DON'T Become a Software Engineer - Do THIS instead

Summary

The video discusses the shifting landscape of software engineering due to AI, with tools like Devon and Cursor AI automating coding tasks. It highlights the saturation of the job market, the rise of outsourcing, and the increasing irrelevance of hands-on coding experience. The speaker, a cloud engineer, shares insights into the growing demand for cloud engineering skills, the benefits of specializing in this field, and offers a roadmap to transition into cloud engineering for career advancement.

Takeaways

• 💰 **High Earning Potential**: The speaker transitioned from a front-end developer to a cloud engineer and now earns $50,000 a month.
• 🔄 **Shift in Demand**: Companies are increasingly seeking cloud engineers over traditional software engineers due to the evolving tech landscape.
• 🤖 **AI Impact**: Artificial Intelligence is automating many coding tasks, reducing the need for entry-level software engineers.
• 🌐 **Cloud Engineering Overview**: Cloud engineers manage and improve networks of computers that store and process data over the internet.
• 📈 **Market Growth**: The cloud computing market is projected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2030, indicating significant growth and opportunity.
• 🏢 **Job Market Saturation**: The software engineering job market has become highly competitive with an oversupply of entry-level developers.
• 🌍 **Globalization of Work**: Outsourcing is on the rise, with companies leveraging global talent pools, affecting local job markets for software engineers.
• 🛠️ **Skills Gap**: There's a significant skills gap in cloud engineering, creating a demand for professionals with these skills.
• 💼 **Career Diversity**: Cloud engineering offers a variety of career paths, from infrastructure to security, providing diverse opportunities.
• 🚀 **Future-Proofing**: Cloud engineering is closely tied to emerging technologies like edge computing and IoT, positioning it for future growth.

Q & A

What was the simple change that San made to increase their income significantly?

San changed their career focus from being a front-end developer to a cloud engineer, taking advantage of the growing demand for cloud security expertise.

What is the role of AI in the current software engineering landscape according to the transcript?

AI is now capable of designing user interfaces, writing complex algorithms, and even architecting entire systems, which is reducing the need for manual coding tasks traditionally done by software engineers.

How does the AI software engineer Devon compare to other AI in terms of solving coding problems?

Devon is highlighted as solving 13.86% of all problems end-to-end, which is nearly 10 times higher than other AI like gdb4 at 1.74%.

What is the impact of AI on the future role of software developers as suggested by Andrej Karpathy?

Andrej Karpathy suggests that the future of software engineering will involve developers focusing more on high-level planning and problem-solving, with AI handling the detailed coding tasks.

Why is the software engineering job market becoming more competitive, as mentioned by San?

The job market is becoming competitive due to an explosion of coding boot camps, online learning platforms, and a push for everyone to learn coding, leading to a saturation of entry-level developers.

What is the Outsourcing trend doing to the software industry, and how does it affect job security for software engineers?

The Outsourcing trend is making it easier for companies to access international talent, which can lead to job losses for software engineers in higher-wage markets as companies seek to reduce costs.

Why did San choose to become a cloud engineer instead of continuing as a software engineer?

San chose cloud engineering due to the massive growth and opportunities in the cloud computing market, the high demand for skilled professionals, and the diversity of career paths it offers.

How does cloud engineering differ from software engineering in terms of job security?

Cloud engineering offers more job security due to the constant evolution of cloud technologies, the need for understanding both technical and business needs, and the difficulty in automating or outsourcing these roles.

What is the projected growth of the cloud computing market, and how does this benefit cloud engineers?

The cloud computing market is projected to reach a $1.6 trillion market by 2030, providing a sea of opportunities for cloud engineers as companies migrate to the cloud.

What does San offer through his Cloud Engineer Academy to help others make the switch to cloud engineering?

San's Cloud Engineer Academy provides a self-paced course that takes individuals from no prior experience to job-ready cloud engineers in 12 weeks, with hands-on learning and access to an active community and workshops.

How does San suggest cloud engineers stay ahead of the curve in terms of AI and automation?

