When AI writes almost all code, what happens to software engineering?

The one skill that separates engineers who thrive in the age of AI from those who become interchangeable.

From typing over starfield code as a kid to letting AI agents build features - reflecting on how coding is changing and what it means for software engineers.

This week marked the transition back into a routine. The Christmas decorations came down, Ethan started back at nursery and Oscar returned to school. I even had the house to myself for a couple of mornings. Despite the return to routine, I managed to enjoy spending time with the boys individually this week. Ethan is now an expert at lighting the fire and I got to witness his sheer delight as he managed to trace the numbers 1-10. He has started to express himself a lot more recently, wrapping up the week by declaring he wants to go to school not nursery. With Oscar I’ve been enjoying playing Monopoly Deal (think Monopoly but as a card game). It’s surprisingly fun. We’ve also made progress on that 1000 piece Oscar Piastri jigsaw.

It’s January 21st, 2026 as I write this. I’m the happiest I’ve been in years, at least since 2021. I’m the most hopeful I’ve been in years. On January 20th, 2025, I spent two days uncontrollably crying. In June 2025, I was $20k in debt and expecting to have to find a salaried job. So […]

FractalAI is a browser-based fractal generator built entirely with AI. This post explores what happens when you step away from the code, and how the modern b...

Many years ago, a friend of mine described how software engineers solve problems: In other words: You can be the person writing the code, and solving the problem directly. Or […]

2025 was a turning point for many developers in their relationship with AI, with the emergence of agents — and that's probably what we'll remember most.

Compacted Context — Dylan Martin's website, where I publish essays about software engineering, career reflections, or whatever else I'm thinking about, as well as digests of what I'm reading or watching.

Reading the article about Nexus that Obie has posted I got absolutely struck. Yes, it can be said without a shade of doubt that the modern way of building software, the late-2025-way with Opus 4.5 in the picture, is markedly different from the one we operated in for the last decade (or more). I haven’t been sitting on my hands either. One of my smaller pursuits, now that I am a proud self-employed raconteur, has been moneymaker - a piece of kit I wanted for all the business aspects of the said raconteurship. Think: basic accounting bank statements and balances invoicing time tracking …all of that - across several projects, clients and managing entities And, out of principle, I’ve decided to take my chances and release the reins - let the models “drive” the application much more than I did in the past 6 months or so. Because it is important to learn, first and foremost - how to care less about code. And my experience has not been dissimilar from what Obie describes, with a few important differences. But what struck me much stronger is how other humans fit into this. Let me explain. If you squint, you will notice one element missing from Obie’s story: other team members.

"AI-assisted coding changes the game for enterprises by shifting the bottleneck from coding to judgment, impacting software builds and roles."