AI is reshaping software engineering, here's what developers say

In eight weeks, artificial intelligence upended a profession. Business Insider's "Great Coding Reset" investigation tracked how AI coding tools reshaped software engineering from May through June 2026, revealing a boom that collapsed almost as fast as it arrived, leaving junior developers facing an uncertain future.

Transformation started in early May with the emergence of the "tokenmaxxing" phenomenon, which means maximising the use of AI. The firms introduced leaderboards encouraging competitive use of AI.

An engineer mentioned the unlimited potential for experimentation. Another engineer said he was witnessing increased productivity.

In late May, the Uber COO admitted that escalating costs of tokens were becoming unacceptable. Amazon terminated its internal AI leaderboard.

In June, the companies went from experimenting to containing costs. The coverage by Business Insider captured the views of engineers changing right before their eyes.

The AI debate often frames extreme scenarios: mass job destruction or utopian abundance. The reality, Business Insider found, is messier. For every engineer worried that AI automates work they love, another spends weekends joyfully building with new tools.

Survey respondents reflected this contradiction: some said AI made their job "worse in many ways", while others reported solving more complex problems while maintaining control.

Senior engineers who possess strong technical expertise derive maximum benefit from AI; they understand when AI hallucinates or simplifies too much. However, if AI does all the debugging and basic feature development that used to train juniors, how will junior developers learn?

As reported by Business Insider, firms have started testing "AI chops" while recruiting people. Developers are supposed to be interdisciplinary and manage code generation but not develop codes.