Is it over for Software Engineers? My honest thoughts on the job market and tech industry in 2024πŸ§‘β€πŸ’»

ABTube
11 Sept 202421:47

Summary

TLDRThe video discusses the state of the software engineering industry in 2024, focusing on how it evolved from the zero-interest-rate era, where startups flourished, to a period of economic adjustment marked by layoffs and hiring freezes. Despite concerns over AI replacing software engineers, the video argues that AI is actually empowering engineers to be more productive, leading to a surge in new software development opportunities. It highlights the ongoing demand for skilled engineers to build innovative AI-powered applications and emphasizes the importance of adapting to new technologies for career growth.

Takeaways

  • 😲 AI is not replacing software engineering; instead, it is augmenting the capabilities of software engineers, making them more productive.
  • πŸ’Ή The software engineering job market experienced significant changes due to the economic shift from zero-interest-rate policies to higher interest rates, leading to a decrease in available funding and job opportunities.
  • πŸ“ˆ Despite the economic downturn, AI has emerged as a key driver for growth and innovation in the tech industry, promising increased productivity and GDP.
  • πŸ’Ό Companies like Meta, Google, and Apple are investing heavily in AI, indicating a strong future demand for software engineers who can build and implement AI solutions.
  • πŸš€ Generative AI has opened up new possibilities for software development, creating opportunities for software engineers to build innovative applications that were not feasible before.
  • 🌐 The rise of AI has led to the creation of new job roles and companies focused on AI technology, further expanding the field of software engineering.
  • πŸ› οΈ Software engineering encompasses far more than just coding; it includes problem-solving, system design, and architecture, which AI tools are enhancing rather than replacing.
  • πŸ’‘ AI tools are assisting software engineers by automating certain tasks, allowing them to focus on more complex and impactful aspects of software development.
  • 🌟 The future of software engineering is bright, with a growing number of opportunities for those who can adapt to the AI-driven landscape and leverage these tools effectively.
  • 🌱 For aspiring software engineers, learning to use AI tools and staying adaptable to technological advancements is crucial for success in the evolving tech industry.

Q & A

  • What was the impact of the zero interest rate policy on the software engineering industry?

    -The zero interest rate policy, also known as the 'zerp days,' made it easy for companies to raise money, leading to an increase in hiring software engineers. This period was characterized by a boom in job opportunities and high salaries for engineers due to the abundance of funding and the need to demonstrate good use of investment by expanding engineering teams.

  • How did the increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve affect tech companies?

    -The increase in interest rates made it more difficult for companies to raise funds, leading to a reduction in liquidity in the market. This resulted in a downturn where companies had to cut costs, including significant layoffs, affecting the entire industry and not just software engineers.

  • What role did AI play in the job market changes of 2022?

    -AI was not directly responsible for the job market changes in 2022, which were primarily due to economic factors like interest rate hikes. However, AI was seen as a potential savior for tech companies, promising increased productivity and economic growth, which could help companies recover and create new opportunities.

  • How did generative AI change the landscape for software engineers?

    -Generative AI opened up new possibilities for software development, creating a demand for engineers who could build and implement these new AI-powered applications. This led to the rise of new industries and job opportunities, as engineers were needed to create and maintain the software that leveraged these advanced AI models.

  • What is the current state of hiring in the software engineering field according to the video?

    -Despite previous layoffs and economic challenges, the video suggests that companies like Meta and Google are hiring again, indicating a recovery in the job market. The interest rate environment is improving, and there is a renewed focus on building new software solutions, especially those powered by AI.

  • How does the video script define the role of a software engineer in the context of AI?

    -The video script defines a software engineer as a builder of software solutions, emphasizing that while AI can assist in coding and other tasks, the fundamental role of a software engineer involves problem-solving, system design, and architecture. AI tools are seen as aids that make engineers more productive, not replacements.

  • What are some examples of new companies and technologies mentioned in the script that are contributing to the AI industry?

