Will AI replace junior engineers?

Alex PadulaFounder & Architect @TidesDB

Will AI replace junior engineers?

No, no, no. You have so much foundational knowledge. If you're studying database internals, you can use AI to your advantage and do good work. I don't think an AI can do things on its own like that, ever. I see a lot of alarmist things online, people trying to scare you, but the AI isn't that smart. It's not like a human. We can architect things, we can get creative with problem solving.

Cornelia BiacsicsPrincipal Program Manager @Microsoft

Will AI replace juniors?

I don't agree with that idea. I don't think that AI will replace juniors. I think the opposite is happening: AI is helping juniors learn faster. It helps them explore concepts, get explanations, and experiment in ways that would have taken much longer in the past. So it can be an incredibly powerful tool. But I don't see AI replacing real experience, critical thinking, or the connections that people have with other people.

Elisa UsaiSenior Delivery Manager @dbi services

And the juniors, so, does that come back to the same thing?

No, I don't think it replaces them. If junior professionals stop learning and rely entirely on AI, then in a few years we'll have a real problem. Experienced people won't be around forever. Personally, I'd like to retire in a few years. I have plenty of interests outside of work. So we need the next generation to develop the knowledge and experience to take over. AI is a great tool, and it can make us much more productive, but it shouldn't replace learning or critical thinking.

Flora BarrieleOracle Database@AWS EMEA Black Belt

Does AI replace juniors?

It's funny you ask it that way. I have a stepson who's your age, I feel old! He's 21, he's a computer science student like you, he's also going into his third year. I'm very interested in what he's learning in class, and I see that AI is taught, guided in the right way at his university. I find that AI is well integrated into learning, and it's a strength for you, the juniors. I'm convinced that AI won't replace you, but that, on the contrary, you're a generation that knows how to juggle it, that knows how to make the most of it, that knows, I hope, when and how to use it well.

Yves ColinCustomer Engineer Data Management @Google

What do you think about the idea that AI will replace juniors?

I don't think it's going to replace them, but they will have to adapt. Their role is going to evolve, the goal will be to provide specs to autonomous systems or AI agents that will handle developing the application. Where a junior early in their career used to tend to generate lines of code, I think they're going to have to rise above that and focus more on the functional and architectural side.

Damien ClochardCo-founder & Product Owner @Dalibo

Will AI replace junior developers?

I think it's genuinely one of the difficulties of our time. I don't think it replaces juniors at all. In fact I actively push internally for hiring younger profiles with fresh ideas, different dynamics and, as we said, different points of view. As a group gets older it also gets cut off from new ideas and trends. In terms of creativity, juniors have an enormous amount to contribute. Saying that AI will replace juniors is a reductive viewpoint, and it often reflects a very hierarchical vision of things: the fallacy that veterans hold the truth and must "pour knowledge" into juniors until they gradually level up.

Ege GüneşTeam Lead, Kubernetes Operators @Percona

Will juniors be replaced by AI?

To be honest, yes, AI can already write better code than many junior developers, and it requires far less guidance than a junior would. That's a real change in the industry. Will junior developers disappear? I don't think so. But I do think breaking into the industry will become more difficult. Junior engineers will need to demonstrate much stronger fundamentals than before. At the same time, AI also creates an opportunity.

Matt CornillonData Cloud & AI Specialist @Google

Will AI replace juniors?

It is a bit difficult today to have a clear view of what will happen even in six months or a year. Still, historically, IT has always been made of structural changes, shocks, and technological revolutions that force us to adapt. If there is one thing juniors need to learn today, it is the ability to adapt. So maybe today's juniors will not be replaced by AI. But they may potentially be replaced by juniors who use AI better than they do. That is how I see it.

Cedric VillemainPresident / CEO @Data bene

Do you think AI will replace junior developers?

Juniors specifically, I don't think so. A friend put it well using an agriculture analogy. He said: back when it was harvest time, you needed thirty people in the field and you had to be done by the end of the day. Then came the combine harvester. You went from thirty people to one. Now there are multiple harvesters in the field, guided by satellite systems, while the farmer supervises the operation and focuses on higher-level decisions. The combine harvesters have arrived in the developer's field.

Mikaël FrancoeurSoftware Engineer @Turso

Does AI replace juniors?

I don't know. I don't think I'm the best person to answer that. But what I can say is that what has always had a lot of value, and I think will have even more, is reliability, a sense of initiative, taking a problem and saying: "I'm going to solve this." Becoming someone who is dependable, responsible, someone people can count on. I think that's maybe a quality that was more associated with leadership positions before.

Franck PachotDeveloper Advocate @MongoDB

What do you think about the place of juniors in this AI context?

AI today can indeed replace a lot of what a junior used to do, generate code, answer basic technical questions, produce a first version of pretty much anything. The problem is not there. The problem is ten years from now: who is going to become senior? If we remove the learning phase by delegating it to AI, we stop training people. And at some point, there is no one left to take over the work of senior people. That is a risk for the profession.

Bertrand DrouvotSenior Database Engineer @AWS

Do you think AI impacts junior developers?

I think it currently impacts juniors more than seniors. Senior engineers are still often viewed as the people validating and reviewing what AI generates. For juniors, however, I do think there is a real impact on hiring today. What matters more than ever is having strong fundamentals and being able to distinguish between hallucinations and correct information.