Welcome back to I'm a Software Engineer ~ What Next? The podcast for devs figuring out their next move. Hosted by James Wilson and Matt Sinclair, we talk honestly about what it takes to build a meaningful career in tech.
In this week's episode, we tackle the question that's been making the rounds: is AI going to take your job as a software engineer?
Short answer: not exactly.
Long answer: it's complicated — and that's exactly what James and Matt dig into.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why comparing AI to a "table saw" might actually be the best metaphor
- The difference between automating toil vs replacing talent
- Why taste, judgment, and deep thinking still matter more than ever
- What the shift from imperative to declarative programming means for your workflow
- Why "deep generalists" might just rule the next era of software
- How to future-proof your engineering career with communication, initiative, and curiosity
Whether you're a junior developer wondering what to focus on, or a senior engineer feeling overwhelmed by the AI hype, this episode's for you.
🎧 26 minutes. Zero fluff. Tune in now.
⏱️ Chapters
- 0:00 Intro: the Ozzy Man Reviews speedboat t-shirt
- 1:26 The question: if AI takes an engineer's job, what should they do?
- 2:11 Simon Willison's table saw, and why the LLM hate misses the long term
- 4:22 Does the job disappear? No: more stuff to do, and computational X
- 5:26 Are multi-skilled engineers harder to automate?
- 6:21 The Cynefin framework: what gets LLMed away and what stays human
- 9:00 Juniors: the hardest point to find a job, so what should you do now?
- 9:48 Imperative to declarative: keep the why and what, the machine does the how
- 11:12 The catch: knowing what to do takes wisdom, and taste is the currency
- 12:26 Back to requirements, design, build: rubber-ducking with Claude Code
- 14:28 Build side projects: companies love initiative, and you can't fake passion
- 16:00 They remove toil, not talent: the time split flips to 80% thinking
- 17:27 The shadow between conception and creation, and 25% more output
- 18:23 Generalist or specialist? The deep generalist paradox
- 21:07 Embrace every tool: the personal software process and what LLMs change
- 23:28 Communication is the underrated skill: you have to tell a good story
- 24:29 Wrap-up: a future episode on communication, and answer the question asked
🔗 Links
🗒️ Show Notes
- Ozzy Man Reviews — speedboat meme (yes, we really went there)
- Cynefin Framework
- Claude Code by Anthropic — used by Matt to rubber duck specs and design
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