Generative AI to Drive 80% of Software Engineers to Upskill by 2027: Gartner
New York, NY – According to a recentprediction by market research firm Gartner, generative AI will catalyze the emergence of new job roles in software engineering and operations by 2027, requiring 80%of engineers to upskill.
Bold predictions about AI’s potential have fueled speculation that it might reduce the need for human engineers or even replace them entirely,said Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner. While AI will redefine the role of software engineers, human expertise and creativity remain crucial for developing complex, innovative software.
Gartner’s report outlines three stages in which AI will impactsoftware engineers:
Short-term: AI tools will enhance existing developer workflows and tasks, leading to a degree of productivity improvement. This will be particularly pronounced in organizations with mature engineering practices, where senior developers will see significant efficiency gains.
Mid-term: AI agents will transform developer workflows, enabling full automation and ushering in the era of AI-native software engineering. In this stage, most code will be generated by AI rather than human-written.
In the AI-native era, software engineers will adopt an ‘AI-first’ mindset, focusing more on how to make AI agents understand and handle the context and constraints of specific tasks, Walsh explained. Natural language prompting engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) skills will become essential for developers.
Long-term: Advancements in AI technology will break down further limitations, making AI engineeringthe mainstream. While AI will enhance engineering efficiency, organizations will need more skilled software engineers to meet the growing demand for AI-powered software.
Developing AI-driven applications will give rise to a new breed of software professionals – AI engineers. They possess a blend of software development, data science, and AI/machinelearning skills, which will be highly sought after, the report states.
A Gartner survey of 300 US and UK businesses in Q4 2023 revealed that 56% of software engineering leaders consider AI/machine learning engineers to be the most in-demand talent in 2024. AI/machine learning application skills are also perceived as the biggest gap in engineers’ skill sets.
To support AI engineers, organizations need to invest heavily in AI development platforms. These platforms enable businesses to build AI technology more efficiently and apply it at scale to enterprise solutions.
This means organizations will also need toupskill their data engineering and platform engineering teams to master the tools and processes that support AI continuous integration and delivery, the report concludes.
References:
- Gartner (2023). Generative AI to Drive 80% of Software Engineers to Upskill by 2027. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-10-03-gartner-predicts-generative-ai-to-drive-80-percent-of-software-engineers-to-upskill-by-2027
- IT之家 (2023). Gartner：到 2027 年，生成式 AI 将促使 80% 的软件工程师提升自身技能。 https://www.ithome.com/0/625/498.htm
Views: 0