AI and the Future of Software Engineering: Will It Take Your Job?

AI. This is what the job market and every conversation in tech and beyond is about. On the one hand we have people who are excited about the changes that are about to come (or are already here) from self-driving cars, robots making your favourite cocktail to even home robots, and on the other hand we have people who are afraid that these new developments will change the job market for the worse.

The question that most people are asking at the moment: Will AI take my job?

Although it is highly unlikely for AI to replace every single job, the disruption has already started. We are already seeing the impact of mass layoffs in several industries including: Administrative/Back-Office roles (such as Payroll, administrative roles such as recruitment scheduling, with repetitive tasks being streamlined via technology), Translation (Generative AI Tools reducing need for contractors and speeding up translation), Customer Support ( Agentic Chatbots), Retail - some jobs being displaced especially in store operations, cashiers roles with automation/self-checkout.

Whether or not AI will take your job is no longer speculation as companies across Europe site these layoffs as AI being a factor as the need for productivity and desire to reduce operating costs continues.

A friendly robot gazes into the camera, its eyes shining with curiosity and energy against a modern backdrop.

McKinsey Global Institute estimates that more than 90 million workers may need to develop significant new skills within their current roles. While up to 21 million may have to leave declining occupations. Estimating that 94 million workers may not need to switch occupations but will have to acquire new skills in order to remain gainfully employed.

How does this impact the engineering space?

Coding copilots (like Github copilot to Tabnine) are now standard tools available in engineering teams speeding up development, and we are seeing AI being able to write basic code, and companies are now asking for engineers to be able to use AI as part of their skillset. Although AI tools can help with certain tasks, there are still questions about their reliability and accuracy.

So the question remains, will AI take your job as a software engineer?

No. AI is not replacing engineers but it will change how you work. With the suite of AI tools available, those who can use it to their advantage will be more productive and have a better output as software engineers. What you can do now is learn how to use AI as a tool in order to make it a part of your skillset rather than compete against it.

Software Engineers that can use AI to complement their work will find that they can do more in less time and can use it for more repetitive tasks or for boilerplate code. (Reusable

sections of code that are included in multiple places with little or no modification)

A conceptual illustration of artificial intelligence visualised as a series of transparent layers and nodes, symbolising data flow and processing within an AI system.

Here are some ways engineers can adapt and take their skillset to the next level:

• Learn foundational AI / ML skills: Not everyone will become an ML scientist, but it's increasingly expected to have working knowledge of things like data processing, model evaluation, and “prompt engineering.”

  
  

• Use AI-assisted tools: For example, code assistants (Copilot etc.), generative design tools, AI tools for simulation or optimisation.

  
  

• Cross-disciplinary work : Work more closely with data scientists, product, and domain specialists. Engineers who can translate between “AI speak” and “engineering speak” are increasingly valuable.

  
  

• Up-skill : Courses, workshops, certifications, hack projects. Since many employers now emphasise skills over formal degrees for many roles, showing concrete AI experience helps.

  
  

How you can position yourself:

• AI skills as baseline: In the near-future if not already, many engineering roles (even in mechanical, civil, electrical, etc.) will expect some level of AI understanding.

  
  

• Have a strong technical baseline and programming logic: For example, propositional logic or predicate logic as this is needed in order to problem solve correctly and even understand the correct questions you need to ask. We can liken that to going into a library without knowing what topic you are researching or what theory you are trying to prove.

  
  

• Understanding when to use AI: As with any tool or technological advancement, understanding when to use AI tools vs simply overlying on it is important, and you would be able to make a discernment on when it is appropriate to use, for example if code quality is not high on the priority or you are looking for patterns or using it to analyse large data sets. If you are dealing with a complex system that has high user interactions or complex security, data integrity issues, you still need to have oversight and use AI as an assistant, not as a replacement.

  
  

• Higher demand for AI-fluent engineers: Engineers with AI experience will have access to higher salaries, more senior roles, leadership tracks, and more interesting work.

  
  

• Focus on productivity: Employers will still want good quality and talented engineers, but they would like them to be more productive, therefore position yourself as being able to utilise AI to improve your productivity and output, rather than someone you over rely on.

  
  

• New types of roles & hybrid roles: “AI-Engineer” roles, “AI tool integrator”, roles in “AI ethics / safety engineering”, roles in human-AI interface design. Hybrid ones mixing engineering + data science + domain knowledge.

It is clear that with AI rapidly emerging into our day-to-day lives and now companies heavily investing in new tools that AI is here to stay. We are already seeing the impact this is having in the workforce with layoffs happening and even more on their way as AI advances.

Since AI will be part of our daily lives, the best move now is to embrace the change, and build new skills. The future of engineering with AI looks promising - coding will become less repetitive and mundane giving engineers more room for creativity, problem-solving and innovation.

🚀 If you’re a Software Engineer looking for your next opportunity, get in touch — we’re working with forward-thinking companies that are looking for great developers in their journey hello@optimyze1.com

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