Product thinking as AI defense mechanism

AWS CEO says AI is going to kill coding

If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can't exactly predict where it is — it's possible that most developers are not coding
— Matt Gorman, CEO of AWS

Gorman’s prediction is extreme but directionally correct. I know AI is going to change my field. What will I be doing in two years? Five? Ten?

Here’s how I know there is truth to this:

AI is already changing coding

I use AI every day. It needs to be carefully prompted, questioned, and reviewed, but it’s a productivity increase. I’d estimate it’s a 15-20% improvement. Does this mean that a company could cut headcount by 15% at scale without sacrificing velocity? Depends on the developers.

Here’s why it won’t put developers out of work

Technological advancement doesn’t destroy jobs; it mutates them. We’re adding more abstraction. If you are an engineer and want to keep it that way, start cultivating skills at a higher level of abstraction, like product skills.

Here’s what Gorman got right:

Product thinking skills are valuable now and will appreciate with time.

"Coding is just kind of like the language that we talk to computers. It's not necessarily the skill in and of itself … It just means that each of us has to get more in tune with what our customers need and what the actual end thing is that we're going to try to go build, because that's going to be more and more of what the work is as opposed to sitting down and actually writing code

I’ve always believed in product thinking skills.

Instead of fretting about AI, spend that energy learning about usability, research, and business.

Knowing how to identify problems, clarify them, and develop solutions is an evergreen that will always be in demand.

P.S. If you’re a dev who wants to level up their product skills, hit me up here, on LinkedIn, X, or email. I’m working on something you might be interested in. 😉