I have had recent meetings with management teams that believe this. I mean, yea, some of them are delusional (and not just about AI) but they are so excited about the idea of not having to pay humans any more.
Here's the thing: I see management at software companies salivating with the idea of replacing developers with AI, but where is the value add? Why would companies (especially eneterprise) pay them? for their sales teams or executives? If AI takes over customers can just do it themselves with the in-house IT teams, so developers are likely to be the last impacted if this ever happens.
Oh I fully believe managers think this is just around the corner, but the evidence that it is is just not there. There'll be layoffs and as there are there'll be new opportunities to backfill all the positions when the magic AI doesn't deliver - even if it's just "yes I totally wrote this with AI" while doing normal coding things.
Though I'd say the bigger hallmark it's nowhere near is the more obvious one: code has to work, which AI isn't good at. It's very good at sending emails though - replacing the managers is the more likely thing to happen first. Why have a layer of middle management when scheduling software, AI summaries and agentic tools could empower 1 person to direct multiple teams and where hallucinations or mistakes are more easily corrected since nothing crashes you just have a slightly confused subordinate at times?
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I have had recent meetings with management teams that believe this. I mean, yea, some of them are delusional (and not just about AI) but they are so excited about the idea of not having to pay humans any more.
Here's the thing: I see management at software companies salivating with the idea of replacing developers with AI, but where is the value add? Why would companies (especially eneterprise) pay them? for their sales teams or executives? If AI takes over customers can just do it themselves with the in-house IT teams, so developers are likely to be the last impacted if this ever happens.
Oh I fully believe managers think this is just around the corner, but the evidence that it is is just not there. There'll be layoffs and as there are there'll be new opportunities to backfill all the positions when the magic AI doesn't deliver - even if it's just "yes I totally wrote this with AI" while doing normal coding things.
Though I'd say the bigger hallmark it's nowhere near is the more obvious one: code has to work, which AI isn't good at. It's very good at sending emails though - replacing the managers is the more likely thing to happen first. Why have a layer of middle management when scheduling software, AI summaries and agentic tools could empower 1 person to direct multiple teams and where hallucinations or mistakes are more easily corrected since nothing crashes you just have a slightly confused subordinate at times?
Wait, maybe I do want an AI-powered project manager than proactively manages risk.....