We Are All Product Engineers Now
seldo.com ● Covered by 2 sources
The article argues that AI agents will progressively take over most of the software development lifecycle, changing what “software developers” do as code-writing becomes cheaper. In July 2026, entry-level hiring at big tech companies was reported down 65% since 2019 (and down 75% at early-stage startups), while engineering’s share of hiring rose from 46% to 55%. As a result, reviewing, maintenance, operations, scaling, and especially deciding what to build and what “good” means are portrayed as the remaining core human work, with juniors’ role shifting away from producing well-specified code.
Why it matters
The piece suggests that if agents absorb the software development lifecycle, durable human work may shift to deciding what to build, defining quality, and making products delightful. It predicts collapsing implementation costs will expand software demand and turn developers into product engineers.
