GitHub CEO says goal of future engineers is different, AI won't take their jobs if they can do this

India Today

25-06-2025

As the tech industry races to integrate artificial intelligence into every corner of software development, the role of engineers is evolving. Many companies are even cutting back on hiring entry-level developers, aiming to automate work wherever possible using AI. This change, however, is raising questions about the future of junior engineers and whether companies still need them when AI can write code. According to GitHub CEO, Thomas Dohmke, AI can never replace junior engineers. In fact for him the fresh talent is more adaptable in the changing world. advertisementIn a recent interview with The Pragmatic Engineer, the head of Microsoft-owned GitHub pushed back against the narrative that companies are replacing junior engineers with AI. Instead, he argues that amid the AI transformation, the role of junior developers is shifting. And he believes that the junior talent which adapts to the shift will become important for tech companies to bring in new innovation and competition in the age of AI.'We are very excited about having this kind of like both junior and senior population in the company,' said Dohmke. He points out that GitHub has renewed investment in its intern programme after the pandemic. 'It's just a really positive thing to hear those folks bring fresh ideas, a great amount of energy and often, you know, a different, diverse background into the company.' According to Dohmke, the fresh new talent allows the company to bring in a critical outside perspective, standing out from legacy thinking. 'Often the folks that are younger in career bring a new perspective to the team and say, 'Hey, why don't we try this?' or 'I want to incubate this idea.''advertisement
Dohmke notes that junior engineers have grown up with smartphones, cloud platforms, and social media—and more importantly, with AI tools. Hence, this generation gets a head start in understanding and applying technologies like GitHub Copilot and other AI coding assistants. He even called the widely circulating idea of AI replacing junior developers 'backwards'. 'They get to use AI much faster they get it because they are taking this with an open mind,' he said. 'They haven't been in an experience where some change has led to a big outage. So they're more open-minded.'Dohmke argues that the new generation of engineers is open and adaptable, and that this sets them apart from experienced coders. According to the GitHub CEO, junior engineers are more likely to experiment with new tools, master AI-assisted coding, and approach problems with a fresh mindset.'The goal of the future engineer is no longer to write it all from scratch,' Dohmke said. 'The goal is to combine their prompting skills and agent open source libraries into getting that problem solved much faster than they could have done two, three years ago.'For Dohmke, he wants to work with both the junior and senior population in the company for better output. And this idea, he suggests, should not just apply to engineering but to other departments as well. 'You hire people because they have a green contribution graph on their GitHub profile That matters more to us than whether you have five years at one company and five at another.'- Ends