    -The script mentions companies like Anthropic with its AI model Claud, Perplexity with its AI search engine, 11 Labs with its voice engine technology, Mid Journey with its photo generation app, Stability AI with its open-source image generation model, and Hugging Face as a central repository for AI models.

  • How does the video script suggest software engineers can adapt to the AI-driven world?

    -The video script suggests that software engineers should learn and utilize AI tools to their advantage, as these tools can assist in various aspects of software development, making engineers more productive and efficient. It also hints at a future video that will delve into how to be a software engineer in an AI-centric world.

  • What is the significance of the layoffs mentioned in the video script, and what did they indicate about the industry?

    -The layoffs mentioned in the video script signify a period of economic adjustment in the tech industry due to changes in market conditions. They indicated that companies had to downsize to adapt to a more challenging economic environment, but they also highlighted the resilience of the industry, as companies later resumed hiring.

  • How does the video script view the future of software engineering jobs in relation to AI?

    -The video script is optimistic about the future of software engineering jobs, arguing that AI will not replace software engineers but will instead empower them to do more by offloading some of their workload. It suggests that the demand for software engineers will continue to grow as new AI-powered applications and solutions are developed.

Outlines

00:00

πŸ€– AI's Impact on Software Engineering Jobs

The video discusses concerns about AI replacing software engineers and how the industry has evolved. It outlines the historical context of software engineering, highlighting the 'easy money days' when startups could raise funds easily, leading to a high demand for engineers. The speaker then explains how the market changed around 2022 due to interest rate hikes, causing a reduction in liquidity and leading to layoffs in the tech industry. The video also touches on the personal impact of these layoffs, as experienced by the speaker at Meta.

05:01

πŸš€ AI as a Savior for Tech Companies

This section of the video script focuses on AI's role in reviving tech companies' fortunes. It discusses how AI promises to increase productivity and global GDP, leading to a state of abundance. The speaker mentions how major tech companies like Meta, Google, and Apple are investing heavily in AI, and how this has benefited companies like Nvidia. The video also delves into the rise of generative AI and its potential to create new applications, emphasizing that software engineers will be central to building these applications, thus AI is not replacing but empowering engineers.

10:03

🌟 The Emergence of Generative AI and New Tech Companies

The speaker highlights the emergence of generative AI and the founding of new tech companies that focus on AI models. Examples include Anthropic, Perplexity, Labs, Mid Journey, Stability AI, and Hugging Face. These companies, which did not exist five years ago, are now leading in their respective AI fields. The video argues that despite the rise of AI, the demand for software engineers is not diminishing; instead, engineers are needed to build and maintain the AI-powered applications that are becoming increasingly prevalent.

15:04

πŸ› οΈ The Role of Software Engineers in the AI Era

This part of the script emphasizes that software engineering is not just about coding but involves problem-solving, system architecture, and design documentation. The speaker argues that AI tools are assisting software engineers by automating parts of the coding process, allowing engineers to focus on more impactful tasks. The video mentions that companies like Meta and Google are continuing to hire software engineers, indicating that the profession is far from obsolete. The speaker also points out that even as AI tools become more sophisticated, the fundamental skills of a software engineer remain essential.

20:05

🌐 The Future of Software Engineering and AI

In the concluding part, the speaker reassures viewers that the world needs more software engineers, not fewer, despite the advancements in AI. The video suggests that the job market for software engineers is recovering as economic conditions improve. It also hints at a future video that will discuss how to become a software engineer in the AI era, emphasizing the importance of learning AI tools and adapting to the changing landscape of software development.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the video, AI is portrayed as a transformative technology that is reshaping the software engineering industry by increasing productivity and enabling the creation of new applications. The video discusses how AI is not replacing software engineers but rather empowering them to build more sophisticated software solutions.

πŸ’‘Software Engineering

Software Engineering is the application of engineering principles to software development. It involves designing, developing, and maintaining software systems. The video emphasizes that software engineering is not just about coding but includes problem-solving, system architecture, and design. It asserts that despite the rise of AI, the demand for software engineers is growing as they are central to building the AI-powered applications of the future.

