Anecdotally, I’ve started seeing this with forward deployed / customer-facing engineers.
Some of that work is being absorbed by PMs or technically-minded operators using AI to handle the “glue” - small integrations, scripts, internal tools, etc.
It doesn’t remove the need for engineers, but it does reduce how many people you need for that layer. It feels more like compression than replacement.
I also don’t think engineers disappear - the role just blends more with others. I used to be a data scientist and now I’m in a more technical PM role interfacing with customers a lot, and I’m seeing engineers move in similar directions depending on their strengths.
Some of that work is being absorbed by PMs or technically-minded operators using AI to handle the “glue” - small integrations, scripts, internal tools, etc.
It doesn’t remove the need for engineers, but it does reduce how many people you need for that layer. It feels more like compression than replacement.
I also don’t think engineers disappear - the role just blends more with others. I used to be a data scientist and now I’m in a more technical PM role interfacing with customers a lot, and I’m seeing engineers move in similar directions depending on their strengths.