The evolution of the developer in the age of artificial intelligence

The era of the programmer who just writes code is over. And I say that as a programmer.

Code is a liability

I start from two people I really respect, DHH and Antirez, and from the idea of “pride”: pride in well-written code. I get it, I’ve felt it too.

But code isn’t the product. Code is a tool, and the more of it you have, the more you have to maintain. What matters is the solution, the architecture, the ability to solve real problems.

Looking at things from above

With AI, the difference isn’t made by whoever can write lines from memory, but by whoever can look at the system from above:

• shifting the pride from code to architecture
• understanding the company’s real KPIs and the business
• using the new tools, for example A/B testing entire tech stacks (Rails versus Rust, say) to optimize performance and costs

Things that were unthinkable until recently, because rewriting a system cost too much.

Leaving the cave

In the end, the message is simple: we developers need to come out of our cave and talk to the business.

How are you experiencing this transition? Tell me under the video (it’s in Italian).