Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai recently addressed one of the most debated questions in the tech industry: Will AI eventually replace software developers? During an interview with Bloomberg in San Francisco, Pichai assured that AI is not replacing engineers, but boosting their productivity.
“I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,”
“AI isn’t replacing people – it is speeding up development and allowing teams to build new products faster.”
He described AI as “an accelerator” that streamlines repetitive work, enabling engineers to focus on more meaningful tasks.
While Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai remains optimistic, he acknowledged worries about AI replacing jobs, especially after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s prediction that half of entry-level white-collar jobs could be replaced in five years.
“I respect that... I think it’s important to voice those concerns and debate them,” said Pichai.
Despite his supportive view of AI, Google has undergone job cuts recently. Around 200 roles were slashed from its Global Business Unit, and in early 2023, Alphabet laid off 12,000 employees, representing about 6% of its workforce. Yet, as of December 2024, Google still employed over 183,000 people.
At a separate tech event, Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich also touched on the AI-in-coding debate. While he acknowledged that AI tools are helpful for simple projects, he emphasized that they fall short in complex, large-scale software development.
“These things are right now still beyond the capabilities of our AI systems,” said Russinovich.
He pointed out that AI systems built on current architectures like autoregressive transformers struggle with large and interconnected codebases.
“Even in five years, AI will not be independently building sophisticated software from start to finish,” Russinovich predicted.
Instead, the future is expected to involve AI-assisted development, where human developers remain in control of architecture, critical decisions, and overall design, while using AI tools to enhance productivity.
Sundar Pichai believes AI is a tool for acceleration, not replacement.
Google has made job cuts but continues to employ a large workforce.
Mark Russinovich emphasizes that experienced developers are irreplaceable for now.
The consensus: AI will aid, not replace, software developers—especially in the near future.
The conversation around AI replacing coders continues to evolve, but insights from tech leaders like Sundar Pichai and Mark Russinovich offer a grounded perspective. While AI is undoubtedly transforming the software development landscape, it is acting more as a collaborator than a competitor.
Pichai emphasized that AI accelerates development by handling repetitive tasks, enabling engineers to innovate faster. Russinovich echoed a similar sentiment, warning that current AI models are still incapable of independently building complex software systems.
Despite some workforce reductions at Google, the overall message remains positive: AI is here to assist, not replace. As organizations increasingly adopt AI-assisted development tools, the role of human creativity, critical thinking, and system design remains irreplaceable.
The future of coding is likely to be a partnership between human expertise and AI efficiency, creating opportunities for greater innovation, faster delivery, and new roles in the tech ecosystem.