Software Engineering in AI Era
Sep 4, 2026
so i was reading the book 𝟮𝟭 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 by 𝗬𝘂𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼𝗮𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶.
I came across a very innovative and mindset-boggling idea:
"The AI revolution won't be a single watershed event after which the job market will just settle into a new equilibrium. Rather, it will be a cascade of ever bigger disruptions. Already today few employees expect to work in the same job for their entire life. By 2050, not just the idea of a "𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲", but even the idea of a "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲" might seem antediluvian."
--------------------------------------------------
As software engineers, we often think that in the age of AI we simply need a sharper mind to quickly shift between programming languages, frameworks, and libraries.
But here, the author is talking about something much bigger. He is talking about changing professions, not just technologies.
And why am I taking this author seriously? Because this book was written in 2018, and many of its predictions about AI and society have turned out to be remarkably accurate.
Today, everyone is confused. What should we learn? Which programming language should we master?
But I think we're asking the wrong question.
Since AI has disrupted the market in much the same way machines disrupted workers during the Industrial Revolution, we need to figure out a new way of learning. Not because programming is dead. But because no single profession appears completely safe in the long term.
We need a mindset of 𝗔𝗜 + 𝗠𝗲, rather than 𝗔𝗜 𝘃𝘀 𝗠𝗲.
Today, we also need to understand human psychology and emotions. Because at the end of the day, someone still has to understand customers, market a product, build trust, and make the sale. Only writing a bunch of lines of code and building projects that nobody uses is no longer enough.
Most importantly, I think we need to shift our mindset from digital labour to what I would call a 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿.
==>A Softpreneur is a Software Engineer + Entrepreneur. <==
Someone who doesn't just build software. Someone who can build, market, and sell products in the age of AI.