The Evolving Role of Software Engineers: A Manager's Burden or a Productivity Boost?
The rise of AI has sparked a debate about the future of software engineering. Is the role of the engineer transforming into a managerial position, or are they becoming more productive through AI assistance? The answer, it seems, is not a simple yes or no.
The Manager's Burden
Cameron Etezadi, CTO of LaunchDarkly and former VP of engineering at IBM, argues that the IC (Individual Contributor) role is no more. Every engineer is now a front-line manager, responsible for project planning and cross-team coordination. This shift in responsibilities aligns with Gartner's prediction that 60% of organizations will have smaller software engineering teams by 2029, with some teams as small as two to three engineers.
However, this new role comes with a price. Engineers are now expected to manage multiple agents and constantly switch contexts, leading to fatigue and a sense of constant pressure. This pressure can be draining, as engineers may feel the need to keep feeding agents new work to avoid idleness.
Productivity or Output?
The question remains: is AI making engineers more productive, or are they just producing more code faster? Daniel Wang, CTO of Citizen Health and former director of engineering at Uber, argues that productivity is not just about code output. He emphasizes the importance of customer outcomes and metrics such as cycle time, rollback rate, escaped defects, and system reliability.
Ameya Kanitkar, founder and CTO of Larridin, agrees. He believes that companies are focusing on irrelevant metrics such as lines of code, PRs merged, or velocity points, which do not truly gauge value. Instead, he suggests that companies should focus on decision quality and outcomes, including everything that happens before and after the code exists.
The Productivity Paradox
The paradox is that while AI can help engineers produce more code faster, it does not necessarily mean they are more productive. In fact, it can lead to a sense of constant pressure and exhaustion. David Holz, founder of Midjourney, has observed that his friends are feeling extremely productive but also extremely drained with the latest coding models.
Kanitkar suggests that the new managerial aspect of their work is causing fatigue, as engineers have to constantly context-switch to manage several agents at once. However, if engineering teams shrink, as Gartner predicts, this constant agent-babysitting could become the new norm.
The Takeaway
The future of software engineering is uncertain. While AI can help engineers produce more code faster, it does not necessarily mean they are more productive. Companies need to focus on decision quality and outcomes, including everything that happens before and after the code exists, to truly gauge value. The role of the engineer may be transforming, but the key to success lies in finding a balance between productivity and output.
