According to the latest report from Gartner, by 2027, generative artificial intelligence will give rise to new roles in software engineering and operations, requiring 80% of the workforce to upgrade their skills. The report suggests that AI will transform the future roles of software engineers rather than replace them.
Philip Walsh, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner, stated that AI will require software engineers to possess a unique combination of skills in software engineering, data science, and AI/machine learning. The report predicts that in the short term, AI tools will moderately enhance productivity by augmenting the existing work patterns and tasks of developers.
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In the medium term, the emergence of AI agents will break boundaries by fully automating and offloading more tasks, thereby changing the work patterns of developers. The report indicates that this will mark the advent of AI-native software engineering, where most code will be generated by AI instead of humans.
Looking further ahead, advancements in AI will break boundaries and herald the rise of so-called AI engineering. The report states that this will be more efficient, but organizations will need more skilled software engineers and AI engineers to meet the rapidly growing demand for AI software.
To support AI engineers, businesses need to invest in AI developer platforms, which will help companies build AI capabilities more effectively and integrate AI on a large scale into enterprise solutions.
