AI reduces need for junior engineers, but then …: Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu voiced concerns that AI's boost to senior software architects might diminish the need for junior engineers, potentially hindering the training of future architects. He emphasized that architects must grasp requirements and the full tech stack to effectively guide AI. This sparked debate on how AI reshapes tech careers and the evolution of engineering roles.
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared concerns about how artificial intelligence (AI) may change the structure of software teams. Sharing a post on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), Vembu said that AI is making senior software architects more productive, but at the same time it is also reducing the need for junior engineers.
This shift, he warns, could impact how future architects are trained. In the post, Sridhar Vembu further writes that senior architects today need to understand both technical requirements and the full technology stack to guide AI tools effectively and refine their output. “AI makes senior architects more productive and reduces the need for junior engineers,” he writes in the post, adding “The architect needs to understand the requirements as well as the technology stack well, to be able to guide the AI and fine tune its output”.“But if we don't have junior engineers, we don't get to train the next generation of architects - after all how does someone become a software architect without being a junior engineer first? I am still thinking through how this gets resolved,” he further says.Vembu’s comments reflect a broader debate in the technology sector, where AI tools such as coding assistants and autonomous agents are increasingly taking over tasks that were traditionally assigned to junior engineers.
Experts have raised concerns about AI’s potential to reshape how technical careers begin.
Sridhar Vembu’s post triggers discussion
Vembu’s post has triggered discussion among engineers and social media users. Replying to his post, one user writes: “We still have some programmers who understand assembly languages. I think there will always be some engineers who would want to dig deeper. I think demand will play its role.” “Change the career ladder, not the headcount. Keep juniors, but redefine their role: AI-augmented engineers, not manual coders.
Move juniors earlier into design, reviews, system thinking, and trade-off discussions while AI handles boilerplate,” suggested another. “With AI, all the unsolved problems of the intermittent steps become viable business problems. Hence new markets open to entrepreneurs for those middle step problems. Thats how we will see waves of new age entrepreneurs with many solopreneurs,” a third user commented.