HACKER Q&A
📣 Tmkly

Ten YoE as a software engineer, what's next with LLMs coming in fast?


I am a software engineer with 10 years of experience, currently working as a Lead React Native Engineer for a fin-tech app in London. I think it's pretty clear that LLMs are gonna change the industry massively. While I'm not immediately worried about my future career, I think in the next 5 years there will be a huge squeeze as LLMs take up more and more of the work load. I love writing code and solving problems, and I don't want to just be an LLM babysitter, and I'd like to think I'm pretty good at my job. And I want to stay technical too, so no woodworking suggestions.

So over the past month or two I've been contemplating what's next for me. I really enjoy working with React Native, Typescript etc but LLMs are pretty good at these things already (largely due to the amount of open-source JS online already). For example, If I was to transition in to some kind of AI engineering/research, where would I start with that? Or also I was thinking about embedded software engineering - again, where do I start with that?

Or am I just being too pessimistic? I do think the whole 'AI' thing is a bit overblown, so maybe it'll all be fine :shrug:.

  👤 osivertsson Accepted Answer ✓
Understand the business thoroughly to know what value you create. Transition within that framework, where in this organization and with what tools can I provide more value?

If you take a moral stand against LLMs understand that your relative value will decrease.

However, with 10 YoE you should be able to quickly evaluate code and ideas proposed by LLMs for correctness and fit into your code-base. In this way you are in a better spot than junior devs.

Limit complexity. LLMs sure allows complexity to get out of control, especially when people stop caring and just wants to get things out of their hands quickly.

If you really were to transition somewhere else it has to be to something you really feel the urge to do because it gives you a real sense of joy or fascination. Something you can’t resist dabbling with already today. From your message I can tell it is not embedded or AI.