Hi Reader,

Last week I read three different headlines saying the same thing: AI is coming for coders.

26,000 tech roles laid off globally. AI hitting hard. “Structural reset” across the tech workforce.

Oh no. Insert panic.

But here’s the thing.

Coders aren’t the interesting story.

The interesting story is what happens next.

Because none of this should come as a surprise. We know that AI would displace jobs. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2030, AI and technological shifts will displace around 92 million roles.

However, the same report predicts 170 million new jobs will be created. That’s a net gain of 78 million jobs.

The problem isn’t that work is disappearing. It’s that the transition is messy. And right now we’re starting to see the “loss” part of the cycle show up in headlines.

Let’s imagine a fairly typical developer. Four years experience. Did everything right, got a degree, graduate job, promotion to mid-level developer.

Then last week your company — cough Atlassian — realises something awkward. One senior developer using AI tools can now do the work that used to require five.

Suddenly the maths changes.

And you’re redundant.

So what now?

Do you panic and decide your only option is FIFO work on a mine site?

No. People rarely fall down the ladder. They move sideways.

Think about what developers actually do.

Yes, they write code.

But the real skill isn’t typing lines of mysterious symbols.

The real skill is this: breaking complex problems into logical systems. And that skill transfers surprisingly well into roles like Product Management, User Experience, Big Data, Cybersecurity, Solutions architect.

Notice the pattern?

Less typing code.

More thinking about systems. See how I said “thinking”.

This is the shift AI is accelerating.

Work is moving away from manual knowledge work…

…and towards critical thinking work.

The machines are getting very good at writing the code. But they are still terrible at deciding what should be built in the first place.

For years people have been obsessed with finding the “perfect career”. Which makes me want to start a rant because I can’t stand the term.

That mindset made sense when jobs lasted 20 years.

You chose a path and stuck with it.

Now careers look more like this:

Role → adjacent role → new industry → new skill stack

Then repeat.

The people who thrive in this environment won’t necessarily be the smartest. They’ll be the ones who understand how to pivot. Who can spot the transferable skill underneath their job title. And reposition themselves quickly when the market shifts.

The coder who survives the AI revolution isn’t the one who writes the most code.

It’s the one who realises their real skill was never code at all.

It was systems thinking. And that skill still has a future.

~Lisa