Do not become an software engineer…please
Please do not become a software engineer…Dario was right. Sama was right. In the next few months, Software as a field will cease to exist as it is. But there has never been a better time to get into STEM.
Opus 4.5 was the tipping point. We have taken power away from people who build and given it to people who can think.
A majority of software engineers are low-agency desk riders who fix one bug a month and get paid a shit ton of cash. Now I know you think this is false, but a good majority of folks are like this. Just desk donkeys who listen to a PM with an inflated ego. That era is over. The “work” is being eaten by the machine. The only thing that will survive is agency. Agents spin up instances, write the code, run the tests, review the PRs, merge the commit and deploy it all with a phone call. No I’m not saying people shouldn’t build software. No. That would be very misleading. I’m saying the only people who will be left in core software engineering roles will be the folks with enough ownership and agency to build a product that can help them and everyone else.
Software will no be less about “tech” and “code” and more about product and customer satisfaction. About problems solved and money made. The career itself will transform majorly now. Primarily in the direction of fundamental thinkers.
While software jockeys get paid their massive $200k salaries, we have scientists, physicists, and mathematicians who are whisked away to the world of academia only to never be seen again.
These first-principles thinkers are the only people who can build anything fundamentally original now.
Software engineering was always just an abstraction. A wrapper. Over chips. Over clocks. Over electrical. Over mathematics. Over logic.
Now, for the first time, we are no longer limited by these abstractions. And if you’ve noticed, these people have always been better at building out good solutions anyway.
Custom simulators, optimized algorithms, new operating systems all of them were invented by these amazing people.
So you have two choices:
Go heavy into STEM or Learn to sell.
With AI stealing all known methods of advertisement, it will become very, very important to know how to sell solutions.
Learn how value arbitrage works. Learn how hedging works. Learn how to network. Learn the psychology behind building brands. What will make people tick? What will grab attention? What can stop someone from scrolling and say “I have to read this NOW!”
The ultimate combination will be someone who can think, build, break and sell. They will make a shit ton of bank.
My Notes / Thoughts: This article explores agency as a critical future skill, but also highlights a shift in the value of production versus distribution. As technical execution becomes increasingly automated, the ability to market, command attention, and leverage an existing platform becomes more valuable than the merely technical ability to build the product itself.