The End of Coding as a Profession - by Mik Kersten

Output to Outcome

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The End of Coding as a Profession<br>An excerpt from Output to Outcome on what AI means for software, careers, and knowledge work.

Mik Kersten<br>May 26, 2026

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The first in a series of excerpts from: Output to Outcome: An Operating Model for the Age of AI (Preorder) .

“This is the end of coding as a profession.”<br>Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

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Those words, spoken by Rod Johnson, kept ringing in my head. It was January 2023, and we were sharing our awe of how good the recently released ChatGPT 3.5 was at working with code. Rod is one of the most well-known and prolific open-source developers and entrepreneurs, and his statement came not from what ChatGPT could do at that time, but from extrapolating the rate of improvement that was to come. I agreed with his statement, and we proceeded to debate the timeframe of the disruption. We continue to debate on our calls to this day. Almost ironically, Rod is now writing more code than he has since the start of his career, reinvigorated by his new startup, which helps developers adopt AI agents for evolving highly complex software systems.<br>The evolution of software development is a bellwether, as this has been one of the first and easiest knowledge work domains for AI to automate. It may seem like only yesterday that our careers, teams, and organizations were finally making progress on the path of mastering software delivery and digital experiences. That journey has now been upended entirely by the way AI changes the economics of digital production.<br>Since the dawn of the digital age, software and technology have been a key constraint to organizational success, and a generation of developer productivity tools and methodologies followed. For the first two decades of this century, I thought of myself and my team of software developers as akin to thoroughbred horses running at breakneck speed. We were creating amazing software architectures, products, and tools. I had the great experience of building an innovative, successful, and fun business around these teams of thoroughbred horses. I learned to love the craft of coding and then of leading and nurturing high-performance people and teams. And then I learned that the equivalent of the steam engine had been invented and that we would no longer need horses.<br>This is a time of high uncertainty about the future of careers, organizations, the workforce, and the economy. There are a range of scenarios for how AI will impact our lives and how bumpy that ride will be. What is clear is that the pace of change is moving faster than it did in previous technological revolutions, as this time it is human intelligence itself that is being disrupted. Those organizations that are able to wield the power of this disruption will eclipse those that move too slowly.<br>I believe we are still in the early days of the benefits that technology and software can provide to society and that the broader and more diverse the set of organizations behind those technologies, the better off we will be. I hope this book becomes your guide to harnessing AI for lasting human-centric outcomes that help shape a future where your organization is able to control and leverage AI in ways that benefit your customers, your staff, and society.<br>Many careers start with one of the countless specializations around business and technology. We learn how to work with teams, and some of us learn how to lead those teams. We then learn how to navigate complex organizations, partnerships, markets, and ecosystems. These well-trodden paths have produced impactful and successful careers and created ladders that those early in their careers aspire to climb.<br>All of these careers are founded on the atomic unit of the individual contributor producing outcomes, be they a designer or a developer. These atomic units have been at the foundation of management since Peter Drucker documented and popularized the concept of the knowledge worker. The teams they form are the bedrock of our organizations, and those of us in leadership positions are thrilled when we see the value delivered by these great teams of horses pulling carriages at full gallop and winning races.<br>While knowledge outputs will be automated, I believe we are entering a new era of people working in teams focused on driving outcomes. However, our organizations and roles need to be rewired completely in order to leverage the knowledge work amplification coming from agents and AI.<br>Output to Outcome will be published on July 14th. Preorder now on Amazon and subscribe for more excerpts, models, and behind-the-scenes notes leading up to the launch.<br>Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free.

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