Leaked Internal Talk: Amazon Cloud Chief Predicts AI Will Take Over Coding Within 2 Years

In a leaked internal recording, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman suggests that most developers may not be coding in the near future as AI revolutionizes the software development landscape.

Business Insider reports that the rapid advancements in AI appear to be set to disrupt the software development industry, with Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman predicting that most developers may not be coding within the next two years. During an internal fireside chat held in June, a recording of which was obtained by Business Insider, Garman shared his insights on the transformative impact of AI on the roles and responsibilities of software engineers.

Garman emphasized that coding is essentially a language used to communicate with computers, and while it is an important skill, it may not remain the primary focus for developers in the near future. Instead, he suggests that the core competency of software engineers will shift towards innovation and understanding customer needs. “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?” Garman stated.

This shift in the software development landscape does not necessarily mean that developers will become obsolete. Rather, it indicates that their roles will evolve, requiring them to adapt and acquire new skills to remain competitive in the industry. Garman highlighted the importance of developers becoming more attuned to customer requirements and focusing on the end product they aim to create, as opposed to solely concentrating on writing code.

Garman’s comments echo the sentiments of other prominent tech executives, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who has stated that “everyone is a programmer now” due to the emergence of AI coding assistants. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also speculated that easier access to AI technologies could lead to the creation of a billion developers worldwide.

While some industry leaders, like Stability AI’s former CEO Emad Mostaque, have made bold predictions about the extinction of programmers within five years, Garman’s tone during the internal meeting was more optimistic. He focused on the opportunities that AI presents for developers to be more creative and innovative in their work.

Garman encouraged AWS employees to find new ways to incorporate AI into their workflow, citing the example of software maker Smartsheet embedding AI features from Amazon’s Q chatbot into a Slack channel to answer employee questions about internal policies and documentation. He urged employees to think beyond just serving customers and consider how they can completely transform their own work processes using AI.