In this post
This is our summary of the Y Combinator video “The Future of Software Engineering”. It is the video’s argument, not our forecast: AI will change how software is built, and the video expects the world to need more human developers, not fewer. In that view, developers will manage AI agents that do much of the coding work.
AI and the Cost of Software #
The video’s premise is that AI language models write code well, which will make building software much cheaper. Some think this means fewer jobs for software developers. The video argues the opposite: software will run almost everything, so more people will be needed to manage it.
The Role of Human Developers #
In the video’s picture, human developers will not write much code directly. Instead, they will manage teams of AI agents. These agents build software and also take on other tasks, such as quality assurance, deployment, compliance audits, translation and operations. This is a prediction, not something we have measured.
Key Takeaways #
What This Means for the Future #
- More Developers: The video argues the world will need more human software engineers.
- Management Focus: Developers will manage AI teams, not just write code.
- AI for Tasks: AI agents will handle many specialized tasks.
Building Tools for the Future #
In the video, Y Combinator says it wants to fund startups that help with this future: tools that let small groups of generalist developers manage large AI teams to build and ship a lot of software. That call is YC’s, not ours. If you are building such tools, apply to Y Combinator or follow its channel.