San suggests that cloud engineers should focus on areas where human expertise is critical, such as architectural design or security implementation, and leverage AI tools to increase their efficiency and productivity.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Transitioning from Software Engineering to Cloud Engineering

The speaker, San, a cloud engineer and consultant, discusses his journey from being a front-end developer to a high-earning cloud engineer. He highlights a significant shift in the software engineering field due to artificial intelligence, which is automating tasks previously done by humans. San points out that AI is not only handling simple tasks but also designing interfaces, writing algorithms, and architecting systems. He mentions platforms like Devon, which can autonomously execute complex coding tasks, and tools like Cursor AI that assist in writing code faster. The speaker suggests that software engineers should focus on high-level planning and problem-solving as AI takes over detailed coding. He also discusses the competitive job market for software engineers, with an example of his own consultancy receiving over 500 applications for a junior role. San attributes this saturation to the rise of coding boot camps and online learning platforms, which have flooded the market with developers. He concludes by suggesting that cloud engineering is a better career path due to the massive growth in cloud computing and the high demand for skilled professionals in this field.

05:01

🌐 The Growth and Impact of Cloud Engineering

San explains what cloud engineering entails, which is managing a network of remote computers that store and process data over the internet. He uses Netflix as an example to illustrate how cloud engineers ensure smooth streaming experiences for users. The speaker discusses the booming cloud computing market, projected to reach a $1.6 trillion value by 2030, creating a vast opportunity for cloud engineers. He points out a significant skills gap in the industry, with Gartner predicting that over 95% of new digital workflows will be deployed on cloud-native platforms. San shares his personal career shift to cloud engineering, noting how he transitioned from a technical architect to a cloud engineer and eventually started his own cloud security consultancy. He emphasizes the diversity of roles in cloud engineering and the immediate impact one can have on businesses, such as reducing IT costs and improving website performance. The speaker also provides a pro tip: by aligning technical skills with positive business outcomes, cloud engineers can stand out to employers.

10:02

💼 Navigating the Future of Cloud Engineering and Software Development

San addresses concerns about the cloud engineering field becoming saturated, arguing that the cloud market is still growing, with many companies yet to adopt cloud technologies. He mentions that cloud technologies are constantly evolving, creating new specializations and opportunities. The speaker also notes that cloud engineering involves understanding business needs and translating them into technical solutions, which is harder to automate or outsource, thus providing more job security. San discusses the future of cloud engineering, tied to advancements in edge computing, the Internet of Things, and AI applications. He acknowledges the challenges of the field, such as the need for continuous learning, but finds excitement in being at the forefront of new technology. The speaker concludes by stating that while software engineering remains a viable career, cloud engineering offers a better option with easier learning and a variety of areas to work in. He suggests that cloud engineers can develop software engineering skills as part of their role, making them valuable in the job market. San encourages those interested in making the switch to cloud engineering to follow the roadmap he provides in his video.

Keywords

💡Software Engineering

Software Engineering refers to the systematic approach to a software project, involving the application of engineering principles to software design, development, and maintenance. In the script, it is discussed as a field undergoing significant changes due to advancements in AI, with implications for job security and market demand.

💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The video mentions AI's growing role in software engineering, with tools like Devon and Cursor AI automating tasks traditionally done by software engineers.

💡Cloud Engineering

Cloud Engineering involves the architecture, development, and maintenance of cloud computing solutions. The video suggests that cloud engineering is a growing field with a high demand for skilled professionals, positioning it as an alternative career path to traditional software engineering.

💡Automation

Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. The script discusses how automation in software engineering is leading to fewer coding jobs and a shift in the nature of work for developers.

💡Coding Bootcamps

Coding Bootcamps are intensive, short-term training programs designed to teach programming skills. The video mentions the proliferation of coding bootcamps as a contributing factor to the saturation of the software engineering job market.

💡Job Market Saturation

Job market saturation refers to a scenario where there are more qualified job seekers than available positions. The video discusses how the influx of developers from bootcamps and online learning platforms has led to saturation, increasing competition for software engineering roles.

💡Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the practice of hiring external entities to perform tasks traditionally performed by internal staff. The video explains how outsourcing in the software industry has grown due to factors like advanced communication technologies and cost reduction, affecting job security for software engineers in higher-cost markets.

💡Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services, including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, over the Internet (the cloud) to provide faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. The video highlights the cloud as a key area for growth and opportunity in the tech industry.

💡Skills Gap

A skills gap refers to a difference between the skills currently possessed by the workforce and the skills required by employers. The video points out a massive skills gap in cloud computing, indicating a significant opportunity for those who can acquire the necessary skills to work in this field.

💡Edge Computing

Edge Computing refers to a computing topology in which the processing of data is done at or near the physical location where it is generated, rather than at a centralized, often remote, data-processing warehouse. The video mentions edge computing as a future trend closely tied to cloud technologies.

