according to Gartner 's latest report, by 2027.Generative AIwill spawn new roles in software engineering and operations that will require an upskilled 80% workforce. The report states that artificial intelligence will changesoftware engineerfuture roles, not replace them.
Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner, said that AI will require software engineers to have unique skill sets in software engineering, data science and AI/machine learning. The report predicts that in the short term, AI tools will modestly increase productivity by augmenting the work patterns and tasks of existing developers.
In the medium term, the emergence of AI agents will push boundaries and change developers' working patterns by enabling them to fully automate and offload more tasks. This will mark the emergence of AI-native software engineering, when the majority of code will be generated by AI rather than written by humans, according to the report.
In the long run, advances in AI will break boundaries and mark the rise of so-called AI engineering. It will be more efficient, but organizations will need more skilled software engineers and AI engineers to meet the rapidly growing demand for AI software, according to the report.
To support AI engineers, organizations need to invest in AI developer platforms that will help them build AI capabilities more effectively and integrate AI into enterprise solutions at scale.