πŸ’‘Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP)

The Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) refers to a monetary policy where the central bank sets the nominal interest rate it charges on loans to other banks at zero percent. In the video, ZIRP is mentioned as a period when it was easy for companies to raise money, leading to an increase in hiring software engineers and a boom in the tech industry.

πŸ’‘Liquidity

Liquidity in the financial context refers to the ease with which an asset can be converted into cash without affecting its price. The video discusses how high liquidity during the ZIRP days allowed for easy fundraising for startups, which in turn led to increased hiring of software engineers. Conversely, when liquidity tightened, companies faced challenges and had to downsize.

πŸ’‘Interest Rates

Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money and are determined by central banks. The video explains that the increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and other central banks led to a decrease in market liquidity, making it harder for companies to raise funds and affecting their ability to hire and retain software engineers.

πŸ’‘Generative AI

Generative AI refers to AI systems that can create new content, such as text, images, or code, based on existing data. The video highlights generative AI as a catalyst for the creation of new types of applications and services, which in turn creates more opportunities for software engineers to build innovative solutions.

πŸ’‘Productivity

Productivity in the context of the video refers to the efficiency and output of work, particularly in the software engineering field. It is suggested that AI has the potential to significantly increase productivity by automating routine tasks, allowing software engineers to focus on more complex and impactful work.

πŸ’‘Startups

Startups are new businesses that are in the initial stages of development and often seek funding to grow. The video discusses how startups, especially in the tech sector, were heavily influenced by the easy money environment during ZIRP, leading to a surge in hiring software engineers. However, when interest rates rose, many startups faced funding challenges and had to adjust their strategies.

πŸ’‘FED

The FED, or the United States Federal Reserve, is the central banking system of the United States. In the video, the FED's decision to raise interest rates is highlighted as a pivotal moment that led to a global economic shift, affecting the liquidity in the market and consequently the ability of companies, especially tech startups, to raise funds and sustain their operations.

πŸ’‘Layoffs

Layoffs refer to the termination of employment for a group of workers. The video describes a period of economic downturn where many tech companies, including Meta, had to resort to layoffs to adjust to the changing economic conditions. This had a significant impact on the workforce, including software engineers.

Highlights

AI is not replacing software engineering; instead, it's enhancing productivity and creating new opportunities.

The software engineering market in 2024 has evolved, with AI playing a significant role in shaping its future.

Zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) led to an influx of easy money, creating a boom in startups and software engineering jobs.

The Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates in 2022 marked a shift in market liquidity and funding accessibility.

Tech companies like Meta faced stock price drops, leading to layoffs and a market correction.

AI is seen as a savior for tech companies, promising increased productivity and global GDP growth.

Investments in AI by major companies like Meta, Google, and Apple are driving innovation and job creation in the software engineering field.

Generative AI has opened up new possibilities for software development, creating demand for software engineers to build innovative applications.

The rise of AI has not made software engineers obsolete; instead, it has empowered them to build more with less.

AI tools like ChatGPT and others areθΎ…εŠ©θ½―δ»Άε·₯η¨‹εΈˆοΌŒθ€ŒδΈζ˜―ε–δ»£δ»–δ»¬οΌŒι€šθΏ‡θ‡ͺεŠ¨εŒ–ηΌ–η ε’Œε…Άδ»–δ»»εŠ‘ζ₯ζι«˜ζ•ˆηŽ‡γ€‚

Despite the challenges, the demand for software engineers remains high, with companies like Meta and Google actively hiring.

The role of a software engineer extends beyond coding to problem-solving, system design, and architecture.

AI's impact on software engineering is reducing the time spent on coding, allowing engineers to focus on more impactful tasks.

New AI-powered tools are making it easier for aspiring software engineers to learn and build software quickly.

The future of software engineering is bright, with AI creating more opportunities for innovation and job growth.

The video concludes by emphasizing the importance of software engineers in the AI-driven tech industry.