💡Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT refers to the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. The video suggests that IoT is another area where cloud engineering skills will be in demand due to the need to manage and analyze data from connected devices.

Highlights

98.7% of software engineering applicants never get a phone interview.

The speaker transitioned from a front-end developer to a cloud engineer making $50,000 a month.

Companies are seeking cloud engineers due to the shifting landscape.

AI is taking over routine coding tasks, making traditional software engineering roles less in demand.

Devon, an AI software engineer, can solve complex coding tasks autonomously.

AI tools like Cursor AI are helping programmers write code faster.

Software engineering jobs are becoming more competitive due to an influx of boot camp graduates.

The job market is saturated with software engineers, leading to fewer job openings.

Outsourcing is growing in the software industry, affecting job security for software engineers in higher-cost markets.

Cloud engineering is a high-growth field with a massive skills gap.

Cloud engineering involves managing and improving networks of computers for online services.

The cloud computing market is projected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2030.

Cloud engineers can have diverse career paths, from architecture to security.

The speaker's cloud engineering academy can train someone to be job-ready in 12 weeks.

Cloud engineering is less likely to become saturated due to the constant evolution of cloud technologies.

Cloud engineers are indispensable for creating software that runs on cloud infrastructure.

Cloud engineering offers better learning opportunities and a variety of work areas compared to traditional software engineering.

