Two prominent technology founders have recently shared their insights on the evolving landscape of software development and the implications for emerging professionals. Their perspectives offer valuable guidance for both aspiring developers and industry observers seeking to understand the transformation of the technology sector.
Udit Goenka – Building live projects as the path to employment
According to entrepreneur Udit Goenka, entry-level IT developers will face significant challenges in the job market of 2025. His assessment indicates that traditional qualifications alone will no longer suffice to secure employment opportunities.
Goenka advises recent college graduates to adopt a strategic approach focused on demonstrating practical capabilities. Specifically, he recommends building live products and releasing them as open-source projects. In his view, this approach represents “the only way” for new developers to effectively showcase their talent and successfully secure employment.
This perspective highlights the growing importance of practical, demonstrable skills over theoretical knowledge or academic credentials in the contemporary technology employment landscape.
Sridhar Vembu – Understanding AI’s role in code production
Zoho Corporation founder Sridhar Vembu offers complementary insights on the technological changes reshaping the field. Vembu acknowledges the common assertion that “AI will write 90% of the code” but provides important context for understanding this development.
Vembu frames this transition within the established concept of “essential complexity” versus “accidental complexity” in programming—a distinction dating back to Frederick Brooks’ influential work, “The Mythical Man-Month.” According to Vembu, the 90% of code that AI will potentially generate primarily consists of “boilerplate” elements representing “accidental complexity” in software development.
While acknowledging AI’s effectiveness in eliminating this accidental complexity, Vembu maintains that human developers remain essential for addressing the fundamental complexity inherent in programming challenges.
Vembu’s analysis extends to the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence in the creative aspects of software development. He observes that while AI excels at reproducing established patterns, the discovery of entirely new patterns requires distinctive human qualities.
He characterizes these qualities as “taste,” “knowing where to dig,” or the ability to “follow a hunch or conviction all the way.” These attributes represent the intuitive and creative dimensions of innovation that, in Vembu’s assessment, may lie beyond the capabilities of current AI systems.
Vembu expresses uncertainty about whether such pattern discovery can be achieved through computational approaches, noting: “I don’t know if AI can do this. I don’t know if that can be brute forced.”
Synthesis – It’ll be a hard challenge for fresh graduates
Together, these perspectives from Goenka and Vembu outline the contours of a transformed software development landscape. New developers must demonstrate practical capabilities through tangible projects, while understanding that their unique value increasingly lies in addressing essential complexity and driving innovation rather than producing routine code.
The insights from these technology leaders suggest that successful developers in the AI era will combine technical proficiency with distinctively human capabilities for intuition, creativity, and contextual understanding. They will need to leverage AI as a powerful tool while developing the qualities that complement and direct these technologies.
For aspiring developers and industry stakeholders, these perspectives offer valuable guidance for navigating the evolving relationship between human creativity and artificial intelligence in the technology sector.