I’m hearing more and more that experienced programmers are turning away from regular software development. The reason, they say, is the increasing proliferation of AI coding agents in their work. Areas not yet touched by AI, like embedded, or IoT, are luring them.

Builders are not that interested in innovation, and innovators are not that interested in building.

As I see it, there are basically two personality types that get into computer programming. One type is the builder, people that would have gone into some other building trade if computers didn’t exist. People like me. The other personality type is the nerd, who gets into programming because it’s complicated. Because of their love of complexity.

I say nerd, I could have said scientist. A worker in knowledge. Innovator? Even better.

The senior devs who are thinking of moving away are of the latter type. And if they do, and do so in numbers, that’s going to be bad for the software building business.

Why?

Builders are about creating, solving practical problems, and delivering tangible results. They love seeing their work used in the real world. In computer programming, code is seen as an obstacle to overcome to deliver results.

It took me a long time before I could even read documentation. I’m the kind of person who learns from experience. When I want to build, I just start.

How different are many of my colleague developers. When they start a task, they read. Read documentation, read the existing codebase, read the requirements. Get mad at us for not supplying enough detail.

They have love for the intricacies, are passionate about syntax and architecture. They thrive on understanding how the smallest detail connects to the largest entity.

We might think we're totally different animals, the builders and the nerds. But we'd be wrong.

How AI and coding agents are driving the brightest away.

AI coding agents excel at automating repetitive, syntax-heavy, or boilerplate tasks. But also are able to solve surprisingly complex problems. They’re able to compete in areas where scientists often find satisfaction in mastery and precision.

So now that AI is taking away the object of interest, you bet that the nerds are disappointed. And looking for love elsewhere.

But without nerds, builders are stuck in existing paradigms. Because it’s the nerds who lead innovation.

We’re a small software development company that specialises in creating custom applications for businesses with a unique approach to product. Every one of our projects is a complex, one-of-kind solution. We need the depth of understanding that senior developers bring and we’re lucky to have such talented people in our crew.

But we need to keep them.

How?

We must combine our strengths to build our innovative company. 

Three ways.

One is because of how deeply embedded our company is in the business of our clients. 

You see, we not only build, maintain and support, but we also initiate. We propose new features, new ways of engaging our clients’ users, novel paths towards attracting new users by providing tools for their marketing and sales. Many ideas come from our senior devs. And they know it.

Two is that our senior developers are heavily involved in our internal processes. 

Example. We’re running almost a hundred servers in almost as many projects. Due to the accelerated development made possible by coding agents we need to move towards more highly automated deployment systems. So that non-techies can handle deployment with confidence.

And three is that we as a company are building what is to become a SDCaaS: a Software Development Company as a Service. Where businesses can subscribe to a highly automated version of what we excel in: building, maintaining, and supporting unique digital products. Our senior developers are an integral to this effort, and the company we are building is theirs in part.

I think I’ve overstated the difference between nerds and builders.

I suppose that there’s not really that big of a distinction between builders and nerds after all. We need each other. 

We would make our people feel at home even if we didn’t have grand plans for the future. We know they stick with us even when times are hard. Or they get offers from competitors.

But we do have grand plans. And we're glad that our senior software developers are along for the ride.

Because I suppose in the end we’re more than builders. In our own way, we’re innovators too. And if it be shaping our clients’ business, automating our own processes, or pioneering SDCaaS, our senior developers are one of us. 

Photography: 

• Immo Wegman on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@tinkerman

• Dokyung Kim on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@jindujiong