On Adaptation, Again

I feel an immense sadness. I’m grieving the loss of a pillar of my self-identity: my career as a software developer. Although I’m not sure if this grief is rational, or whether software development is really doomed for good. But it’s clear that a shift has happened, both in the industry and in me. Using generative AI for software development was not something I took seriously until 2026. All models I used prior to this year were at best naive and at worst deceptive and harmful. However, there’s a reason the whole industry echoes the same thing: something changed in January 2026. It was February when I decided to give Claude a try. The reason was not technical but based on fear. I was vocally against using LLMs for coding at my $work and I was afraid that I’d be the first one to be let go as more and more managers started to push people to “leverage” AI in their day-to-day work. As a technical leader in my team, I decided to align myself with the company’s wants and approach the…