AWS CEO Says AI Could Soon Replace Developer Coding Tasks

Artificial intelligence (AI) is enhancing industries by transforming processes and operations – that's no secret.

Coupled with the diverse capabilities that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) offers in performing creative, menial and other specific tasks, users can instantly generate text, images, videos and even code, which can speed up the application development process.

So much so that Amazon Web Services' CEO, Matt Garman, feels that software developers will no longer be needed to code, as AI and generative AI will take over the process.

So, what does this mean for software developers at AWS and what exactly did the company’s CEO say? Let’s explore!
 

What Did AWS’ CEO Say About Software Developers?

 

• Through a leaked recording obtained by Business Insider of an internal “fireside chat” held in June with AWS employees, the company’s CEO, Matt Garman said that in the next few years, AI will lead to most developers not coding.

• Garman said, “If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can't exactly predict where it is — it's possible that most developers are not coding.”

• “Coding is just kind of like the language that we talk to computers. It's not necessarily the skill in and of itself. The skill in and of itself is like, how do I innovate? How do I go build something that's interesting for my end users to use?”

• “It just means that each of us has to get more in tune with what our customers need and what the actual end thing is that we're going to try to go build, because that's going to be more and more of what the work is as opposed to sitting down and actually writing code.”

• Garman encouraged the company's software engineers and other employees to find new ways to introduce AI into their workflow.

• “A lot of times we think about customers, which is great, but I'd also encourage everybody internally to think about how you are just completely changing what you're doing.”

• Essentially, the job of a software developer is quite likely going to change with the infusion of AI and they might be required to develop other skills.

• “Being a developer in 2025 may be different than what it was as a developer in 2020,” added Garman.

• However, according to an AWS spokesperson, Garman’s message was more optimistic, posing opportunities for software developers, encouraging growth and offering advice rather than a meant to come across as warning.

 

What Did The AWS Spokesperson Say?

 

• Aisha Johnson, an AWS spokesperson, noted that the CEO’s message was meant to convey opportunities for developers to “accomplish more than they do today” by using AI.

• Johnson said, “Matt articulated a vision for how AWS will continue to remove undifferentiated heavy lifting from the developer experience so that builders can focus more of their skills and energy on the most innovative work.”

• Johnson further added that the message was not meant to indicate that the CEO expected a decline in the role of developers.

AWS’ CEO is joined by other executives such as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Stability AI's former CEO, Emad Mostaque, in recognizing AI’s newfound role in coding.

Garman’s statement comes amid a wave of layoffs related to business processes shifting to imbibe AI, with companies such as Adobe announcing an AI hiring wave among others.

At the same time, research conducted by leading digital transformation solutions company UST, which surveyed 600 senior IT decision-makers in large companies found that while 92% of the respondents said AI implementation aligns with their strategic goals, 76% said they faced a severe shortage of AI-skilled workers.

The AI skill shortage sentiment was shared by Expereo And IDC, two globally renowned market intelligence firms, through their own research.

Do you think software developers need to add new skills to their profiles? What kind of skills do you think they should consider adding?

Let us know in the comments below!