Transcripts

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is AI replacing software engineering

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artificial intelligence will replace

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software engineer for development

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seemingly looming

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threat what's up you guys I'm back with

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another video and in this video we're

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going to talk about the software

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engineering industry and the whole

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market and its state in 2024 so let's

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get started all right so this video is

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going to be broken down into two parts

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the first part we'll dive into what has

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happened and how the market has changed

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changed and in the second part we'll

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talk more about how it is today and how

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it's going to be going forward so let's

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rewind a little bit we go back to the

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zerp days Zer means zero interest rate

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policy this was easy money days because

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companies found it very easy to raise

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money and investors were easily

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investing millions of dollars in all

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kinds of startups just based on little

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ideas and the reputation of the team

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which is still kind of true even today

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but back then it was way easier and like

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we had all these crypto startups and

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random startups raising a few million

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dollars because there was so much

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liquidity in the market what happened

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was this period lasted for a while for

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the past 10 years up until I would say

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2021 2022 this is when things started to

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change a little bit right back then

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companies found it easier to raise money

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so they were easily raising millions of

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dollars and then they were hiring a lot

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of Engineers right because the way to

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demonstrate that you're spending this

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money in a good way is to hire a big

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engineering team so there was a lot of

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obviously jobs and openings for

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engineers and then once they hire these

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my Engineers they were able to raise the

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next round because now they have a

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bigger team and then they want to have

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an even bigger team so they want to hire

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even more so they would raise even more

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millions of dollars right so this was

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easy money days even for software

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Engineers if you were a good software

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engineer you had plenty of options to

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choose from because there's all these

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companies they have all raised big

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funding rounds and they're offering lot

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of salary and there was like it was a

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paradise for software Engineers because

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you could pick and choose where you want

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to work and people were misusing this

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even some people I personally know

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joined the company work there for a few

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months and then on to the next one

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because they were getting even more

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money there this was too good to be true

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and I kind of knew at the back of my

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head that this isn't going to last

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forever well it was the good old days

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anybody could literally go and do a boot

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camp or learn simple front-end framework

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like react and build a few clone apps

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like YouTube clone Netflix clone and

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stuff and show them as projects and

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easily get hired as a software engineer

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things have changed a little bit because

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in 2022 around 2022 things started to

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change right because the FED which is

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the American Federal Reserve decided to

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raise the interest rates and this

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started the whole cycle where the whole

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world started raising interest rates and

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now we are at a period where like

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interest rates are above 5% so like the

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liquidity in the market reduces because

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people find it hard to get funded easily

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because investors don't have as much

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liquidity in their hands so what

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happened basically companies founded

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difficult to raise money at the same

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time companies were also like finding it

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difficult to increase their profits

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because as there's less liquidity in the

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market like companies started to spend

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less money and when companies decide to

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spend less money other companies would

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make less money right so this snowballed

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into a place where Market started to

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crash like this was the turning point

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right all the big stocks like Facebook

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Google Microsoft all took a deep dive

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because the markets were crashing

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globally and this led to a period where

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companies had to do something about it

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right I remember because I work at meta

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I remember that at one point our stock

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price fell below $100 something had to

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change right what happened layoffs

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severe wave of job Cuts in July with

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over 8,000 professionals laid off across

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34 companies this was the worst time in

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everybody's career I think it's not just

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Engineers it affected everybody equally

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I would say in some companies Engineers

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were more affected but in my personal

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experience at meta we had big rounds of

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layoffs but engineering was the least

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affected because meta is an engineering

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company and there are so many other

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software engineering companies which

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prioritize their Engineers but at the

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same time

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during the zero interest rate days they

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had hired too many Engineers they had to

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correct a little bit right I can share a

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little bit of my personal story at meta

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right there was this day of layoff which

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was in 2022 late 2022 there was this day

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when we were all in the office and

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suddenly uh we got an email that okay

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meta is going to do layoffs and then

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after this all of our connections were

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blocked right we didn't have access to

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our own laptops because our laptops are

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controlled by meta right so here I am in

