In the future, it's engineering managers all the way down.
The history of every profession is a story of automation. Where once craft demanded painstaking human effort, tools and systems evolve to absorb the burden, shifting the role of the human from creator to overseer. Software engineering will be no exception.
Today, the identity of a software engineer is bound up with writing code. It’s the keyboard, the IDE, the endless hours of designing and debugging. But as AI advances from autocomplete to autonomous system builder, production-ready software will increasingly be generated by machines. When that day comes, the work of the human “engineer” will not be to code, but to contract, inspect, test, benchmark, deploy, and monitor what AI produces.
Think of aviation. In the early days, pilots were tinkerers, enthusiasts, and daredevils. Flying meant constant improvisation, hands-on mechanical skill, and deep technical obsession. Today’s commercial pilots still need training and competence, but much of the work has shifted to managing systems. Automation and standardized procedures mean that many who fly planes are not aviation obsessives—they are professionals trained to reliably oversee the machinery. Passion is optional; professionalism is required.
Software is on the same trajectory. What was once the domain of passionate coders at the frontier of possibility will become a professionalized field of managers who orchestrate AI systems. Some of these managers will come from the ranks of today’s engineers, evolving into roles that emphasize evaluation and governance over authorship. But many will enter the field directly as managers, never writing a line of production code. They will specialize in oversight, governance, and accountability—skills just as critical as technical depth in an AI-driven landscape.
Just as in tech today, there will be a spectrum. Non-technical managers will focus on contracts, deliverables, and compliance. Technical managers will bring extra leverage by pairing system literacy with oversight, giving them an edge. But the center of gravity will shift. The profession will become more accessible, less dependent on deep coding expertise, and more oriented toward ensuring AI systems deliver as promised.
The future of software engineering is not about engineers being replaced. It’s about engineers becoming managers of machines—where the craft shifts from writing instructions to governing the governors.
The future of software engineering is not about engineers being replaced. It’s about engineers becoming managers of machines—where the craft shifts from writing instructions to governing the governors. Just as aviation matured from daredevil hobbyists into standardized professionals, so too will software engineering mature into a discipline of orchestrators ensuring safe, reliable, and accountable machine-generated systems.
