I recently watched a video by Akshay Saini titled "The Software Engineer Who Will WIN in 2026," and honestly, it hit home.
As developers, we often get stuck in the loop of learning the "next new framework," but Akshay points out a hard truth: Coding itself is no longer the differentiator.
With AI models writing cleaner, faster code every day, the bar has shifted, but here are my top takeaways and why I think he’s 100% right.
1. The Rise of the "Full Stack AI Engineer"
For years, we've categorized ourselves: "I'm a Frontend Dev" or "I'm a Backend Dev." Akshay argues that in 2026, those silos will be dead.
Because AI can handle the heavy lifting of syntax and boilerplate, we need to become orchestrators.
- Frontend devs: You need to understand how the backend and deployment pipelines work.
- Backend devs: You need to understand UI/UX and client-side logic.
The goal isn't to know everything by heart, but to use AI to bridge your skill gaps and build the whole product. As he said, we need to use AI to 10x our productivity, not just to write a function faster.
2. Stop Closing Tickets, Start Taking Ownership
This was the point that resonated with me the most. We often measure our day by how many Jira tickets we moved to "Done."
But in a world where code is cheap, value is expensive.
"If your code is not creating value, it's just garbage." — Akshay Saini
The engineers who will "win" in 2026 are the ones who care about the product outcome, not just the code output. We have to move from being "task completers" to "problem solvers."
3. System Design is the New King
If AI is writing the implementation, what is left for us? Decisions.
System Design is becoming the most critical skill because AI can suggest five different ways to build a feature, but it can't always tell you which one is right for your specific constraints, security needs, or scale.
The human element is now about architectural trade-offs. We move from writing the "how" to deciding the "what" and "why."
My Verdict
I've felt this shift happening for a while. It’s scary to think that "being a good coder" isn't enough anymore, but it's also liberating. It means we can stop stressing over memorizing syntax and start focusing on building cool, valuable things.
I’m planning to pivot my learning path to focus more on System Design and AI orchestration rather than just deep-diving into another JS framework.
What do you think? Is AI making pure coding skills obsolete, or is this just hype?
Let me know in the comments!
Top comments (1)
Great perspective. As AI shifts the baseline of “writing code,” the real differentiators are system thinking, product ownership, and value creation—not ticket count or syntax fluency. Learning a programming language in 2026 is a no-brainer; pure coding output is becoming a commodity. Strategic architects and problem solvers—those who can orchestrate AI with strong design judgment—will win.
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." — Einstein