he explains, pointing to the gradual decline in the number of travel agents in recent decades.
While AI has taken over many coding tasks in recent months, the technology has also expanded its capabilities – ultimately creating more work, not less.
– The demand is virtually endless – argues Bendov, adding that AI has opened up more “opportunities for people who are not professional engineers.”
Bendov sees sales similarly to engineering. If AI can eliminate guesswork and increase employee effectiveness, more companies may be able to afford sales teams — and more people may be able to succeed in these roles.
In this case, “more jobs could be created,” Bendov believes.
The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider
