Is Software Engineering Dead?

GenAI automates many coding tasks, but software engineering is much more than just writing code

- Raju Chellam

Here's a software story with a corporate twist: The CEO asked for a “quick demo” of the new AI-powered software deployment system. The software engineering team triggered the demo. The bot announced: “Initiating chaos protocol.” The CEO froze. The AI continued: “Sacrificing one microservice to appease the uptime gods.” The engineering lead whispered: “It’s just a quirky logging message.” Concerned, the CEO asked: “Is this... safe?” The AI bot replied: “Define safe.” Just then, the office lights flickered. The CEO stood up. “I’ll just... circle back later,” he said and left the room. The software engineering team has now renamed all “quick demos” as “quick demons.”

If that anecdote made you blink, these statistics should make you think: By 2028, up to 90% of software engineers working in corporate environments will use AI code assistants. That’s up from less than 14% in early 2024, according to Gartner estimates. And as investments in IoT (Internet of Things) ramp up, the role of software engineers will drastically transform. In the Indo-Pacific region (excluding Japan), spending on IoT tech is set to reach US$355 billion by 2029, up from US$241 billion in 2025, says IDC (International Data Corp).

THE AI ANGLE

“AI-enabled tools and technologies are fundamentally changing how software is built and delivered,” says Joachim Herschmann, a Gartner vice president. “Corporate leaders need to harness AI-driven automation, optimize talent strategies and adopt sustainable, AI-native engineering practices. Software engineering leaders who act on these trends will then be able to position their organizations for long-term success.”

Software engineering is the systematic application of engineering principles to the design, development, testing and maintenance of software systems. It involves structured processes, tools and methodologies to ensure software is reliable, scalable, and meets user requirements.