AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#1

Post by birdculture » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:08 PM UTC

AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'
finalroundai.com

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#2

Post by twostorytower » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:20 PM UTC

Well, yeah. Then who will become the senior engineers in 10-15 years?

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#3

Post by focusgroup0 » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:20 PM UTC

Which is a less dumb idea: replacing new grad junior devs with AI or H1Bs?

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#4

Post by ghc » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:22 PM UTC

twostorytower wrote: post #2

Well, yeah. Then who will become the senior engineers in 10-15 years?

Pretty sure Anthropic is hoping the answer is Claude.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#5

Post by phyzix5761 » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:23 PM UTC

twostorytower wrote: post #2

Well, yeah. Then who will become the senior engineers in 10-15 years?

10-15 years? Sadly, most people are declared senior after like 2 years of work.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#6

Post by tastyfreeze » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:24 PM UTC

twostorytower wrote: post #2

Well, yeah. Then who will become the senior engineers in 10-15 years?

Obviously after 10-15 years of experience working as a developer AI will be a senior dev. Probably will get promoted to management with all that experience.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#7

Post by simonw » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:26 PM UTC

Relevant post by Kent Beck from 12th Dec 2025: The Bet On Juniors Just Got Better https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/the-bet-on-juniors-just-got...

> The juniors working this way compress their ramp dramatically. Tasks that used to take days take hours. Not because the AI does the work, but because the AI collapses the search space. Instead of spending three hours figuring out which API to use, they spend twenty minutes evaluating options the AI surfaced. The time freed this way isn’t invested in another unprofitable feature, though, it’s invested in learning. [...]

> If you’re an engineering manager thinking about hiring: The junior bet has gotten better. Not because juniors have changed, but because the genie, used well, accelerates learning.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#8

Post by marcosdumay » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:27 PM UTC

ghc wrote: post #4

twostorytower wrote: post #2

Well, yeah. Then who will become the senior engineers in 10-15 years?

Pretty sure Anthropic is hoping the answer is Claude.

Pretty sure Antropic knows their hopes won't come true. They just won't tell you that.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#9

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:28 PM UTC

4) Junior devs have an incomparably superior context window.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#10

Post by Nextgrid » Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:28 PM UTC

This is performative bullshit pandering to the increased skepticism around AI. He wouldn't be saying that if AI investment was still in full swing.

I do agree with him about AI being a boon to juniors and pragmatic usage of AI is an improvement in productivity, but that's not news, it's been obvious since the very beginnings of LLMs.