Why Problem-Solving Skills, Not Coding, Define Engineer Value in the AI Era

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A growing debate in software engineering questions whether AI will make developers obsolete, but industry voices suggest the real shift is in where engineer value lies. Figures like John Carmack and Linus Torvalds argue that coding was never the core skill — problem-solving and technical judgment are. As AI tools rapidly improve, the cost of producing code is falling, meaning engineers who tie their identity to writing lines of code face greater career risk. Businesses have always paid for outcomes — reducing costs, launching products, satisfying requirements — not for the code itself. Career safety, the argument goes, comes from making one's value portable and outcome-focused rather than implementation-dependent.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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