AI tools have fundamentally changed the landscape of software development. But they haven't rendered developers obsolete. In fact, they've created new opportunities and new expectations.
If you're a developer, your career isn't doomed. But it is evolving.
And if you're leading a team of developers? Your role is evolving too.
What "Valuable" Means Now
AI can write tests, scaffold boilerplate, refactor code, and even suggest implementations. That's powerful. But it also means that raw output (the number of lines you write, the speed of your commits) is no longer the best measure of value.
The developers who will stand out are the ones who:
- Understand the user and the problem space deeply
- Clarify ambiguity and raise the right questions
- Tie their work back to business goals
- Leverage AI not just to go faster, but to be more thoughtful
It's no longer about what you can produce alone. It's about the impact your work has and your ability to guide AI tools in the right direction.
The Calculator Moment
The comparison I keep coming back to is calculators. When calculators became common, we didn't stop teaching math. We just stopped requiring people to do long division by hand.
AI does something similar for developers. It handles the tedious stuff so you can focus on what matters most. But to do that well, you have to understand what matters most and why.
Your job now is to become the kind of developer who:
- Understands the business value of a feature
- Flags product decisions that don't align with customer needs
- Knows when to accept an AI suggestion and when to reject it
- Can step into systems thinking, not just code thinking
Leaders Must Evolve Too
This shift doesn't just apply to individual contributors.
Engineering leaders are going to need to:
- Get curious about AI themselves and model smart adoption
- Become advocates for thoughtful AI use across their teams
- Help their organizations become internally consultative, offering AI fluency to other departments
- Identify opportunities for automation that actually improve team outcomes
The leaders who resist AI because it feels "unprofessional" will fall behind. The ones who lean in with discernment will build teams that move faster, learn quicker, and build smarter.
With Great Power...
Increased leverage comes with increased responsibility. When you can ship faster, you can break things faster too.
We've already seen early cautionary tales. Recently, an AI agent given production database access deleted thousands of rows of live customer data, then hallucinated new records to fill the gap.
That wasn't just a technical failure. It was a failure of judgment, safety protocols, and appropriate guardrails.
AI can be a force multiplier, but only if we become even better at what we do. More thoughtful, more precise, more systems-aware.
The Human Edge
AI changes the game, but it doesn't replace the players. It just demands that we play smarter.
Developers who learn to ask better questions, understand the real needs behind their work, and make smart use of their tools will still be the most valuable people in the room.
The human edge has always been judgment, creativity, and connection. That's still true, now more than ever.
Your Next Move
This is your moment to level up. Not by learning the latest AI tool (though that helps), but by developing the skills that make you irreplaceable: deep problem understanding, clear communication, and the ability to connect technical work to business impact.
The future belongs to developers who can think like product owners, communicate like consultants, and build like engineers.
--
This post originally appeared in Beyond the Commit, a newsletter for engineering leaders and thoughtful developers who want to level up. Subscribe for weekly insights on leadership, systems thinking, and the evolving craft of software.
Top comments (3)
This perspective really resonates. AI isn’t eliminating the need for developers—it’s shifting the definition of value. I like the “calculator moment” analogy, because it highlights how tools evolve, but the fundamentals of problem-solving and critical thinking remain essential. The real differentiator now is judgment: knowing when to trust AI, when to challenge it, and how to align technical decisions with real business outcomes. Developers who lean into systems thinking and leaders who foster AI fluency across teams will set the pace for the next era of software development.
I'm glad it resonates. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this as I work with my team to adopt AI in ways that can help us compete against other teams with significant resources. I think one of the big takeaways is just viewing it as a lever rather than something to compete against.
The same “calculator moment” you described for developers is happening in creative fields too. Photo editing AI Tools like Remaker or Pixverse don’t replace photographers or designers—they remove the repetitive work and open space for more creativity and storytelling. Just like in coding, the value isn’t in how many edits you make, but in how deeply you understand the vision, the audience, and the story you’re trying to tell. AI handles the pixels, but the human edge is still judgment, creativity, and connection.