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the office trying to log into workplace

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and trying to access my Dev server and

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we just didn't have access right so like

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everybody started to panic like what

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just happened did we all get laid off

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like it was some people are saying like

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maybe they tanked the whole Dublin team

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but then we realized that this happened

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across company right they blocked

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everyone's access and then eventually

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the people who were staying back started

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to get their access back slowly it was

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one of the most difficult days in my

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career when everybody around me is like

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panicking and people are crying and it

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was like a difficult day right but

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that's how it was that's how it was

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across companies like some companies had

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it worse I heard stories about Google in

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New York when these people went to the

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office and their badges wouldn't work

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anymore because well they had been fired

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so yeah it was difficult times and

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companies had to do this like it had to

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reset right and this was the big reset

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keep in mind that this happened before

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even chat GPD was released so it

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probably had nothing of very little to

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do with AI it had more to do with the

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interest rates and the liquidity in the

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markets and the fact that stocks were

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crashing left and right okay now enters

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the Savior ai ai is the big Savior for

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all these tech companies right because

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it promises it promises that there will

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be a big increase in productivity there

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will be a big increase in the GDP of the

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whole world and that we will make so

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much progress that the AI will help us

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to create so much revenue that we will

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we will be in a state of abundance right

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because the GDP will be so high and the

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companies will make so much money and

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this is in fact true right like we

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started to see all the companies start

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investing billions of dollars like

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biggest companies in the world like meta

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Google Apple they started to invest

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billions of dollars in Ai and at the

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same time who benefited from this Nvidia

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right we all know how Nvidia has gained

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in terms of its stock value because well

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Nvidia was at the center of AI because

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all the companies needed these Hardware

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these gpus to train their AI models and

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suddenly it became so important right

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because imagine open AI launches chat

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GPD well actually I knew this because at

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some point I found this on Twitter that

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there was this thing called gpt2

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playground right this is when I

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discovered this whole AI game and I was

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fascinated by it like you could just go

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into the there was no chat GPD

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application but there was this little

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portal with like a little input box

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where you could say something like

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imagine you are a software developer now

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write me a code for this simple HTML

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page for example right and it would

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actually output that word by word and it

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was pretty good so they launched at GPD

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and just changed everything right

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because they literally gave rise to this

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whole new industry of generative AI for

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software Engineers because generative AI

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unlocks so many new applications so many

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new kinds of applications that can be

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built now that were impossible to do

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before right and all this benefits who

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software Engineers because who's going

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to build these apps because there's

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going to be thousands and tens of

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thousands of new apps and software

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that's going to come out and well it's

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already started but it's going to come

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out and it's going to grow even more as

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more and more people get into this and

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start to become software Engineers

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because software Engineers are in the

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end going to be the ones building these

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software because what is a software

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engineer right it's an engineer who is

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engineer is a builder of things and

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software is what we're building right so

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all this generative AI software and all

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these other general purpose software

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which can now get better with AI can be

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built but will be built by software

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Engineers who else do you think is going

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to build all these apps and software is

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it going to be Farmers doctors lawyers

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no it's going to be software Engineers

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like the world already has a lot of

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software engineers and we're going to

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start seeing even more of them because

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it's now much easier to learn how to

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build right like the AI is getting so

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good that it's going to assist you and

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it's going to help you in build whatever

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you want to build and in the end you're

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going to learn a lot and the learning

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process has reduced like today I'm

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confident that I can pick up a new

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language and build a completely new tool

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which I had no background in in just a

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weekend it's that easy right and yes it

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might vary from person to person like

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some people who just getting started

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might take a bit longer than me but like

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they will eventually be able to learn

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whatever they want to learn to build

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whatever they want to build right these

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people keep saying that software

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engineering jobs are dead software

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Engineers are obsolete but I think

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that's kind of the antithesis of this

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because in the end what they're doing is

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like hey you know I don't know how to

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quote but I can use cursor and composer

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and repet agent and whatever to build

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these apps so with the power of AI a lot

