Why being "just" a programmer is a dying career
Code is becoming less important. The areas where AI can’t reach yet are where you need to focus right now.
As you know, I’ve been working at Factorial for two years.
The other day, a designer made their first code change in the product.
This is proof that the ability to write code is becoming less important.
It’s also becoming more horizontal.
Anyone with general computer knowledge, will be able write code using AI, create a pull request, and launch a feature.
If that’s all you can bring as a programmer, you’re fucked.
In the coming months, designers won’t be the only ones making updates.
Product owners and even customer support will also be able to launch their own changes to the product.
So if the only thing you can do right now is receive a ticket with a description and turn it into a pull request, you are fucked.
Now more than ever, being a programmer has to mean something more.
It means being able to read production logs and spot optimization points, identifying bottlenecks, figuring out what’s consuming the most resources, and pinpointing the parts that are performing poorly for users.
It also involves product knowledge: thinking about how we can make the product more useful, solving user problems more effectively, and pulling the right levers to boost our product’s ARR.
As a programmer, you also need to start learning and understanding how servers work, how deployments work, and the different CI and CD processes.
All of these areas are where AI isn’t reaching yet, so you have to know how to control them.
I don’t want to alarm you. I’m a programmer too, but honestly, junior developers and mid‑level engineers who only take tickets and submit pull requests are in trouble.
If you want to stay competitive in the market and keep progressing, you need to go one step further.