Since I posted the previous post about self-development, I was still thinking about what would be a good answer to follow.
As I went about my day, I kept it in mind.
When I did my research on Google, and of course, with Gemini, and I showed my LinkedIn profile, it suggested that I follow a route for cloud development, architecting applications and building specialized pipelines in platforms like AWS and Azure, using IaC (infrastructure as code) tooling, having FinOps (financial operations) in mind. Optimizing efficiency in speed, security, and cost for the company that hosts the application.
To be honest, as a software developer, I did not have the best feeling about this, as it seemed like a DevOps direction.
But the world changed, and life responded.
Similar events I experienced
I had experienced some shifts myself before. None of them as large as having AI write code, but they had the same structure.
The adaptation of JavaScript
The first was with JavaScript. When I graduated in 2013, JavaScript was necessary but was not popular. I realized it when I got my first full-time job. I always had an approach to learning things and working on projects where there was a need for a skill that no one wanted to learn. I do not know why I had this approach. So I started learning JavaScript (and jQuery) on top of.NET and C#.
The next wave, with AngularJS (then Vue and React), began in 2015 and lasted until 2022. As I was jumping between projects and companies, I realized that most people prefer to write code with backend technologies, meaning MVC applications where the View was written with non-JavaScript languages.
Platform tools for Developers
Then there was Docker and Terraform. They were new, and no one knew them well. I was fortunate with Docker, as the company I joined was very eager to use it with everyone involved in the company, so I was able to learn what was necessary quickly. But on later projects at larger companies, people were afraid to touch it, so I had to dig deeper into Kubernetes, and also into Terraform when the first 0.x version was released.
For two years now, since 2024, I have been the one who took over the DevOps work with AWS CDK, as we had no dedicated DevOps, but we were required to architect the new app with an AWS-first mindset. I had help learning the essentials from other teams, but I was the only one on our team touching the CDK code, and I had to do it without any AI help at that time.
Now, in 2026, I have been moved to a new project within that company, where I now have to help move an acquired software to AWS and help rearchitect some key existing components within the app to support better multi-tenancy features.
The skill bottleneck
Now I have the help of AI that can do what I ask for, but again, I am the only one within our team who understands how AWS CDK works.
Fortunately, I still have people from other teams I can rely on, but I’ve realized that the knowledge and skill bottleneck is no longer backend or frontend, but architecture and platform development.
I still haven’t heard much about security concerns, but I bet that will be next, along with financial optimizations for platform costs, as AI takes over more and more capabilities.
About Traditional programming skills
The Junior Role
Traditional programming skills still remain important. We still need people who know the jargon and can communicate efficiently with technical terms. They can use AI efficiently and understand whether AI generates a good-quality output and does what it is supposed to and has been asked to do.
The Medior Role
Then we need people who understand the overall technical picture and oversee the entire solution; who know the tooling used and can catch when something would break, even if it seems harmless at first glance.
They can teach Juniors and help other team members get up to speed with the existing application and technologies used; they can collaborate and show improved soft skills.
They can help debug the application and support the app in production.
The Senior Role
In the Senior space, people need to write/generate less and less application code, and the role branches into separate positions in a company.
The Team Lead (soft skill path)
This person is the gatekeeper between the business and the development team, handles most code reviews, and ensures quality. This person shields the team from others in the company.
The Architect (hard skill path)
This person is responsible for the bigger picture. I would say that, as I experience it, this role has now merged the traditional architect, DevOps, and Software Engineer roles. At some level, security as well.
This person is now also responsible for pipelines that build, test, and package an application from source code and deliver it into production.
There is always more we can do
People seem to introduce a new solution to a hard problem, but it also always generates new, lighter problems. There is always work to do. I’d like to believe that until we work on ourselves, we will always find a place to help people. Because we will be able to.
Does change make people afraid? Yes.
Does not knowing what tomorrow brings make people afraid? Yes.
But
Can we still see where people are struggling and where we can help? Yes
Can we learn new skills to adapt to a new world? Yes
Will we need each other’s help, even if AI and Robots can do the hard work we used to do? Definitely Yes!
People are social, and only people know what is good for them. We can introduce new tools. Even intelligent ones, it seems. But giving up the work these new tools can help us with frees us up to do more creative work that, in the end, will make our lives more comfortable.
Of course, we can always find a way to destroy ourselves. There are many historical and live examples. But let’s try to help each other instead 🙂
Influencing materials and events
As I was trying to organize what I have written above, I had some material that influenced me.
- The general public media that floods the internet.
- The work events as I experience them. Within the consulting company that I work for, we have weekly meetings about AI and how it affects our daily lives. There were some eye-opening discussions that influenced me.
- The customer’s company, group events and dynamics where I deliver my daily input.
- Audiobooks that I listen to. The one I am listening to actively is a long listen from the 1940s. “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. Interestingly, the story starts with a worldview and people problems very similar to those we have today in the age of AI.
- Multiple discussions and interviews from the 1980s onward, as personal computers began to replace older, larger machinery.
- And a special YouTube video. An old seminar from Jim Rohn, about personal development and its value. The topic is: “Why you should work harder on yourself than on your job.” You can look it up; it is worth a watch.
