This was originally a late-night rant I posted in the Facebook group. Since it got a nice response and I’ve been meaning to try my hand at dev.to, I’m recycling it as my very first story here.
Software Engineers, are you ready for the next‑gen challenge?
Hold on, I’m not talking about vibe‑coding or AI agents!
Sure, those are cool.
In my years in the industry I’ve hopped across all sorts of companies — multinationals, mid‑sized firms, even tiny firms.
And more often than not they didn’t hire me to play with the latest cutting‑edge toys. I know those shiny tools, sure — but there’s always a queue of rock‑star devs fighting to mess with them.
Since the dawn of the internet era I’ve been chasing tech: Java, SQL, C#, JS, TS, Docker, Azure, AWS, Node.js, Express, React, MongoDB…
Learn → build → deprecate → learn again → build again — on loop.
But in the end, where does my value lie? Why do companies pay me? What do they actually want me to do?
Most of the time the answer is: Maintain and optimise legacy systems
My major value lied
Yup. Many of my previous companies know I understand the new stuff, yet they have zero intention — no budget, no guts — to adopt it.
They’re stuck with an ancient system so outdated even the least tech‑savvy user rolls their eyes at the UI and loses faith.
The functionality is fine; the look just screams “prehistoric.”
“Oh, you’re that enthusiastic new‑tech guy? Perfect. We’ve got a crusty old system — modernise it for us, will ya?”
That sort of gig took me from clueless kid to buying a house, getting married, having kids, immigrating, starting over — job after job after job, all revolving around upgrading dusty systems.
So, back to my opening: what’s the next‑gen challenge? What’s the problem that might showcase your worth?
The next‑gen challenge, and where our real values may lie
Legacy apps still need love, but another opportunity is about to explode — one tailor‑made for seasoned engineers with serious fundamentals:
Taming systems drowning in AI technical debt.
Today everyone’s bragging:
“I can’t code, but I vibed for two hours and shipped a product!”
However! Project managers buy it. Execs buy it. The business side buys it. “Hallelujah! Those smug engineers are obsolete. I’ll just hire a fresh grad who can type prompts. They’ll prototype my wild ideas and toss the mess to the dev team for cleanup.”
My goodness. That’s scarier than any legacy app, scarier than inheriting some obscure language stack.
Picture someone who’s never studied civil engineering slapping together a foundation, then stacking a 50‑storey skyscraper on top. Now the tower leaks, shorts, sways, ready to collapse.
That, my friends, is the job opportunities we’re about to see.
When their Franken‑systems start imploding and the hackers who built them get promoted — or flee — they’ll finally think: “Maybe we should hire an experienced engineer to follow up.”
The question is: Will you take the job?
Are you still dreaming of that pre‑AI golden age where engineers were rare gems? Wake up. Most of us aren’t reinventing the world; we’re cogs. And those doomed projects — crashing deadlines, burning budgets — have fed you, your family, your kids.
“Relax. Let me handle it. The system’s a dumpster fire, sure — but trust me, I’ve got this.”
Dear future me: swallow your pride, stow the profanity, and say that line to the hiring manager — gracefully.
Let’s go get it my friend.
Top comments (0)