While the demand
for entry-level (“junior”) programmers has decreased and the hiring process has
slowed, experienced programmers remain in high demand. Life is no longer all
easy and guaranteed, as AI tools require new skills and greater responsibility.
Melting the fat
layer: Companies are certainly less inclined to invest in complete beginners
and hire people for “training” because basic, repetitive tasks are performed by
AI agents.
"In Silicon
Valley, famous for its innovations and startups, artificial intelligence (AI)
agents have already become a common practice that makes everyday professional
life easier. In Lithuania, the need for AI agents is also growing, and the
portrait of the specialist interacting with them is also changing: there is a
transition from a programmer to a technology professional who works together
with AI, not in competition with it.
Paradox:
according to V. Maknickas, AI helps to write code ten times faster, but it
still takes the same amount of time to test it.
Rapid
reorientation
According to
Simonas Černiauskas, head of the digital technology sector association
INFOBALT, AI is fundamentally changing the nature of programmers' work today,
but this should not be understood solely as replacing people with technology.
Rather, a very rapid redistribution of roles is taking place. "The market
needs less and less people who simply write standard code, and more and more
specialists who are able to solve business problems using technology,
automation and AI tools," says S. Černiauskas.
“AI allows for a
significant portion of traditional entry-level – junior – specialist tasks to
be performed, which is why some information technology (IT) companies are
actually redistributing the workload towards AI. Instead of basic programming
or other initial tasks, the focus is on ensuring the quality, architecture and
security of AI-generated code, which is usually done by more experienced
specialists,” he says.
Vykintas
Maknickas, CEO of Saily, a company offering a travel eSim solution, shares a
similar opinion. He sees the use of AI not primarily as an opportunity to
reduce the need for programmers, but as a way to increase work productivity and
enable programmers to focus on more creative tasks.
The company has
been using rapidly growing AI agents for some time – applications designed to
perceive and interact with a virtual environment. These agents operate
autonomously, meaning they are not directly controlled by a human. Each agent
has specific predefined rules and tasks.
“Since we have
been using AI agents for some time, we see that the role itself is naturally
changing: Saily programmers are less specialized, work in smaller teams, manage
multiple technologies, delegate work to colleagues less often, and are closer
to the daily concerns of the client,” says V. Maknickas.
He also points
out that AI is blurring the lines between programmers and product managers.
“With the help of AI, the latter can create prototypes of new software
functionalities themselves, test them, and quickly make decisions about their
further development or use. Previously, such tests would have required the
involvement of a team of programmers and several weeks, today it can be a
matter of just a few hours or days,” he says.
Benefit: S.
Černiauskas notes that in the short term, AI has even somewhat reduced the
tension caused by the shortage of IT specialists that has been observed for
more than a decade.
Benefit: S.
Černiauskas notes that in the short term, AI has even somewhat reduced the
tension observed for more than a decade due to the shortage of IT specialists.
/ Photo from personal archive
Changing the need
for skills
Naturally, the
more intensive application of AI agents also changes what skills are most
needed. The learned programming language is no longer the most important
criterion - now the desire to create, curiosity and independence are most
valued, emphasizes V. Maknickas: "Considering the existing capabilities of
AI, writing code is no longer the greatest value for a company, therefore,
in-demand specialists must be able to bring not code, but an idea and a
prototype of functionality."
AI agents are
already widespread in Silicon Valley, famous for innovations and startups.
There is a consensus there that this technology, having become an everyday tool
for technology companies, will play an even greater role in the development of
products and services in the future.
“The theory of
evolution formulated by Charles Darwin says that it is not the strongest or the
most intelligent that survive, but those who can adapt to a changing
environment. This idea is stated in a different context, but it perfectly
describes what AI brings to IT and product development: those who do not
implement this change in time will eventually become slower and will no longer
be able to respond to changes in customer needs. This is especially important
when creating products that compete in the international market,” says V.
Maknickas.
Therefore, by the
end of the year, the Saily team plans to hire up to 100 programmers who will
work namely with AI agents. The team will be supplemented by both experienced
specialists and young programmers who started their careers in the AI era.
They will be responsible for the entire development cycle of the Saily product,
from idea generation and prototype creation to the integration of new functions
into the product.
The theory of
evolution formulated by Charles Darwin says that it is not the strongest or the
smartest who survive, but those who can adapt to a changing environment. This
idea is stated in a different context, but it perfectly describes what AI
brings to IT.