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of people now have the power to start

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building and like building new apps and

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new services and in the end what they're

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doing is becoming software Engineers

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themselves right because look at it like

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in just in the past two years since 2022

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so many new companies have launched and

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they have had the fastest growth ever in

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history right look at companies like

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anthropic they built Claud Sonet right

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which is like the top end of AI models

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right now it's even better than open AI

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chat GPD look at perplexity perplexity

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is this new kind of search engine which

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they're trying to compete with AI to win

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the search Market there's Labs which is

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this new voice engine which is actually

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powering almost 90% of the voice apps

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like wherever you're seeing voice

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interaction with computers it's usually

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powered by 11 Labs because they're the

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leader in this and they were also they

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didn't exist 5 years ago then there's

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mid Journey which is this AI photo

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generation app that didn't exist 5 years

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ago as well stability AI is the company

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who launched this open- Source image

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generation model called stable diffusion

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and then it it gave rise to a whole new

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industry of so many photo generating

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apps like we all see levels iio photo AI

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like this guy couldn't have built photo

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AI without stable diffusion without

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stability AI which again didn't exist 5

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years ago right look at hugging face

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hugging face is this other company which

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is like the collection of all the models

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like every single AI model will be found

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on hugging face because this is like the

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central repository of models right all

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these companies didn't exist 5 years ago

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because there was no need for it right

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this generative AI wasn't a thing so

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open AI single-handedly gave rise to

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this new industry and there their

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contribution is done I'm sure they're

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cooking new things and they're going to

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launch their GPD 5 and stuff and it's

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going to be amazing but even if they

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just stop at this they have done enough

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they've contributed this whole new

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industry to the world and now the world

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can take it over like the world is ready

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all the companies are working on this

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like including not just these startups

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but the big companies like meta has

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launched meta AI like we have some of

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the highest density of talent right we

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have some of the best AI Engineers we

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have some of the best software engineers

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and the same is true for Google like

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these guys have also built Gemini and I

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think meta and Google Apple everybody's

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going to launch their own Ai and it's

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going to be better and better because

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everybody's investing billions into this

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right but again take a step back who is

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going to be building these apps it's

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going to be software Engineers like yeah

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you can call yourself an AI engineer

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data engineer whatever the new lingo

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whatever the new jargon is in the end

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fundamentally they're all falling into

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the bucket of software Engineers like

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even in these AI companies right okay

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there is a role called AI research

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scientist those guys are the ones who

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have done the PHD who are actually doing

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the math and statistics and to come up

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with these new models but in the end

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it's going to be software Engineers who

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build these models and launch them into

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production and build realistic apps like

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chat jpd like it was built by software

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Engineers chat jpd was basically a front

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end a react app which was powered by

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this gpt3 model or whatever right so in

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the end you need to understand software

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Engineers built software and don't be

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confused software engineering is not

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equal to coding coding is a very small

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part of software engineering and it's

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getting smaller by the day because as

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these AI models get better at coding

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they are actually offloading some of our

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workload as software Engineers so me

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personally I think I would spend maybe

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20 to 30% of my time coding in my day

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job because AI does a lot of the work

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right so I can focus on other things

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other more valuable more impactful

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things like a software engineer does so

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many things like okay first of all

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you're solving a problem right problem

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solving is the fundamental skill so for

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example if you're going to build

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software for banks Bank the banker will

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come and tell you their problems but

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they don't know what they want like in

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the end they have no idea what software

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is going to work for them the software

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engineer figures out okay what are the

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requirements like requirements Gathering

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is the first step and then you come up

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with the solution like how do you solve

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the problem and then you will architect

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a system to solve this problem you will

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write design docs this is what I do

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right we write design docs to propose a

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solution and then we discuss it with

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other engineers and then we start

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building right when you start building

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you break it down into smaller tasks and

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then maybe each task can be worked a bit

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quicker with AI because AI makes us more

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productive right that's the whole

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purpose of AI like the whole point

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between this like AI rise of industry