Transcripts

98.7% of software engineering applicants

never even get a phone interview I used

to be part of that statistic now I make

$50,000 a month and this happened

because I changed one simple thing that

anyone can do and Achieve similar

results hi I'm San I'm A Cloud engineer

and I run my own cloud security

consultancy with a decade of experience

in this field I've seen how the

landscape is Shifting I used to be a

front-end developer but then I

discovered that companies are hungry for

something different and I knew if I took

advantage of this it would put me in the

top 1% of earners I use this insight to

not only transform my own career but

hundreds of students inside of my

Academy what was this Insight don't

actually become a software engineer and

today I'm going to reveal the three

reasons why and what you should do

instead now software engineering is

actually undergoing a huge shift thank

to artificial intelligence when I

started as a front-end developer I wrote

every line of code myself but in 2024

that's becoming a thing of the past AI

isn't just handling simple tasks anymore

it's designing user interfaces writing

complex algorithms and even architecting

entire systems let's take Devon for

example the world's first fully

autonomous AI software engineer Devon

can plan analyze and execute complex

coding tasks with just a single prompt

on the software engineering bench a

platform for testing AI on real world

coding issues Deon solved 13.86% of all

problems end to end that's nearly 10x

higher than everyone's favorite chat

gbd4 at 1.74% but it's not just Devon

cursor AI is a tool that helps

programmers write code faster it can

automatically suggest or complete the

code a programmer is writing this tool

is changing how software is made by

making code quicker and easier for many

developers around the world but also

non-developers too Andre car co-founder

of open Ai and former director of AI at

Tesla recently said that automating

software engineering will look similar

to automating driving his vision

suggests a significant shift in the role

of software developers in the future

instead of writing detailed code

developers will focus more on High level

planning and problem solving whilst AI

handles the nitty-gritty coding task to

be honest software engineering has never

been about writing code it's been about

solving problems because I think writing

code is the easy part this shift will

translate to job losses and less job

openings for entry-level coding

positions because suddenly AI is doing

the majority of the heavy lifting it

will also devalue the skill of coding

itself and increase the barrier to entry

for new developers because now Hands-On

coding experience isn't as relevant

anymore secondly something which brings

me to the days when I was working as a

front-end developer it used to be that

getting a computer science degree pretty

much guaranteed you a job when you

graduated but in 2024 the software

engineering job market has become

incredibly competitive and I've seen

this firsthand recently I posted an ad

for an entry-level developer position at

my cloud security consultancy it was for

a junior role requiring only basic

coding skills and maybe a year or two of

experience and guess how many

applications we received over 500 for

one job and many of these applicants

were overqualified with years of

experience and impressive portfolios now

to put this into perspective as well

every day I have applications come

through in my email of people offering

to work for me for free and I'm looking

at SCV 5 years of experience in the

industry which is crazy and that leaves

me thinking how has this happened and I

think there's a few factors in play here

firstly we've seen an explosion of

coding boot cams over the last decade

now I attended one of these many years

ago and yes they really helped me on my

journey and yes we need training and

upskilling but we're also flooding the

job market with entrylevel developers

and there aren't enough open positions

to absorb this many people secondly

online learning platforms like corera

and udemy have made it easier than ever

for people to learn coding skills on

their own and again I'm not blaming

people here but my point is that this is

also contributing to the job market

saturation and to add to that there's

been a big push in the last 10 years

encouraging everyone to learn coding

it's been presented as a ticket to a

high-paying secure job while this can be

true it's also led to a surge of people

entering the field and and not all of

them are actually passionate about

software engineering next up the trend

of Outsourcing in the software industry

continues to grow in 2024 with advanced

communication Technologies project

management tools and a global talent

pool readily accessible the barriers to

Outsourcing has significantly decreased

this ease of access to International

Talent has made it increasingly

attractive for companies to look beyond

their local markets for software

development needs the pressure to

Outsource is further intensified by the

duty that public traded companies have

today shareholders businesses are

expected to maximize profits and operate

as efficiently as possible if

Outsourcing can significantly reduce the

cost without compromising quality many

companies feel obligated to pursue this

option to remain competitive and deliver

value to their shareholders this isn't

anything new Outsourcing has been

happening for decades but every year

this part of the industry is growing in

fact the it Outsourcing Market is worth

$512 billion and expected to grow to 812

billion by 2029 when I used to work

full-time one of our teams was downside

as their jobs were all moved to Offshore

Development Centers this shift keeps

happening offshore onshore but is

becoming more common in the industry and

this trend is particularly strong in

countries like India leading to increase

employment higher wages and improved

living standards for many which is

awesome however this trend has also

created challenges for software

engineers in the US and in the UK when

businesses can access equally skilled

developers willing to work for

significantly less wages it becomes

difficult to justify higher salaries in

more expensive markets now of course

there is pros and cons to Outsourcing to

different countries and all of this adds

up to a situation where job security

which used to be a big perk of being a

software engineer is no longer a sure

thing I don't think that this is

inherently bad those that are smart will

stay ahead of the game and Niche down or

specialize in high demand areas but for

me there's an alternative solution where

you can learn a high in skill that's

seeing explosive growth in the next 5

years what's this alternative it's Cloud

engineering so what is cloud engineering

while think of the cloud as a giant

network of powerful computers spread all

over the world instead of keeping all

your files and programs on your personal

computer you can store and access them

through these remote computers via the

Internet Cloud engineering is the job of

setting up managing and improving this

network of computers to help businesses

run their online services smoothly let's

use Netflix as an example so Netflix

uses the cloud to store their huge

library of movies and TV shows on

computers around the world called

servers allowing millions of people to

stream videos simultaneously without any

Interruption Cloud engineers then ensure

that when you press play the video

starts instantly load smoothly and

adjust to your internet speed all while

keeping your viewing data secure and