Market changes
V. Maknickas
follows discussions about changes in the labor market and notices that there is
a lot of resentment about young programmers: supposedly, the lowest-level
programmers will be unnecessary because an AI agent can do their job. However,
this is a two-fold question: “If a specialist knows several programming
languages and has no motivation to learn new technologies and create, then he
will not be competitive in the labor market. However, I see the situation quite
the opposite: most young programmers are so-called AI natives – AI is an
everyday work tool for them. It is a natural skill for them and they are in
demand in the labor market.”
“However, it is
not right to underestimate specialists with more experience, whose careers
began with learning programming languages. Programmers are receptive to
changes, and now all of Saily’s engineers, without exception, program with AI
agents, regardless of age or experience. "It can be learned, you just need
the will," he emphasizes.
Today, there are
also discussions about the security of AI-generated code. V. Maknickas assures
that the priorities of security and privacy remain the same: the code generated
by AI is subject to exactly the same strict quality requirements as that written
by a human. "Each code written by AI agents is carefully reviewed, checked
and adjusted to meet the highest security and quality requirements," he
says. "By the way, it is precisely ensuring security and quality that
remains the "bottleneck": AI helps to write code ten times faster,
but it still takes the same amount of time to verify it."
New generation
S. Černiauskas
echoes V. Maknick: young employees today are much more AI native – they use AI
solutions more naturally, boldly and more widely than some more experienced
professionals. Completely new roles are also emerging, related to the
management of AI systems, the creation of specific AI instructions – the
so-called prompts – and the integration of AI into products or processes, which
are naturally closer to people who are already accustomed to living in an AI
environment.
“The Lithuanian
information and communication technology (ICT) sector is generally one of the
youngest in Europe – more than half of the employees are under 34 years old.
Therefore, mastering these tools is not a big challenge for most specialists.
Rather, it is becoming a strategic issue for organizations – how to safely,
effectively and responsibly integrate AI into daily processes,” says S.
Černiauskas. – Today, the most sought-after programmers are no longer those who
simply know one programming language well. The most valued specialists are
those who know how to work with AI tools, understand data, security and system
architecture, and are able to evaluate the results generated by AI quality, has
strong critical and systematic thinking, is able to link technological
solutions to business needs.”
Essentially,
there is a transition from a programmer to a technology professional who works
alongside AI, rather than competing with it. “AI can already generate a
significant portion of standard code, tests, documentation, or even entire
prototypes today. It is a very powerful productivity tool that brings a very
significant change in productivity. The productivity of programmers who have
mastered AI tools has increased in some cases,” says S. Černiauskas.
According to him,
one strong specialist with AI can today do as much work as several people used
to do, performing certain tasks. In the short term, this has even somewhat
reduced the tension caused by the shortage of IT specialists that has been
observed for more than a decade.
“When employees
can do the same job several times faster, orders often do not decrease as
quickly as efficiency increases. Therefore, today we are also observing a lower
salary growth rate than in previous years, although salaries in the IT sector
still remain among the highest in Lithuania,” S. Černiauskas points out.
“However,
programmers who are well versed in AI tools and are able to use them
effectively in practice are in particular demand today. They allow companies to
do significantly more work with the same resources in the same time. Of course,
AI is not a free solution – companies additionally invest in AI tool
subscriptions, infrastructure, virtual tokens and security solutions. However,
it is likely that last year’s results of Lithuanian IT companies will show
further growth in revenue and profitability even if the hiring of new employees
slows down somewhat,” predicts the head of INFOBALT.
When employees can do the same job several times faster,
orders often do not increase
as fast as efficiency is growing. Therefore, today we are also observing a
lower rate of salary growth than in previous years.
Other risks
S. Černiauskas
distinguishes issues of intellectual property and data security: “If a
programmer uploads internal code, sensitive data or confidential information to
a public AI system, there is a risk that this information can be used to
improve models or generate queries for other users. As a result, companies
today set very clear rules on what data and AI systems can be used and what
cannot. The developers of some AI systems also implement additional protection
and try to ensure that the code of business clients is not used to train
models.”
However, human
competence remains the most important thing. “AI can generate a technically
working solution, but the programmer must be able to assess whether it really
meets the task, whether it is safe, effective and suitable for use in a real
environment. Therefore, the role of the programmer does not decrease – it
becomes even more strategic. In essence, the programmer today becomes not only
a code developer, but also an architect, quality controller and evaluator of
AI-generated solutions,” says S. Černiauskas.“ [1]
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