Software engineers will be obsolete by 2060

In response to an article on Medium, Software engineers will be obsolete by 2060, I responded with the following:

Interesting article on The Economist titled Automation on Automation Angst, http://www.economist.com/node/21661017, that looks at several publications that look at the historical effects of automation, and although there is always a fear of being replaced, ultimately more jobs are created than destroyed. Software engineers disappear? So what! There will be other jobs, with different titles, and in the interim, the more people use tech, the more there will be a need for software engineers.

Because of this, a person asked for my opinion on maintaining their career as a .NET developer, to which I responded:

Although I am a .NET developer as well, I focus on expanding my project management and leadership skills, as well as developing skills in AI/ML. Rather than bore with all the details of my background, here is what I think:
  • You should develop your skills in AI/ML, if only by familiarizing yourself with TensorFlow and CNTK. Even if you are not the expert, you should understand it.
Somewhat more generally:
  • Develop your leadership and management skills, if only to become a better developer, even if you don’t aspire to a higher rank, since having those skills will make one a more hireable developer.
  • Although the landscape might change, it is unlikely that you could not find a job with .NET skills in 5 to 6 years, but the most important thing is to keep in touch with the changes, developing as needed.
  • Consider what would put you out of a job, say automation that builds the things you already do and do that. Stay ahead of the wave that is going to crush you, by becoming part of the wave itself.
  • Create an online presence via blogs, codeshares, NuGet and GitHub repo’s, contributions to other projects, and career sites. Make recruiters come to you.

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