I've been writing code for over 18 years now. I've built systems from scratch — an ERP platform that grew from a small idea into something a whole company relies on, a healthcare system used by hospitals halfway across the world. I've been a developer, a team lead, a project manager. I've debugged things at 2 a.m., shipped features I was proud of, and mentored people just starting out. For most of those years, programming felt like my thing — the one skill I trusted myself in completely.
Then AI coding tools showed up.
At first, I was curious, even a little excited. But somewhere along the way, that curiosity turned into something heavier. I started noticing junior developers generating in minutes what used to take me hours to learn properly. I started wondering if the years I spent understanding why something works, not just how to make it work, still mattered. Some days, I open my editor and instead of diving in the way I used to, I hesitate. I second-guess. I feel like the ground under a 18-year career is shifting faster than I can adjust to.
It's a strange kind of tiredness — not from working too hard, but from wondering if the thing I've built my identity around is quietly becoming someone else's job, or no one's job at all.
I don't say this to complain. I still love solving problems. I still care about writing things well. But I'd be lying if I said the passion hasn't taken a hit.
So I'm genuinely curious — especially to the younger folks in this industry: how are you experiencing all this? Does AI feel like a threat, a tool, or just... normal, the way IDEs or Stack Overflow once did for us? Are you worried about what "being a good developer" even means anymore? Or is this whole thing less scary from where you're standing?
I'd really like to know.
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