Software Engineering Reality 2026

I've been working in software for around 10 years now. I was lucky enough to see it all: how suddenly "software engineering" became a "sexy" profession in the 2010s, then there was a huge boom during the global pandemic, when suddenly everyone decided to break into tech, and the final hysteria of "AI will make software engineers obsolete" that we are having till this day.

Somehow, I'm still here: building products for clients and helping assemble high-performance engineering teams, and being completely honest - I don't see it going anywhere…

Two types of engineers who will strive

In 2025, I've completed 15 hires for 10 different startups across different countries and continents, and at the moment, I can tell that at least two types of engineers don't need to be afraid to be replaced by AI:

Generalists

If we are talking about early (and maybe not that early) stage startups that need to stay lean and fast, software engineers who understand business, communicate well with non-tech fellows, and know how to boost their productivity with AI in combination with tech expertise will be irreplaceable.

If you were to build a product 5-ish years ago, you would have to scale your team to move fast, but now there is absolutely no need for this. One engineer with an AI tool can ship products as fast as 5 people a couple a years ago, and a team of 2 kick-ass engineers will be absolutely killing it.

And I'm dropping you a list of skills you'll need to succeed:

• Software Architecture. Surprise, surprise! You still need to know how to build software, but now your attention should be on the bigger scale decision, rather than writing every single line of code
• Infrastructure. This does not go anywhere; you still need to know how to deploy your software. Luckily, now there are a lot of handy solutions, such as Render or Digital Ocean, that will make life easier. If you are a pro in AWS, GCP, or Azure, it's an additional plus to your profile.
• QA. With the AI-enabled programming, shipping speed is not an issue anymore, but the quality yes. Now need to double down on shipping quality product fast, and that's where a lot of engineers fail
• Product. You should understand what you are building, for whom, and how to make it better. In general, you need to understand your company's business and not be afraid to make a real impact on the product

You can think of this role as a combination of DevOps, Software Engineering, and Product Management, where you are bridging AI coding agents with your tech expertise and the company's business goals. If you are a freelancer or looking to join a pre-Series A company, this is exactly what you will be in demand for the next couple of years.

Very niche specialists

Now, there is the complete opposite of what I've described. With the fast pace and a "one-man engineering department", there will be a fundamental need for super close niche specialists. Just not to think long, there are a few examples in my mind:

• You are an absolute expert on managing Kafka
• You know how the V8 JS compiler and browsers work under the hood, and you are an absolute best in debugging performance issues
• And many more…

This role will be more in demand in bigger companies, with a solid product market fit and a product that needs less speed, but scalability and optimisation. Same as now, there will be a huge market for freelancing, especially with startups that won't have the capacity to have another employee, but need specific services

Who will be gone

And of course, I wasn't able to drop the most important part. The article wouldn't be completed if I didn't try to scare you.

But this is gonna be simple: AI will replace you if you don't give a shit about what you are doing. If you are just sitting and waiting for a new ticket in Jira, doing one simple task for 5 days, and generally don't care about what you are doing, you are learning new things and working the same way as you did 3 years ago. AI is coming for you. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not the next couple of years, but eventually - it will take your job.

As simple as that

Conclusion

And if you got to this point of the article, there is an absolutely simple conclusion: start doing what you are genuinely interested in, expand or deepen your skills, and learn how to deploy AI for your own good. If you do so, trust me - you won't be replaced either by AI, nor by anything else!