I feel like I haven't written a line of code in weeks, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've been a Software Engineer for nearly 13 years and in the span of a month my role has changed more than it has in the last decade. Yes, AI has been around for a while. Even my early attempts to integrate it into my workflow felt more forced and not very useful. I turned off Copilot's inline suggestions pretty quickly after using it, annoyed by its constant suggestions that lacked context of the entire project's codebase or my coding style. Its suggestions felt more like a conversation with someone who tries to finish your sentences for you. I definitely saw the potential though. Even being able to copy and paste a file into ChatGPT and have it scan for specific errors or functionality was a time saver.

Fast forward to today and tools like AWS's Kiro have changed how I work completely. Kiro's ability to access the entire project codebase, see what you see on a file, and execute terminal commands is a genuine force multiplier. I found myself creating custom MCP servers and connecting it to most of the apps I use daily — Jira, GitHub, Figma. All of this allowing me to focus on larger features and architecture.

None of this comes without a bit of unease. The coding skills I've developed over a decade — will they slowly degrade? This is the double-edged sword I find myself wielding. What does my role as a developer look like in a year...10 years? How does one stay relevant when AI's capabilities continue to grow and outperform? What does the future look like for junior engineers just starting out? Even at its best, I find myself having to catch subtle mistakes and correct behavior that AI sometimes gets wrong. Such is the nature of generationally disruptive technology.