It seems like every other day someone is talking about what the future of engineering and coding looks like. Many of the questions focus around what need we have for junior engineers if AI is able to write code for us and ship product faster than any individual would be able to.
Senior engineers are creating agents who are the perfect junior dev. They ask questions instead of making assumptions and write near perfect code that needs a cursory glance by a senior before approval. We have created the ability for the ideal mentorship program where seniors can design the junior they want to mentor, add skills so that work can be done more efficiently and eventually level them up so the junior moves into more of a midlevel role and receives their own junior subagent to mentor.
If all we need is someone monitoring a team of AI agents, what use is there for anyone coming into the field?
So what use do we have for the junior developer?
While I am not a junior, I am self-taught and I can see the value in the tools if used correctly. There are constantly new tools being developed and it's near impossible for us to keep up with the changes that are coming each day. Everyone, from junior to senior, will have a different journey as we make the shift from coding to AI Native/AI First.
Your junior engineers in this regard are an asset rather than a hinderance:
- They are the digital natives: they grew up with phones, tablets and cameras in their faces from a young age and they seem to lack the fear that many senior or experienced engineers have around AI tools
- Growth mindset: the job is changing rapidly and those juniors who are willing to grow and change with the tools will benefit from it quickly
- They build the mentor they need: same as senior devs are building their perfect mentee, junior devs can build their ideal mentor and different mentors for each situation
- The right questions are asked: by utilising the tools effectively, your junior developers can move faster and gain better understanding of the context around their changes. They can come to the more senior developers with detailed questions and can be independent faster
There will always be a need for the junior developer, they are essential to how teams grow, share knowledge and build long term capabilities.
Companies should encourage questions and learning from both humans as well as AI. This is not a one size fits all and both forms of mentorship should be encourage.
Junior developers can be an incredible asset with the right encouragement and understanding and I'd love to hear about how people are utilising the skills their junior engineers are bringing to the team.
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