GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke on why companies may never stop hiring junior engineers

Time of India

6 hours ago

Despite the growing advancements in
AI coding assistants
,
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke
believes that companies will never stop hiring junior engineers. In a recent interview with The Pragmatic Engineer, Dhomke stressed on the fact that while AI tools are surely transforming
software development
, but human technical expertise, specifically the ability to built and maintain complex systems, remains indispensable.
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Dhomke emphasised that junior engineers bring fresh energy, ideas and adaptability in the world shaped by artificial intelligence. 'They come in with the latest learnings from college, diverse backgrounds, and a willingness to experiment,' he said.
Dhomke also underlined that fact that young engineers are also early adopters of AI which further makes them well-suited to work alongside tools like
GitHub Copilot
.
He also added that prompt engineering and AI literacy are slowing become core skills and junior engineers and developers are often more open to learning and applying their without being constrained.
"The folks that are younger in career bring a new perspective to the team and say, here, 'Why don't we try this?' or, 'I want to incubate this idea,'" he said. "And so we are excited about having this kind of like both junior and senior population in the company."
While building software is being transformed by AI, Dhomke emphasised that engineering remains a craft and one still needs mentorship, collaboration, and problem-solving. At GitHub, he said, aims to maintain a balanced workforce of junior and senior engineers to foster innovation and long-term growth.
'Even in a world where AI agents become more autonomous, engineering jobs won't disappear,' Dohmke said. 'What matters is not how the job gets done, but that it gets done well.'
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GitHub CEO to software engineers: 'Key for winning' AI coding tools
In related news, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke says the "key for winning" with AI coding tools is maintaining the ability to quickly modify AI-generated code manually, rather than relying entirely on automated agents. Speaking on "The MAD Podcast with Matt Turck," Thomas Dohmke emphasized that developers need flexibility to seamlessly transition between AI assistance and hands-on coding.
The CEO outlined an ideal workflow where AI agents can write code and submit pull requests, but developers retain the ability to make rapid changes using their existing programming skills. This approach prevents the productivity trap of spending minutes describing simple changes in natural language when the same task could be completed in seconds through direct coding.