The Coddling is Over: AI and the New Era for Developers

Episode Highlights

• •Hannah argues that the era of coddled developers is over, and the focus must shift from writing code to delivering business impact.
• •Novel tools from companies like Leapter are visualizing AI-generated code, making software development more human-readable and collaborative.
• •The AI for the Rest of Us community was created after Hannah's personal experience feeling bamboozled by inaccessible AI jargon.
• •Hannah draws direct parallels between the current AI wave and the early, messy, culture-driven days of the DevOps transformation
• •GenAI poses a significant challenge for junior developers, as companies may now hire for senior capability over junior capacity.
• •AI fluency, the ability to speak the language of AI, is a critical skill for everyone—not just builders—to help navigate change.
• •True innovation in AI requires slack in the system, as its unpredictable, pioneering nature cannot be rushed by deadlines.
• •Citing Team Topologies, Hannah argues that internal enabling teams are crucial for helping the rest of the business adopt and effectively use new AI tools.
• •She warns that without a strong focus on user needs, AI productivity gains only turn you into an AI-powered feature factory, doing the wrong things faster.
• •Hannah believes that in this early, messy phase of AI adoption, the people who claim to have all the answers are the ones to be trusted the least.