AI will 100x the number of engineers

I recently gave a talk at Sourcegraph about our vision for AI at Jam.dev. I'm betting that in 10 years there will be 100x more engineers than now. This post is about why.

For context, we built Jam to help engineers fix bugs faster by eliminating the tedious back-and-forth whenever anyone logs an issue ticket. Our screen recorder browser extension integrates with dev tools, capturing everything an engineer needs to debug—console logs, network requests, session details, user IDs—right there in one place. Teams all over the world are shipping quality software faster with Jam. Currently, we have 125,000 users, including giants like Disney, Nike, and Salesforce, creating nearly half a million Jams each month.

As CEO, I’m always thinking about how to keep growing, which means focusing on both today and tomorrow. The way we develop software is set to change dramatically, and I want to share my vision for this future.

Here are five big predictions on how AI will impact engineers:

1. AI will do for engineering what the iPhone did for photography

Think about how many of you are hobby photographers today, using your smartphones. Before the iPhone, photography required fancy cameras and technical know-how. The iPhone democratized photography, making it accessible to everyone. AI will do the same for software engineering.

At Jam, we see this trend already unfolding. Our tool reduces the complexity of debugging, making it easier for anyone to contribute to the codebase without deep technical expertise. Currently, tools like Copilot are just scratching the surface. In the near future, AI will handle dependencies, manage environments, and fix build systems. AI will be like your personal DevOps and SRE, automating mundane tasks and allowing you to focus on writing code and creating. This will lower the barrier to entry, enabling more people to become engineers.

2. AI will finally make serverless computing a reality

AI will take over server management, deployments, and dependency installations. This will mean engineers can focus solely on building. Imagine a world where AI handles all the setup and operations, and engineers just dive straight into the creative and problem-solving aspects of coding.

At Jam, we are excited about this shift. Our vision is to create a work environment where engineers can focus on high-impact tasks, supported by AI. This will streamline workflows, reduce setup times, and allow engineers to be more productive and innovative.

3. Demand for engineers will actually increase

William Stanley Jevons, an economist from the 1860s, observed that more efficient use of a resource leads to increased consumption of that resource—known as Jevon's Paradox. This applies to software engineering as well. As AI makes software development more efficient, we will see a surge in the amount of software being created.

At Jam, our mission is to help teams ship software efficiently. We believe that as the cost of adding new features drops dramatically, the need for rapid development and iteration will explode. This will lead to a hyper-competitive environment where every company will need to match their competitors' features. This will result in a massive increase in the amount of software, and thus, the need for more engineers to maintain and iterate on this software.

4. Every engineer will go from programmer to tech lead

In the future, being an engineer will mean managing a fleet of AI agents. Instead of writing code, you'll delegate tasks, review PRs, and provide feedback. It will be like being the tech lead of hundreds of dev interns.

At Jam, we are already seeing the benefits of streamlined workflows. Our vision is to create a work environment where engineers can focus on high-impact tasks, supported by AI. In this future, the role of engineers will shift from generating code to improving and refining it. It will be more about strategic thinking, design, and communication. Engineers will manage AI tools to iterate and perfect software, making the job more fulfilling and impactful.

5. It's going to be an amazing time to be an engineer

AI will make engineering way more fun. Every engineer will get to be more strategic and impactful, building more challenging, non-deterministic software, and spending way less time on setup and operations. This will open up incredible possibilities for innovation and creativity.

The future of software will involve more A/B testing, personalization, and sophisticated algorithms. This complexity will require engineers to develop new skills in managing and debugging non-deterministic systems, making the job even more interesting and challenging.

Why this matters: Embracing the future

Many fear that AI will take engineering jobs, but I believe it will do the opposite. AI will elevate the role of engineers, making it more strategic, design-oriented, and impactful. We will need many more engineers to handle the explosion of software being developed and maintained.

Engineering is driving the future forward, and it's crucial to make the process of building software as productive as possible. At Jam, we’re excited to be part of this transformation, developing tools that enhance feedback loops and collaboration in the AI age.

If you’re as excited about the future as I am and you want to make software engineering more interesting, challenging, and fun join us at Jam.

Check out our careers page and let’s build the future together.