powering features like personaliz

recommendations on your Netflix home

screen now you're probably thinking why

is cloud engineering the solution salon

and that is a great question well the

cloud computing Market is exploding with

projection showing it will reach a $1.6

trillion Market by 2030 in other words

it's going to be a sea of opportunities

for those who position themselves

correctly companies of all sizes from

startups to Big Tech corporations are

migrating to the cloud and they are

Desperately Seeking the need for skilled

professionals to guide them through this

transition and here is the secret

there's a massive skills Gap in this

industry Gartner a leading research

company predicts that by next year over

95% of new digital workflows will be

deployed on cloud native platforms

there's a survey done of 500 it decision

makers to understand how the cloud skill

shortage is affecting it teams nearly

all 98% of global organizations surveyed

are facing a cloud skills Gap do you see

the opportunity here and that's why I

made the switch to Cloud engineering all

those years ago and I noticed an

immediate shift in my career trajectory

at the time I was working as a technical

architect but I quit this job as soon as

I realized that I wanted to work in the

cloud the growing nature of the industry

caught my attention and I recognized

that my current role wasn't aligned with

my aspirations with savings to fall back

on I bet on myself and giving myself a

Freemon window to land a new job in

Cloud engineering after a couple of

months I found that instead of competing

against thousands of other applicants

for a single position I was being

approached by recruiters companies were

actively seeking me out and it was a

complete 180 from from my experience in

software engineering another reason is

the diversity of career paths that cloud

engineering offers you're not pigeon

hold into a single role one day you

might be architecting a scalable Cloud

infrastructure the next you might be

implementing security measures to

protect sensitive data now my own

journey is a testament to this I started

as a technical architect then I delved

into devops and then deeper into Cloud

engineering and now I run my own cloud

security consultancy each step of the

way I've developed a broader set of

skills and honestly it doesn't even feel

like work most of the time the

satisfaction that I get from completing

projects and seeing their immediate

impact is unrivaled for example in one

of my first projects we had just

finished migrating a client's

infrastructure to the cloud in the first

month after the migration they saw a 40%

reduction in it cost and their websites

were running 30% faster and a pro tip if

you canti your skills and work to direct

positive outcomes for businesses and

their bottom line employers will take

notice of you cuz remember fundamentally

we're just solving business problems now

you might be thinking this all sounds

great but how do I get started well the

beautiful truth is that you don't need a

technical background to begin how do I

know this my cloud engineer Academy

takes you from someone with no prior

experience to job ready Cloud engineer

in just 12 weeks I compiled the exact

road map that I used to make my switch

in 3 months into a self-paced course

that anyone can take it's very much

Hands-On and you'll be building a

portfolio of project projects that

employers are Desperately Seeking and

when you join you get access to an

active Discord community and monthly

life calls with and Mastermind workshops

with industry experts Link in the

description now let me address a concern

that I often hear won Cloud engineering

becomes saturated too it's a valid

question but I don't think so why

firstly the cloud Market is still in the

growth phase Satia nadela CEO of

Microsoft emphasizes that the cloud is

not just about cost savings it's about

creating new business models new

customer experiences and new ways of

working so while software engineering

has been around for decades widespread

Cloud adoption is relatively recent

we're still in the early stages of this

technological shift with many companies

yet to make their move to the cloud

secondly Cloud Technologies are

constantly evolving new services and

tools are being introduced creating new

specializations within this field wner

vocals CTO of Amazon says in the old

world you devoted 70% of your time to

the heavy lifting of it and 30% of your

time to Innovation cloud computing

offers the opposite promises you 70% of

innovation and 30% of Maintenance This

Promise of innovation means there's

always room for experts in emerging

Cloud Technologies and lastly Cloud

engineering isn't just about technical

skills it's about understanding business

needs and translating them into

Technical Solutions this combination of

Technical and business acument is harder

to automate or Outsource providing more

job security in the long run now let's

talk about the future future with the

rise of edge Computing the internet of

things and advanced AI applications are

all closely tied to Cloud Technologies

by choosing a career in Cloud

engineering you're positioning yourself

at the intersection of these exciting

developments but I want to be

transparent no career is about its

challenges Cloud engineering can be

demanding for example continuous

learning is mandatory in this field as

it is with software engineering and

virtually every Tech Career AWS is

releasing new Services all of the time

so that learning never stops but for me

it's actually exciting to be at the

Forefront of new technology so I'm

always learning more out of choice

rather than having to do it so what is a

takeaway from all of this yes software

engineering remains a viable career path

in a tech industry they play a crucial

role in the development and maintenance

of applications systems and platforms

that power our digital world and with AI

you can now learn coding without any

excuses for cloud Engineers they are

indispensable as they create the

software that runs on the cloud

infrastructure developing apis for cloud

services and build tools for managing

and monitoring Cloud resources while

concerns about the AI impacts on the

field are valid it's important to note

that the top tier software Engineers are

leveraging AI to dramatically increase

their efficiency and productivity now

you're going to get the 1% go into 0.1%

software Engineers these professionals

are using AI power tools to automate

routine tasks or debug issues allowing

them to focus on higher level problem

solving and Innovation and yes even in

the cloud AI is making its inroads but

to stay ahead of the curve Cloud

Engineers must focus on areas where

human expertise remains critical this

includes architectural design or

security implementation which is what my

cloud security consultancy specializes

in and this is the key principle for

those just entering the tech industry

Cloud engineering presents a better

option it's easier to learn and there's

a huge variety of areas that you can

work in Cloud Engineers often have the

opportunity to develop software

engineering skills as part of their role

for instance in my Academy we teach bash

and python this combination of cloud

expertise and programming skills makes

Cloud Engineers particularly valuable in

the job market as they can bridge the

gap between infrastructure management

and application development now if you

want the exact road map that I took when

I quit my job and landed a cloud roll in

3 months check out this video so you can

make the switch to Cloud engineering as

well