Proton CTO Bart Butler says engineer job is to help LLMs code

The memo sparked significant discussion among tech leaders. Peter Steinberger, an OpenAI employee and creator of the OpenClaw agent, supported the stance, predicting that if AI progress continues at its current pace, the traditional software engineering job will disappear within two years. He acknowledged the identity crisis engineers face but noted that Proton CEO Andy Yen understands the business necessity of adaptation.

Other prominent figures, including Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson and SpaceX principal engineer Lauren Tan, echoed the sentiment. DHH criticized engineers who view AI as merely another tool, while Tan described engineers as leading "incredibly elastic" workforces of models. Plover Labs cofounder Edward Ahn highlighted a trend where CEO memos on AI are becoming increasingly direct about the displacement of traditional coding roles.