The claim that AI is making junior developers redundant reminds me of another debate — one that played out when cloud services began rolling out at scale about 15 years ago. And what happened then? We needed more developers, not fewer.
Yes, there was a very real discussion around 2008–2012, as cloud adoption began to take off. Many executives and technologists assumed that platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud would make developers less necessary. After all, why hire people to “build everything from scratch” when you could buy ready-made services, automate processes, and simplify operations?
In hindsight, that prediction aged poorly. What actually happened was the opposite: demand for developers and DevOps engineers exploded. Cloud platforms unlocked the ability to solve complex problems and dramatically accelerate the development of digital products and services.
Technologists suddenly had a powerful new tool in their hands, and the role of the developer evolved. Traditional programmers became cloud-savvy developers, DevOps engineers — the ones who make everything work in the cloud — and IT architects. Fast forward to 2025, and there are around 47.2 million software developers worldwide, a number that continues to rise. Cloud adoption didn’t shrink the developer workforce. It expanded it.
What did we learn? That developers are inherently adaptable, curious, and willing to learn — traits not every profession can claim. Few jobs are as exposed to disruptive forces as software development. No other role demands the same pace of reinvention. It’s no exaggeration to say that nearly every day, new technologies and systems are launched — each one a potential shift that developers must evaluate, understand, and integrate into their projects.
That is what makes this profession unique.
So why should AI be any different? History shows that when a powerful new tool enters the developer ecosystem, it rarely reduces the need for developers — it amplifies it. AI will undoubtedly become — and already is — a groundbreaking tool, just as the cloud was. But it will never be a substitute for human expertise.
When the cloud arrived, many assumed the demand for developers would decline. The opposite happened. Automation freed up time, projects moved faster, and the need for developers skyrocketed.
No other role demands the same pace of reinvention.
Forte developers at Devoxx 2025.
Developers have always been forced to learn, evolve, and adapt.
AI is no exception. It’s a tool, not a replacement. Sure, Copilot and ChatGPT can write code faster than any junior developer, but they lack the human understanding of actual business needs, the broader context, the IT architecture, and the intricate web of technological dependencies.
What AI is doing is shifting the skill set required. Instead of building everything from scratch, developers must now learn to collaborate with AI: asking the right questions, validating the responses, and understanding their implications. And this isn’t just about new graduates. Senior developers who fail to adapt are equally at risk. Staying relevant today means embracing continuous learning, regardless of experience level.
And let’s not forget the newcomers to the field. Recent graduates are laying the foundation of knowledge that will make them the senior engineers of tomorrow. If we stop investing in them now, we risk creating a dangerous skills debt.
Developers have always been forced to learn, evolve, and adapt. AI is simply the next chapter in that story.