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like why did the stock market start

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Rising again because these AI companies

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made a bet that like look we are going

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to build this Ai and it's going going to

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increase the productivity of everyone

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around the world which is in turn going

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to create more abundance and more

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resources and more output right it's not

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like okay we build this AI so instead of

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having 100 Engineers we can build the

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same things with 10 Engineers so we will

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let go of 90 Engineers no it doesn't

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work like that you have 100 Engineers

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they can now do the work of thousand

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Engineers so yes smaller teams can

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produce more output and that's what's

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happening today right we need less

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number of Engineers to build the same

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amount of projects but that doesn't mean

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the projects the number of projects

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coming out will stay the same the number

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of projects coming out will increase

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because like there's so much software to

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build like literally this is end of

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almost end of 2024 and I'm telling you

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there's so much software yet to build in

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this world there's so many problems that

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we can solve with software especially AI

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powered software and these Solutions

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were never possible before otherwise

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they would already have been built in

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fact if you don't believe me let's let's

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start looking at these companies right I

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have my laptop right here all right so

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if you don't believe me let's take a

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look let's take a look at um I don't

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know perplexity AI right perplexity

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careers is what we will

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search okay let's go to perplexity

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careers what do we have here our value

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so and okay look at who they're hiring

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they're hiring for AI inference engineer

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AI research engineer AI software

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engineer full stack engineering manager

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senior search engineer so basically

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these are all the engineers they're

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hiring right like let let's look at

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another company like anthropic okay

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anthrop ropic careers so this is how by

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the way you look at the jobs of a

play15:03

company just search for the company and

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their careers page right let's look at

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this one jobs at anthropic core

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engineering senior software engineer

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infrastructure staff software engineer

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infrastructure so look like they are

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literally design engineer this is the

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other thing right like designers are

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also becoming Engineers because in the

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end the companies need you to build

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things right not just design things so

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designers who can learn to code with AI

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I have an advantage because they're also

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becoming almost software Engineers but

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they also have their design background

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which is a plus like design engineering

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is a growing field right now let's look

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at other companies right let's look at

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uh what was the other companies I

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mentioned mid Journey mid journey is

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special because they're like a small

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team they're also like I don't even know

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who the founder is but let's see let's

play15:51

see what they're doing right mid Journey

play15:53

careers openings at Mid

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Journey so mid Jour is not hiring like I

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said like mid journey is this mysterious

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company let's skip them let's look at um

play16:05

hugging face hugging face

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careers current

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openings so look hugging face is hiring

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senior front end engineer right senior

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frontend engineer US senior front end

play16:21

engineer Europe developer experience

play16:23

engineer look everybody wants these

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Engineers right like who are these

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Engineers they're all software engineers

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and okay some of you might say what

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about Devon Devon and these other

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companies who are building software

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Engineers okay let's look at Devon AI

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right what is the name of the company

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cognition cognition is the name of the

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company right let's look at them so

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these guys hypothesize that they will

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build an AI software engineer who will

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replace software Engineers right okay so

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let's look at their jobs

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page open positions General application

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machine learning researcher software

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engineer

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like if Devon could build himself why

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are they hiring software Engineers

play17:03

because again like Devon can maybe write

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code for you and all it applies to all

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these software engineering startups

play17:09

where like they're building automated

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Engineers yes maybe they can build a

play17:13

tool that can write code for you that

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can automate this code for you and trust

play17:17

me I work at meta we already have this

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technology within the company we have ai

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we have something called code compose

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that helps us to write code and then we

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have like also now we are opening

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reviewers which can review pull requests

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but in the end all of this assists

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software engineers in building these

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software faster right so I can do much

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more work in the same amount of time

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because I have these software

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engineering helpers right it's not again

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be clear that coding is one part of the

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job and it's becoming easier because of

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these AI Solutions right like people

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talk about cursor and cloud and stuff

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yes they're amazing tools right cursor

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can help you get started very quickly

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like even if you have an idea of what

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you want to build you can prompt it to

