AI is recognized as a powerful productivity tool for developers. It is opening up opportunities for technology managers and IT professionals. The rise of AI-assisted code development means that people can now generate code in various languages with helpful recommendations. Many developers use generative AI tools for this purpose. However, the increased automation may make technology professionals’ jobs more complicated. Managing code generated by AI will require high levels of cohesion, accountability, and security.
Security and quality assurance tasks associated with software jobs won’t go away. Generating new code automatically will mean someone needs to ensure that the code meets business and governance requirements. The rollout of generative AI in coding could lead to an ever-expanding codebase. This raises concerns about managing new code and dealing with technical debt. Faster delivery of code brings greater expectations from businesses for applications to adapt to changing requirements.
As a result, an increased emphasis on design thinking will become a bigger part of developers’ jobs. Developers will be required to improve their soft skills and focus on design and design thinking. Personalization will also become an important skill for developers. Despite the rise of generative technology, humans will still be required at key points in the development loop. Technology managers and professionals will need to assume more expansive roles within the business side to ensure the increased use of AI-assisted code development serves its purpose. This will lead to a growth in responsibility via roles such as “ethical AI trainer, machine language engineer, data scientist, AI strategist and consultant, and quality assurance.” Additionally, professionals will need to master programming languages, libraries, and frameworks. NLP skills will become more important as the increased use of generative AI pushes them to the forefront. Technology workers are also assuming roles of coaching and supporting more people in developing and deploying their own apps. Finally, generative AI could assist with the productivity of some technology workers. AI is likely to help rather than complicate for IT teams based at the maintenance and support end of the software stack.