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Software engineering has changed in recent months as AI tools have taken over coding.
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Developers share their views on AI disruption and which roles and industries are vulnerable to change.
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AI can automate repetitive and administrative tasks, but it can also open up new opportunities.
Software engineers have a message for white-collar workers: Get ready.
Since late last year, advances in tools like Cloud Code and Codex have changed the way engineers do their jobs. While some are loving the new era of AI embedded in their workflows, others have experienced a sense of disorientation as they adapt to the new reality.
Last week at X, Greg Brockman, cofounder and president of OpenAI, wrote that AI has dramatically accelerated software engineering, and that it is “on track to bring similar changes to all the other kinds of work people do with computers.”
“More and more, people can change intent in software, spreadsheets, presentations, workflows, science, and companies,” Brockman said.
Business Insider spoke with engineers ahead of the change about what other white-collar workers can learn from their experiences.
AI disruption may be good news for generalists.
Andrew Xu, co-founder and CTO of AI language-learning startup Speak, told Business Insider that most software startups are traditionally divided into three functions: engineering, production and design. While those roles were once clearly defined, the CTO said AI is now blurring the lines between them.
Product managers and designers are now using tools like Cloud Code to write code and open pull requests, while engineers are taking on more responsibility in production and design, Hsu said.
Hsu sees this as a microcosm of what will happen in other industries — and he says the type of person who succeeds is someone who can “underspecialize.”
“Specialty, in many ways, becomes less important with these omniscient models, where you can learn everything very quickly,” Hsu said, adding that workers have the opportunity to move “up the ladder of abstraction” and take more agency in what they do.
OpenAI released a report Thursday that mapped the near-term impact of AI on jobs using a framework in more than 900 occupations that cover 99.7% of U.S. employment.
It found that 18% of jobs are at relatively high short-term automation risk. It also identified three common characteristics among jobs with more automation risk: higher AI exposure, less need for human involvement, and limited or uncertain demand growth to offset potential job losses.
Software engineer Mahir Sharma predicted a similar pattern based on what he saw. He said he could see AI tools like OpenClaw replacing executive assistants by handling to-do lists and coordinating with stakeholders.