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cursor and then it can generate the code

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for you but to be honest if you want to

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build an actual app and launch it you

play18:08

have to know already how it's going to

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work like what Claude and uh Devon and

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cursor help you to do is get your output

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sooner like for example if I know what I

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want to build I'll have to write the

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code which which will take me maybe a

play18:21

week right but with Claude and cursor

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and these tools maybe I I can get that

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code written for me within a few hours

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hours or few minutes even right but I

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need to know what this code is going to

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be and that's just part of the job and

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then what are you going to do with this

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code like maybe okay it generated the

play18:37

front end for you and it generated a few

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apis and then you launched it how will

play18:41

you deploy it deployment is also part of

play18:43

software engineering right you want to

play18:45

deploy it somewhere so that you can

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serve real users fine you figured out

play18:49

how to deploy it and you you're serving

play18:51

real users now but then there will be

play18:54

bugs right these users will run into

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bugs the moment the moment you start

play18:58

having real users you will see how many

play18:59

bugs you face and bugs are different

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from errors right like okay Devon can

play19:03

solve the errors easily but what about

play19:05

runtime bugs there's no errors

play19:07

everything is working perfectly it works

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on my machine there's this famous saying

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it works on my machine right but what if

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it doesn't work on the actual deployment

play19:15

what if there's some nasty bug in the

play19:17

cash or whatever like there's always

play19:19

these race conditions and stuff

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happening that is almost impossible to

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debug unless you really focus and you

play19:25

know how the system works you cannot

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debug it you cannot solve solve these

play19:29

bugs unless you know how the system

play19:30

works you need to understand the people

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who benefit the most from this kind of

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help is software Engineers because it's

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literally making our jobs easier it's

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enabling us to do so much more right

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because to build software you need to

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know how it's to be built and then these

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AI tools can help you move faster like I

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can get started in language I never

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heard about and I can come up with a

play19:51

proof of concept within a matter of a

play19:52

few hours even right because I already

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know the fundamentals and the

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fundamentals don't change it helps you

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to learn the fundamentals to learn how

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to solve problems to learn how to think

play20:02

about design and how to architect a

play20:05

system this is the job of a software

play20:06

engineer right like yes design people

play20:09

will learn slowly how to do this as well

play20:11

product managers might also start to

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learn this but in the end what are they

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doing they are also becoming software

play20:16

Engineers as a software engineer I think

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it's a great superpower for you to learn

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these AI tools and to use them for your

play20:23

advantage right in conclusion the world

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needs a lot more software and the people

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who are going to build these software

play20:30

the builders are going to be software

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Engineers right look I'm not going to

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sugarcoat it it's definitely harder than

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it was four five years ago four five

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years ago like I said you could just

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learn a front-end framework and build a

play20:42

few little projects and that was enough

play20:43

to get a job and you might have to learn

play20:45

a lot more and prove and demonstrate

play20:48

that you can do quality work and stuff

play20:50

and you can still there's plenty of jobs

play20:51

they're going to be plenty of more jobs

play20:54

like meta is hiring again we are hiring

play20:55

a lot of Engineers we Google is hiring

play20:58

like all the companies have restarted

play20:59

hiring because the interest rate storm

play21:01

has come down a bit and the economy is

play21:03

getting better in fact Federal Reserve

play21:05

is going to reduce interest rate right

play21:07

about now so this is going to get better

play21:09

right like it was just this period of

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time where companies had to adapt to

play21:13

this High interest rate environment so

play21:16

the easiest thing they could do was lay

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off a big part of their teams but that

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doesn't mean it's the end for software

play21:21

Engineers it's far from it trust me

play21:24

there's so much tools we need to build

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there we have a lot of things to build

play21:27

so don't give up well with that said I

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wanted to also talk about how to be a

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software engineer and how to adapt in

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this AI world but I'm going to make

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another video on this because I think it

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deserves its own video and this video

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has already been longer than I expected

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it to be so with that said I hope you

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like this one I hope you found value

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from it I will see you on the next one

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